Single-stream call deliberately ignoring elephant in the room

YOURSAY | ' After six decades of institutionalised apartheid practices, they are now blaming non single-stream schools.'

At bipartisan forum, Umno man a lone ranger on single-stream schools

Fair&Just: After six decades of institutionalised apartheid practices, they are now blaming non single-stream schools for racial polarisation? Hello, the minorities are thinking humans too, and they know what's right or wrong. Now after draining our blood and sweat, they want to demand loyalty?

Semua Boleh: How idiotic. Our schools have always been multiracial. It is because of Umno/BN playing politics in schools, and causing racial discrimination in schools via the teachers. Schools in the 1960's, 70's 80's were all of standard and were harmonious.

Only after some fanatic started racial politics in schools and made teachers biased, to the point these teachers have forgotten about teaching, that this problem has started.

Awang Top: The big elephant in the room is how national schools are run. No one dares to point out that the administration of national schools is the source of the "exodus" by non-Malays to vernacular schools.

Ask any non-Malay parent, the answers would always be: they try to impose religion onto our kids; the teachers lack discipline and skills; our kids are being sidelined....

So let's deal with the big elephant honestly and transparently, before talking about single-stream schools.

Ksn: single-stream schools are fine if the mother tongues of the minorities like Chinsese, Tamil etc. are taught, and made available in national type schools without fail, even if the minority pupil numbers just one student. As some have correctly pointed out, follow Singapore's policies.

But that alone will not bring national unity - social justice is the secret, if our Umno Baru has never heard about it.

Baiyuensheng: Instead of heading a NGO for single-stream schools, maybe Umno Youth exco Shahril Hamdan should start a NGO to have for all Malaysians a 'single-stream' citizenship rights. Right now the minorities are treated as second class.

And let's stream the religious school into the single-stream system too. And please also ask Mara to be on the single-stream train, too.

Nil: Let us have only 1Malaysian schools, neutral to race and religion... Let students mix freely with no compulsion to have constant engagement. Keep politics out of schools. The one-stream schools envisaged seems to be too racial (Malay) and religious (Islam) in nature.

Under this context, will there be Islamic prayers before class starts, where all students and teachers have to take part? Will school canteens be closed during Ramadan ? Will non-Malay students be subject to slurs such as 'balik tong shan' (Go back to China)?

Thickskin: Even in government schools and in national service centres today, students usually mix with those of their own race.

There is little integration, as the government has done a very good job in causing distrust amongst races by their racially-charged political rallies and racial discrimination in the armed forces, police, civil service and GLCs (government linked companies).

The only way to repair this is to remove the Umno/BN government.

Anonymous #44199885: The problem of racial unity is due to these:

1. Firstly, to politicians who continue to dominate the headlines by claiming to champion their race.

2. Secondly, each ethnic group comprising a single dominant religion, making any policy suggestions affecting or perceived to affect religious views being judged through the prism of race.

3. Politicians who debate and consider all policies only from the perspective of their own community, rather than from the perspective of the have-nots and the disadvantaged.

4. The complete lack of meritocracy in distribution of university placements, scholarships, access to boarding schools, jobs in the civil service, military and police.

5. The current lack of confidence in the national schools, whose quality of education is suspect.

6. Finally, the continued advocating and promotion of affirmative action in favour of the Malays, and this extending even to purchases of shares of listed companies and high-end properties, after 47 years as an independent nation.

By the way, the present bunch simply do not care much about educating the young and moving the nation forward. The agenda is more focussed on herd control for political expediency and playing up polarisation to dilute unity among the multi-ethnic groups, so that power remains in absolute control of a particular group.

This is indeed bad news for all.

SusahKes: You want Malaysian students to come together at school level....but only to break them up at the jobs level, when they apply to join the government or public sector, or when it comes to housing and various other public benefits.

You then further segregate the people by demarcating them along racial/religious lines - eateries that are halal/non-halal, allowing social engagement/interaction to run haywire by arbitrary banning cakes that do not comply, or labelling paint brushes made from non-compliant sources.

Then you guys allow racists/religious extremists - from cow head protestors to those who say things like “Apa lagi cina mau” (What more do the Chinese want?), to Petaling Street hoodlums cum protesters - to act with impunity. I can only say this to the organisers of TN50 - get real, la.

Vijay47: When I went to school about a million years ago, my best friends were from all races, and so were my biggest enemies. It was an age when there were English schools, Tamil schools, and Chinese schools, none of that single-stream rubbish.

Yet with these tri-language schools, Malaya boasted a level of racial and religious harmony unseen in almost in any part of the rest of the world.

So where was this "dividing the nation" crap that these schools posed?

Then enter the villain. Umno came in with a programme where only Malay and Islam mattered, and they didn't care a hoot that in the process they were burning down the village. This savage policy was enforced in every facet of our lives, and especially in the education system.

Teachers are mainly Malays and many if not most come equipped with entrenched fanatical views of the non-Malays. Now our level of education is best kept hidden. You want better schools? Easy, get rid of Umno.

That Universiti Utara Malaysia lecturer Kamarul Zaman Yusoff's teeth must be gritting in shame.

Hplooi: Abolishing vernacular or alternative education streams is short sighted and is not practised in most civilised nation. In truth the government should improve public schools by removing political, racial and religious bias from the administration of public schools.

When public schools can provide a world class liberal education irrespective of race and religion (never mind the medium of instruction), then the common public will flock to public schools and alternative stream schools (vernacular, private etc) will be less popular.

Paraphrasing 'The battle of Waterloo is won in the playing fields of Eton', public schools are the soul of a nation. If we destroy public schools, then the national soul dies with it. And currently as I see it, the politicians who took over after '69 have killed the very soul of Malaysia, and they did that by striking at the very soul of the nation.

But unfortunately, Umno politicians take education as a red-hot button to strike fear and a siege mentality amongst their constituents they purport to protect. The cry to “abolish vernacular” and “vernacular schools are the cause of disunity" etc are currently the hottest talking points to core constituents.

Left unanswered is the very nature of public schools itself as they currently stand. This again illustrates the tactics of 'simplifying issues' to core constituents. It is much easier to blamed the 'others' instead of looking at your own self.

And with this effort to “abolish" vernacular (does this include religious schools, which are even more divisive to national unity?) "beggar thy neighbour" is now preferred to "enrich everyone".

Bob The Builder: What is more important is the system of education, and not the unity of the races.

Anonymous #45522856: How is Malaysia to have unity, when the government insists on having BTN (Biro Tata Negara)?

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