Umno Youth education bureau chief Dr Adham Baba today apologised for his controversial call on the government to close all Chinese schools in the country.

"I regret and I apologise for it, for whatever had happened," he told reporters after chairing a two-hour BN Youth education bureau committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

He added that he regretted the "confusion" arising from his remarks which were posted on the Umno Youth's website two weeks ago under the heading 'Prejudis melampau cauvinis pendidikan cina, kerajaan digesa tutup semua SJKC' (Chinese education chauvinist's extreme prejudice, government urged to close Chinese schools).

The meeting today was attended by the youth wings from Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, People's Progressive Party (PPP) and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

The meeting was requested by MCA Youth to meet Umno Youth over their protest to Adham's statement.

Two-point statement

Immediately after the meeting, Adham read out a two-point statement which said the BN Youth education bureau fully supported the Federal Constitution and Education Act 1996 which granted the existence of Chinese and Tamil schools in the country and that it also accepted and supported the existing education system in the country.

Adham made the controversial remark while commenting on the opposition from two influential Chinese education movements to the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English beginning next year.

The two movements are the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) and the United Chinese School Teachers' Association of Malaysia (Jiao Zong).

Collectively known as Dong Jiao Zong, they have been labelled as 'extremist and chauvinist' and also came under fire from senior ministers and the mainstream media.

Adham was quoted as saying that the closure of all Chinese schools was necessary because the two movements were always prejudiced against any education policy proposed by the government.

"Maybe they have forgotten, our tolerance has a limit. We hope they don't stir us up because we know this kind of sensitive issues would tempt disaster," he warned.

MCA Youth immediately protested and called on Adham to retract the statement and apologise, saying that the existence of Chinese schools in the country was protected under the law.

Cordial atmosphere

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, MCA Youth education bureau chief Dr Wee Ka Siong said the result of the meeting was important as Umno Youth has acknowledged the existence of vernacular schools in the country.

"We expressed our stand and our feelings on the issue and Umno Youth also presented their views. The discussion was held in a cordial atmosphere," he said.

Wee also revealed that another consensus reached at the meeting was that youth leaders should consult their BN counterparts before making any statement relating to one particular community in order to avoid misunderstanding.

In the past two weeks, DAP Youth and Tamil-language education group, Malaysian Tamil Educational Research and Development Foundation (MTERDF), lodged police reports over Adham's statement which they claimed was "seditious and racist" and was in violation of the law as it questioned the right of Malaysians to vernacular education.