My, my, how similar Malaysia and the United States of America have become. Lately, we have been inundated with reports that many large corporations in America too were infested with corrupt and manipulative schemes of their chiefs.

We also discovered that the Patriot Act, passed on October 26, 2001, remarkably bears some resemblance to Malaysia's dreaded legislations — such as the Internal Security Act and Police Act — that certify tyrannical degrees of arbitrary and unchecked power over civil affairs.

Both the Bush administration and the Barisan Nasional government are also pursuing agendas with no basis. Bush wants to bomb Iraq, BN wants to impose teaching of Mathematics and Science in English.

Many people have been condemning the US for this arrogant and ruthless act of warlord-ism on the grounds that the evidence provided so far is too slim. Our deputy prime minister believes that it is not sufficient. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly in mid-September, he asserted that the international community must be shown incontrovertible evidence that Iraq poses a threat to the US, as the Bush administration claims. Is there a basis for this cause?

A 50-page document arguing that Saddam has been building and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction was disclosed in the US and the UK last week, but few appear to be convinced enough. Bush and Blair themselves hardly, if ever, refer to those pieces of paper anymore. They revert to loudness and pressure. They projected themselves as 'strongmen', and now, pushed further into a corner, they defend that image with greater ferocity.

BN leaders have not referred to any substantial research and study on the English move. We know sovery little about it. Instead of justifying this course of action, they blow up fears of being left behind (we knew that) and whip up patriotic sentiments (but I thought to love Malaysia is to know Malaysia).

Of course, the potential damage and loss of these two adventures cannot be compared. Loss of Iraqi life cannot be equated with mis-education of Malaysian students. But the similarity in the logic of dissent should not elude us. If America must not attack Iraq without just cause, Malaysia must not impose this English project without just cause.

Let us be consistent, and let us be reasonable.

We find little substance underneath the plan. Indeed, we observe less and less coherence, more and more inconsistency.

On Tuesday, Education Minister Musa Mohamed stated that we will go ahead and teach mathematics and science in English in Standard One, Form One and Lower Six. On Thursday, the Prime Minister over-ruled that statement, saying the government has not made a definite decision.

The incoherence and inconsistency must stop. It marks ill-conception of a project and contempt for the people.

Musa said on Tuesday, "we can say almost everyone accepts implementation in secondary schools". Will he please identify some of these people and will they please present their case thoroughly?

There has been no acknowledgement of possible adverse consequences. How will this affect the performance of Mathematics and Science education? Most critically, how will we avoid dropping standards of all these fundamental subjects — and English as well?

Indeed, a common refrain has been "it will work, it must work, we have lots of money to spend". Our economy is mildly growing and not slumping, but there appears to be recession of thought in the government.

Mahathir speaking on budget day Sept 21 on the question of when the English project will be implemented, "Year one, standard four or standard six, it does not matter, we are just making all the necessary preparations and we have allocated huge sums [of money] for this purpose" (New Straits Times)

This imprudence is consistent with the indecisiveness on the project's status, but this is not the type of consistency we desire. Let us be consistent and reasonable.

Educational expenditure ought to be scrutinised as well. Just because it is education, does not mean it is money well spent. Is the RM5 billion to be spent on this project as a whole, and RM979 million to be spent on teaching aids, LCD projectors, laptops, etc., worth it?

I see a lot of hardware and training, boxed and canned 'solutions'. There has been almost no mention of inculcating reading habits. Perhaps, because it is difficult to get Malaysians to read, and truly it is. But how can we improve English if we don't read English, and improve science if we don't read science — beyond the textbook? More flashing on computer monitors or projector screens will not make children smarter.

Just because we have declared a reservoir of cash does not mean we have to unplug the dam and splash the water about.

Is the BN government willing to be consistent and reasonable?