MCA has fired a scathing salvo at Pejuang chairman Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir for suggesting yesterday that vernacular schools be abolished before any possibility of a non-Malay prime minister could be entertained.
Slamming the former Jerlun MP for “exploiting vernacular schools as a convenient bogeyman as a means of scooping waning political mileage”, party spokesperson Mike Chong Yew Chuan said Mukhriz’s conduct was “totally unbecoming of a former menteri besar who ought to have used his position to bridge communities together instead”.
Chong was referring to Mukhriz’s statement on Facebook yesterday where the latter said the country must work to eliminate prevailing divisive factors among the different races before embarking on such a change to its political landscape.
He further claimed that one such divisive factors was that the continued existence of vernacular schools had created separate streams of education for young Malaysians.
“It is regrettable that merely to salvage one’s sinking reputation, Pejuang chairman [Mukhriz] has rekindled obsolete and narrow rhetoric to assault the Constitutional right of multi-stream education,” Chong said in a statement today (March 7).
“To pander to ultras, racists and politicians have time and time again ignored the Federal Constitution and conveniently leveraged on vernacular schools as a convenient punching bag to gain traction.”
Chong said abolishing the Constitutional right of multi-stream education and appointment of a non-Malay to be the country’s premier are two separate matters.
“Mukhriz’s slurs far-fetched…being a prime minister has nothing to do with the school one attends,” he argued.
“Article 152 of the Federal Constitution distinctively inscribed that ‘no person shall be prohibited or prevented from using (otherwise than for official purposes) or from teaching or learning, any other language’.”
Chong noted that given the nation’s multiracial composition, practising multi-stream education serves to its advantage as not only do citizens from all ethnic groups in Malaysia recognise and learn Bahasa Malaysia as the official language but also retain their mother tongues.
“This practice successfully demonstrates how being multilingual empowers Malaysians with a competitive advantage in the world,” he stressed.
Chong further pointed out that according to statistics, non-Chinese pupils account for about 20% of the enrolment in Chinese primary schools (SJKC) across the country.
“This figure proves that multiracial Malaysians accept vernacular schools, thereby rendering untenable Mukhriz’s argument on eliminating vernacular schools,” he added.
“We appeal to our compatriots of all races to wise up to the race-bait intentions by Mukhriz and Pejuang from behind the scenes to avoid misunderstanding and division among Malaysia’s diverse communities.
“Malaysians must reject politicians who have no scruples in fanning racism, dividing citizens and breaking up the country just to achieve their selfish aims.” – March 7, 2023
Main pic credit: The Star
