#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

use vars qw/%MEClassProps/;

use Old::Code qw/markFail/; # import the old function

# . . .

# time to use it, mostly your code
sub assign_ME_problem{
    my($ontCategory, $ontNumbering, $mapwd) =@_;
    local(%problemClassProps) = \%MEClassProps;
    markFail($mapwd, $ontCategory, $ontNumbering);
    1;
}