I refer to the malaysiakini report Tamil schools: Report lodged against ex-judge . It is most unfortunate that a sincere opinion expressed by the former Court of Appeal Judge VC George in a law magazine could have been blown out of proportion in the Tamil press with a police report ensuing.

The idea of replacing Tamil schools with an integrated national system where the Tamil subject becomes an integral part is not new. It had been mooted long ago, and even now there are many who believe that this strategy will ensure that all Tamil students will have Tamil education, not only at the primary level, but also till the secondary level. Those who become hysterical on just hearing this suggestion, and are willing to emotionalise and politicise this matter are probably afraid that:

No school will be called as 'Tamil' schools', thus denying the Tamils a symbolic feeling of being really 'in charge' of an institution;

Promotional prospects for Tamil teachers will be diminished;

The notion that early education should be in the mother tongue will be compromised;

Tamil cultural values are best imparted in these schools where a Tamil atmosphere will prevail,

whereas in a multi-racial setting this 'may not be possible'; and

The government may not be serious in providing the personnel and facilities for the proper teaching of the Tamil language in the national stream, and ultimately the community may 'lose out' and the like.

Of the above, if the Tamil schools are seen as the symbolic image of the Tamil section of the Indian Malaysian community on a comparative criteria against the Chinese and national schools, they really show a stark inferiority. After 50 years of independence, the disparity is wider, not narrower, as some would like us to believe.

While we must acknowledge that there is some improvement in Tamil schools, we must acknowledge that the Tamil community is still too dependent on the government to uplift the plight of these schools compared to the Chinese community which has a well-designed plan to maintain their schools right up to the senior level. The non-Tamil Indians and the English-educated Tamils do not associate themselves with Tamil schools which further weakens the position of these schools.

The current practice of having the vernacular streams with government funding may be just due to the prevailing political climate. While the Chinese community has prepared itself with its own schools on their own land to sustain Chinese schools, the same cannot be said of the Tamil schools. The community will not be able to sustain the schools on its own without government support.

During the 50 years of independence, the Indian Malaysian leadership has failed to get the federal government to change the status of the 'Bantuan Modal' Tamil schools even though there are national schools even in privately-owned estates that are fully-aided government schools. If we deduce the situation properly, when the Tamil electorate becomes negligible, Tamil schools may not get any support.

For a minority community as small as the Indian Malaysians, segregation in education may not be beneficial in the long term. Learning Tamil and our cultural values will never be a problem if the community has a will. Just look at the Sri Lankan Tamils in many European countries - they are proud to maintain their language wherever they are.

The Tamil Malaysian community must do some soul searching objectively rather that fall into the trap of politicians, both in the ruling coalition and in the opposition, who are out to play on the gullible Tamil mass that is easily swayed by emotional issues.

The current ethnic-centrism prevailing in the country has resulted in the influx of students for the vernacular schools. This is largely due to the partisan policies of the present government where the students and even staff of non-Malay origin are made to feel 'unwanted'. If only the national schools were well-run without any form of favouritism more non-Malay students would have gone there willingly, leaving the vernacular schools behind.

In this scenario, the Tamil community may have to change its over-reliance on the government if it wishes to maintain its Tamil schools. Seen from this context, the views of the former judge VC George are nothing to complain about. It is food for thought.

If the community wants Tamil to be taught in the national schools compulsorily till the secondary level, it should seek to do it now and not when it becomes less than 5% of the total population in this country. Those who are agitating on this matter need to wake up the community rather than try to silence those who have a differing opinion.