There's a article in the IHT today, discussing the emergence of English as a primary language in Indonesia among the "upper classes." It seems that the people who can afford it are sending their children to private schools where the entire curriculum is in English - and Bahasa, the native language, is neither used or taught. The kids grow up in Indonesia not understanding their own language.

The government and social activists are concerned that Indonesians are going to lose part of their national identity if this trend continues.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/as...e&ref=world

Problem easily solved by making the child's native language a compulsory second language at school and taught for, say, one hour everyday. By the time the child is 18 and ready to go to university, he would be fluent in English and his native language. This is what they did at our school. All content subjects were taught in English plus we had one period of Malay as a second language every day. At home, we codeswitch between Malay and English depending on what we want to say and to whom. In addition, I had Arabic lessons every weekend from the age of six and hence I'm fluent in three languages and have a working knowledge of Thai. Unlike many of my friends, I don't have a Romance language on my tongue because of the Arabic but that has turned out to be the better and more practical choice (all those Arab men!).

Maurice, I assume you went to school in Malaysia.

Yes, until I was 16. A levels and university in England.

I noticed in KL that pretty much everybody spoke reasonable English.