I refer to the letter Serban ruling: Time to do away with school uniforms . The Barisan Nasional government must stop the pretence that it is banning the serban as a measure to encourage integration in school.

In my opinion, the main contributory factor to non-integration in Malaysian schools is language. The existence of vernacular schools is compounding the matter. I studied in a public government school and I remember each ethnic group segregating into groups and speaking their own dialect during recess.

Malaysia may be using France's logic when France banned head-scarves because such measures promote integration. But in France, only the French language is permitted in public schools.

We copy one element of France's integration policy but not the other, which is the actual effective action.

The Malaysian government must admit that the real reason for its banning of the serban in schools is not to promote integration but to curtail PAS' power base and it efforts to increase Islamic awareness in our society.