On SHC's English Campaign

The BED of Sacred Heart College has been implementing the english campaign to the students. At first, it was OK for us way back in highschool. But 2 or 3 years ago, it reached a distressing level, at least for me. They are mandating the students to speak the language exclusively, save for some exceptions like their Filipino or Sibika classes. Worse, they are not letting ANY articles in the school paper in Filipino because of the campaign. The rationale is obvious: to make the students "competitive" in the future by speaking it. Again, this spells doom, at least for me. And I am NOT over-reacting. What I'm about to say below is not based on hearsay or indoctrination. It is actually pedantic.

Language, defined, is a collection of spoken words that is arranged arbitrarily and used by a particular group of people.

Words are representations of everything in a people's experience. Therefore, a word cannot exist in a language if the people who use it originally DO NOT experience it. For example, the Filipino word yelo came from the Spanish hielo, the term for ice. Why did we copy it from them? Because it DOES NOT exist in the original experiences of our ancestors.

It therefore follows that an individual's limitation on language is also his/her limitation on his/her world. We did not experienced hamburgers until the americans came so we do not have a native term for it, it DID NOT EXIST in the world of Filipinos before they introduced it here.

That is why if you want to control or influence a group of people, you have to alter and modify their culture by any means. And language is one effective avenue for this. Ever wonder why the youth nowadays are not that nationalistic anymore compared to past generations? That is because most of them speak a language that is already buthcered, mixed or combined. In the Filipino layman's term-- chopsuey na walang lasa (tasteless/bland chopsuey). Therefore, it is reasonable to think that when a group's commitment to their own language falters, their genuine, indegenous culture also suffers. This contributes to the diminishing nationalism not only of the youth, but majority of the Filipinos. And for god's sake, nationalism does not merely border on basking in the light of glory when athletes or performers win in international competitions.

Going back to the original topic, the primary reason why the BED implements such things is to encourage the students to be fluent in the language, therefore increasing the probability that they would join the bandwagon of foreign employment and contribute to the ever-increasing brain drain in the country, in the case of SHC-- NURSING. You do not know how much it pains me to hear people look for JOBS and not CAREER; how everybody wants to be a nurse not because of their calling to take care of the sick, but primarily TO EARN MORE MONEY ABROAD. The same goes for those wanting to be in the US Marines, Armed Forces or call centers. And I blame the educational system for this, aside from the government and media.

I do not condemn the campaign, I just want to emphasize that it must be lessened a little. They're even suppressing creativity and academic critical mindedness by forbidding articles or literary pieces IN FILIPINO in the school paper. I mean, can you imagine how sick this is, the consequences of this in the future just for the quick remedy of hoping to solve the financial needs? Very few realize that this kind of scheme, this kind of sick thinking, would not really cure the structures of our society-- it would only make matters WORSE. We need a cure, not a remedy. Add that to the static thinking that many people have these days, looking at progress SOLELY on the economic side. Our fellow countrymen need us, not those foreigners.

To you who are reading this, may you not prejudge me. Think thrice and consider what I have said before doing so.

There goes my two cents.


Salaam malay kum