EDUCATION has always been a point for contention and for good reasons since Malaysia is a melting pot of culture composed of many different races and religions.
Recently, former Miss Malaysia Deborah Henry took the limelight by stating that Malaysia should have one school system to promote racial harmony.
She added that students should graduate with good English and Malay while they are allowed elective subjects like Chinese or Tamil.
According to her, currently there are many non-Chinese parents who send their children to Chinese schools due to the quality and discipline.
Deborah continued that the quality of the infrastructure, teachers and facilities of government schools should be upgraded so parents would want to send their children there.
Deborah Henry merasakan di Malaysia perlu ada sekolah satu aliran sahaja untuk memupuk perpaduan yang lebih erat.
Dalam masa yang sama, memperkasakan sekolah kebangsaan yang sedia ada dengan menawarkan bahasa elektif dan sebagainya.
Apa pandangan anda? pic.twitter.com/7xrqZiFnsh
— AE (@arfdy12) January 4, 2025
It was laudable but, however, netizens had mixed reactions. Aba_G pointed out that she was born in Dublin and studied in an international school in Kuala Lumpur “Can we listen to her advice?” he said.
“Even if we streamline the school system, the ethnic, religious political parties will still be platforms of division. It’s the irresponsible adults who create ethnic cleavage, rather than school kids,” said e_lluminaughty.
Then there was Buran who said there shouldn’t be an elective subject. “Just make English, BM, Mandarin and Tamil as compulsory subjects along with math and science,” he said.
Hello there! pointed that everyone could be friends in schools overseas.
“What divides us is not the separate schools but parties that love to play the issue of race. Its been many years of independence yet we continue to be prejudiced among each other,” said Hello there!
One netizen wondered why government schools could not compete against the vernacular Chinese schools when it comes to parental choice despite the allocation of funds.
“If you want to create a single school stream, you can, but also do it alongside a business association. No more Malay chambers, Indian chambers, or Chinese chambers. This is how unity can be fostered. Don’t just focus on school streams; start from schools to businesses,” said i.am.ashraf.aziz. —Jan 7, 2025
Main image: AE (X)
