The teaching of English should not be forced down the throats of vernacular schools when the government had chosen not to impose the switch from English-medium to Malay-medium on them previously, an Umno supreme council member argued today.

Shahrir Abdul Samad, a Johor Bahru MP and former cabinet minister, said there was no reason why the implementation of the new policy should be forced upon the 1,284 Chinese and 526 Tamil primary schools.

"The more you force this upon the vernacular schools, the more you are politicising education. I think that whatever the Chinese or Tamil schools want, they should be left to it," he said.

"In fact, when Bahasa Malaysia was implemented as a medium of instruction in the early '70s, they were not forced to implement it and continued with their respective languages.

"On that score alone, I think they should be left alone to continue teaching in their own language. Why do we have to force them to use English?" he told malaysiakini today.

Hasty implementation questioned

From next year, Science and Mathematics will be taught in English for Year One pupils in 5,393 national schools, remove class, Form One and Lower Six.

The implementation in vernacular schools has been deferred by the cabinet pending feedback from the respective communities.

Since announcing the policy a few weeks ago, the education ministry has come under fire from various civil society and education bodies across all three major ethnic groups, some of whom are against its hasty implementation.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had warned Chinese education groups such as Dong Jiao Zong, whom he labeled as "extremists", that the government would act swiftly if they incited racial sentiments.

He accused them of using the press to achieve their objectives because their own influence was not strong enough.

Last week, Umno Youth chief Hishamuddin Tun Hussein similarly lashed out against Chinese organisations and community leaders, accusing them of making seditious remarks which could lead to racial hatred.

Views entirely personal

Shahrir, whose views are usually opposed to Mahathir's and the party's, said he would not go that far when asked whether he thought the opposing groups were extremists.

"I'm not calling anyone an extremist or irrational. If people don't want to do it, they shouldn't be forced to do it. The minute they are forced to do it, it becomes political," he reiterated.

Explaining that the views were his own and not influenced by arguments in the media, Shahrir said that, at the end of the day, it was up to the parents to decide which school would benefit their children the most.

"Essentially, what is important at the moment is that Tamil and Chinese schools are not convinced that the new policy will be effective," he said.

"So, it is the ministry's task to show the results or the effectiveness of teaching and learning in English."

Storm signals sighted

Meanwhile, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang warned Malaysians that a "manufactured storm" is brewing around the public discussion on the teaching of Science and Maths in English.

He said the recent trend of political statements was "reminiscent of Ops Lalang in 1987".

"Even a couple of years ago, Barisan Nasional politicians were saying that to learn and speak in English was not being disloyal to the country, but now the stand has suddenly changed," he said in a telephone interview.

"At the rate such statements are being made by the country's top leaders, the worst-case scenario would be a clampdown on opponents of the new education policy on English, and it will be used as an excuse to catch others."

Asked whether he foresees predictions of doomsayers such as Mahathir and Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Tun Hussein unfolding, Lim alleged that the issue was being distorted by the ruling party.

"The scenario for a racial clash is actually being set by Umno and the government. I don't foresee this happening because all the major races are together in questioning the method of implementation," he said.

"We must remember that no one is quarreling over increasing the proficiency level of the English language."

Lim claimed that political doomsayers were the ones behaving in an extreme way. He added that racial strife was not possible because there was "no underlying tense situation or combustible material at the ground level" to trigger any such clash.