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Tue, 09 Feb 2010
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 NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS :: Local News |
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Resounding 'No' to single stream school system
by Kong See Hoh
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Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim | KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2, 2009) : Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association) says it is against a single stream school system and will submit a memorandum to the prime minister to express regrets over recent remarks made by academics, MPs and the education minister on the subject.
Speaking to reporters after chairing the annual meeting of Dong Zong affiliates (Dong Lian Hui) in Ipoh on Sunday, the education movement's president Dr Yap Sin Tian said the decision to submit a memorandum to Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak was reached in the meeting.
He said Dong Zong would draft the memorandum as soon as possible and seek endorsement from other Chinese groups on the memorandum, the Chinese press reported today.
Yap said the meeting also censured historian Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim for raising the subject of the single stream system.
Khoo had proposed a restructure of the national education system, including the implementation of a single stream, to ensure attainment of the goals of the 1Malaysia concept.
He said the existing school system with various streams does not help the people really understand the meaning of the concept.
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Dr Yap Sin Tian | This prompted calls by several MPs for the government to introduce a single stream school system as well as dissenting voices from the Chinese community.
Yap said instead of promoting national unity, the implementation of the single stream school system would hamper unity and create racial tensions.
He urged the government and political parties to state their stand on attempts by some people to use the 1Malaysia concept to achieve their political agendas of a "nation state" and a single stream school system.
He also urged all quarters to raise their guard and to stand firm against any assimilation policy.
He said Malaysians must accept the fact that Malaysia is a "multi-national state" (a state which contains two or more ethnic groups as identified by religion, language, or colour) and not a "nation state" (the concept of one country, one race, one culture, one language and a single stream school system).
Meanwhile, Hua Zong (Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia) president lambasted proponents of single stream school system for creating the misconception that the current multiple-stream school system and Malaysia's multicultural traits, which are the country's strong points, were stumbling blocks to unity.
"We must remind academics and politicians with extremist thinking not to abuse the 1Malaysia concept," he said at the anniversary celebration of the Perak Chinese Assembly Hall in Ipoh on Sunday night.
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Tan Sri Pheng Yin Huah | Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he was all for single stream schools to promote unity and 1Malaysia.
However, he said the issue should be looked at in its totality with views from all quarters, including those of the Chinese and Indian communities.
Such schools, he said, were the ultimate objective of the Razak Report but due to circumstances involving the country’s history, it ended up with a multiple-stream system.
Last Saturday, Najib said the government would consider the views of the people before making a decision on the proposal to implement a single stream school system.
He said the government would only change any policy if it had the people's agreement, otherwise it would retain the existing policy.
He said a change to a single stream school system required a major shift in policy and it raised the question of whether the people were ready to forgo their right to choose the type of education they wanted.
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Updated: 05:22PM Mon, 02 Nov 2009
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