Zainuddin: No Ingrish....?

The 'menteri penerangan' ; Datuk Zainuddin Maidin recently shocked me during his interview with Al-Jazeera (an English Satellite News Channel). Click here for the transcript and video prepared by fellow blogger Kenny Sia. In his recent responds to Al-Jazeera, he replied in a very emotional manner and despite his poor english articulation, he acted as if he knows everything. But the bottom line is that our Information Minister cannot speaks proper english.

SO, it makes me wonder, a person with such caliber in status: a minister of Malaysia... somemore in-charge of information, and an ex journalist - why can't he speaks a proper english? Out of curiosity, i decided to google about him and got all his information through Wikipedia.

Wikipedia states that: "Beliau memperoleh diploma dalam kewartawanan dari Institut Kewartawanan Berlin pada 1969. " - He received his Dilpoma in Journalism from "International Institute of Journalism Berlin" in 1969." I'm assuming, since he had been to Europe to study and later on, in 1981 was awarded the Fellowship Kewartawanan Profesional dari Universiti Michigan, United States of America which English is their main language - he definitely knows how to speak better or decent english.

But, let us give him some chance-la... maybe in Berlin... he is able to speak German instead of English (but the website states that the courses are in english, click here) and the award in America... was just an award and doesn't mean he must know how to speak the language.

Another one was that he produced a book in english entitled: "Malaysia-British Relations in London". Ok-lah, maybe he wrote it in Malay and he sub-con it for people to translate it RM10 per-page.

Wikipedia says that he was born on 29 Jun 1939 which means he should had an English Education by the colonial administration during that time. Even if he was educated in a sekolah pondok, he should also be able to speak a much more presentable english in an international news media. My Apartment's "JAGA", an Indian old man pushing 70 did not receive a proper education during his youth but is able to read English Newspaper and speak better English than Our Minister of Information... This comes to show that our minister of Information is reluctant to pursue a language that was coined as an International Language which is an essential tool to inform foreigners and espeacially to the merciless foreign news media. So, what he did the other day in Al-Jazeera News Channel is not only embarassing but unethical as an Information Minister.

It ultimately reflects the entire PM Abdullah Badawi's Cabinet - his whole administration... are all minister fit to be in-charge of their respective given roles. As an example: Should a minister who likes to show off keris in his speech be in-charge of Education of the whole Country? Is he promoting gangsterism and bullying? That's another story. The Malaysia Prime Minister did not delegate his job appropriately. But all in all, the administration of Pak Lah should be questioned.