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I refer to the letter Malay-medium decision: Rahman merely Razak's agent .

Richard Teo's assertion that Rahman Yaakub acted as an agent for Razak in phasing out English medium schools from 1970 is based on mere presumptions which, as everyone knows, is not quite correct.

In his eagerness to blame Razak for the demise of English education, Teo perhaps was not aware that Malay language extremists, shortly after the May 13, 1969 riots, were all ready to end the dominance of English-medium education at all costs, even to the extent of disobeying their more restrained top leaders and they were susceptible to popular moves from opportunists like Rahman Yaakub. Razak as the National Operations Council director was too preoccupied with more urgent matters like stamping the legitimacy of the government during emergency rule.

Thus Razak, too, like the other top Umno leaders, was caught by surprise at the suddenness of Rahman Yaakub's arbitrary decision but nevertheless happily went along with it as it served the agenda of pushing for Malay supremacy in post-1969 Malaysia.

If, as Teo had asserted, Razak was behind the whole incident and used Rahman Yaakub as his agent, it is surprising that Malay school teachers who supported the decision and were a powerful lobby in Umno, made no mention of this.

Surely, as Teo would have known, such an important and momentous decision would have been acknowledged by them, perhaps not immediately, but certainly later in the 1970s when Razak would be glorified in the Malay papers like for what he did in promoting rural development. They would have bestowed on him another befitting title, perhaps as the saviour of the Malay language and Malay education to his other title as the Father of (Rural) Development.

That this has not happened 38 years after Rahman Yaakub's historic announcement and has proven Teo utterly wrong. That accolade, in fact, went to Rahman Yaakub. Razak may have done a lot for the Malays but in the realm of Malay education and language, he is certainly less of a champion compared to the likes of Rahman Yaakub and Syed Nasir Ismail. Let me tell Teo that I am no glorifier of people like Rahman Yaakub for what they did to kill of English- medium education in the country. In fact I would join others, including Teo, in condemning them.

It is nave to underestimate the shrewdness of opportunists like Rahman. The success of Rahman in causing the demise of English-medium schools (much to the delight of Malay language extremists) led to another East Malaysian native, Tun Mustapha Harun, to pander to extremists. As Sabah chief minister, he converted thousands of non-Muslim natives to Islam in the 1970s. Mustapha was equally as arbitrary and opportunistic as Rahman earlier, but that is another story.

Teo also asserted that Razak was the education minister in 1950 and was instrumental in converting Chinese-medium secondary schools to English-medium. Anyone familiar with Razak's biography can tell you that in 1950, Razak had in fact just completed his legal studies in London.

That same year, 28-year old Razak returned to Malaya and became Umno Youth chief. In 1952, he was appointed assistant secretary of Pahang, became 'menteri besar' of his home state in February 1955 for a few months before successfully contesting the country's first legislative assembly elections and being appointed education minister in July 1955.

Razak might be perceived by many quarters as being anti-Chinese, but many would agree with me that his nationalistic streak - in so far as the Malays were concerned - was not towards promoting Malay at the expense of English whose importance he had acknowledged as a 'Malayanisation' factor in his Educational Report of 1956.

I therefore find Teo's assertion that the conversion of Chinese-medium schools to English-medium did 'not in any way negate his (Razak's) role in being instrumental in changing the medium of instruction for schools from English to Malay when he became PM' rather nave and illogical.

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