Chinese Mother Tongue Education

I observe that in the recent UMNO divisional AGM, many divisions have passed on a resolution calling for the Government to either abolish SRJK (C) or to stop the construction of new SRJK (C) schools. This is an old issue often used by politicians from both political divide to make them look great and good.

In the MCA AGM, Education, especially in mother tongue education is a sure hot topic. Politicians must not forget that freedom of education and the right to study mother tongue education is enshrined in the Constitution. Blaming Chinese education for disunity sounds like a desperate politician unable to understand the underlying cause of disunity in a multi racial country.

Opposition like any opposition party of the world is there to discredit the Government. Unfortunately UMNO politicians seem to take the bait, like hook line and sinker. Mother tongue education will not be an issue and the opposition will have no opportunity to exploit it if the Government gives adequate, equal and fair treatment to the Chinese education without neglecting Bahasa Melayu. It is only the naive that believes a singular education system will create unity in Malaysia.

I thought Malaysians are always proud of our strength in diversity. 57 years after independence, we seem to lay the blame on diversity and a bilingual education system as a root to our disunity among the ethnic groups. 15% of the Chinese school enrolment comes from Non-Chinese and the percentage is increasing everywhere. Are you saying parents are not sensitive to their children’s needs? A parent is most concerned about their children’s education irrespective of their social status. They want the best for their children.

There are many examples in the world that in a mono ethnic country with same religion and mother tongue but they are the most disunited people. In these countries, opposition do not come from a single ethnic group; there are deeper issues involved in disunity, on which I do not wish to go into detail.

So, hopefully some UMNO divisional leaders will wake up, this issue will not bring any benefit, both to the party and in the General Election. It is the intolerance and refusal to accept the different stream of education that causes us more ethnic tension. If some UMNO leaders does not wake up to today’s political reality in Malaysia, UMNO and BN will miss the train and start the blame game. Progressive and competitive nation should encourage its citizen to be multilingual but unfortunately, some politicians just ignored the elephant

in the room. They choose to get the 5 minutes publicity.

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我发现在最近召开的巫统区部大会上，许多的巫统区部通过议决，促请政府废除华小或停止兴建新的华小。这其实是朝野政客惯用的老调，他们无非是要借此来逞英雄。

在马华全国代表大会，教育课题特别是谈到母语教育，始终是一项热门的辩题。从政者必须谨记，享有自由教育和学习母语教育的权力，是我国联邦宪法赋予和保障的。归咎于华文教育导致人民不团结，显然的失意政客根本不了解，在多元种族的国度里，到底什么才是造成不团结的原因。

我国的反对党，就和全世界的反对党一样，目的就是要抹黑政府。不幸的是，巫统的政客似乎竟然也采取这种伎俩。如果政府是公平、合理和适度的对待华小，而同时又没有忽略国语，那么母语教育将不会成为课题，反对党也就没有机会加以利用渲染。只有天真无知的人士，才会认为单一语文教育才会促进全民团结。

我想全体马来西亚人都会对我们拥有的多元特色感到骄傲。独立57年以来，我们好像一直把多元和多语教育制度，看成是造成不同族群无法团结的根源。目前华小有15%的学生是非华裔，而且这个比率还往上升。难道你认为父母对子女的需求不甚在意吗？任何的家长，不管他们是怎样的社会背景，都是非常关注子女的教育，他们要给孩子最好的一切。

世界上有一些国家，虽然它们是单一种族，而且是相同宗教信仰和同样的母语，可是他们却是最不团结的民族。在这些国家里，反对党并不是来自某个单一的族群。实际上国民不团结有许许多多的远因近由，不过我不愿在这里详谈。

所以我希望一些巫统的区部领袖能觉悟，这样的课题对党和大选，都不会带来任何的好处。其实就是因为无法容忍和拒绝接受不同源流的教育体系，才导致族群之间的关系紧张。如果一些巫统领袖还不能认清今时今日大马的政治现实状况，那么巫统和国阵将会丧失时机，最后落得互相指责的地步。

一个进步和更具竞争力的国家，是应该鼓励她的子民掌握多种语言，遗憾的是许多政客却不愿面对和接受事实，而只是选择沉醉在短暂的自我宣传。