If their critics were to be believed, defenders of Chinese education in the country the United Chinese School Teachers Association (Jiao Zong) and United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) simply get paranoid whenever the government proposes a new education policy.

The two movements often over-react, critics say, out of misconception of the government's goodwill.

But Dong Jiao Zong, as they are called collectively, begs to differ as it has the stark, statistical realities confronting vernacular schools to back it up.

From 1968 to 2000, the total number of pupils studying in both Mandarin and Tamil primary schools showed a substantial increase. Logically more schools should have been built to cater for the demand, but what happened was exactly the opposite.

Both Mandarin and Tamil primary schools have been shrinking in numbers, and it was difficult, if not impossible, to build new ones.

The decline, Dong Jiao Zong believes, was due to the limited expenditure allocated by the state for the development of such schools.

Number of primary schools of different teaching mediums in 1968 and 2000

Type of school 1968 2000 Difference between 1968 and 2000
National school (Bahasa Melayu) 2,770 (58.0%) 5,407 (74.9%) +2,637
National type school (Mandarin) 1,332 (27.9%) 1,284 (17.8%) -48
National type school (Tamil) 670 (14.0%) 526 (7.3%) -144
Total 4,772 (100%) 7,217 (100%) +2,445

Number of primary pupils in different schools in 1968 and 2000

Type of schools 1968 2000 Difference between 1968 and 2000
National school (Bahasa Melayu) 666,389 (56.3%) 2,218,747 (75.7%) +1,552,358
National type school (Mandarin) 434,914 (36.8%) 622,820 (21.2%) +187,906
National type school (Tamil) 81,428 (6.9%) 90,280 (3.1%) +8,852
Total 1,182,731 (100%) 2,931,847 (100%) +1,749,116

Expenditure for different schools under the five-year Malaysia Plans 7 and 8

Type of schools 7th Malaysia Plan, 1991-1995 (,000) 8th Malaysia Plan, 1996-2000 (,000)
National school (Bahasa Melayu) RM1,133,076 (89.7%) RM1,027,167 (96.5%)
National type school (Mandarin) RM102,726 (8.1%) RM25,970 (2.4%)
National type school (Tamil) RM27,042 (2.1%) RM10,902 (1.0%)
Total RM1,262,844 (100%) RM1,064,039 (100%)

Source: China Press and Sin Chew Jit Poh

The expenditure was for school development such as renovation of existing buildings and improvement of infrastructure.

Turned into political issue

Despite the limited government subsidies, Mandarin schools have managed to survive on donation from the Chinese Malaysian community through various fund-raising activities a tradition that has been practised for 180 years when these new migrants started their first school.

For those applying to build new schools, they have long years of red tape to plow through at the state education department #8212 and only to be informed in the end that their application was rejected.

Dong Jiao Zong also claimed that applicants had complained about the recruitment of Mandarin teachers, which is managed by the Education Ministry and is said to be too "bureaucratic".

Dong Zong's chief executive officer Bock Tai Hee says the movement and its supporters had not intended to confront the government on education issues but the tussle just seemed inevitable.

In his opinion, the government has not abandoned its ultimate objective in the 1956 Razak Report that wanted to assimilate all forms of education in the country into one that uses only Bahasa Melayu, later made the sole official language.

"The assimilation policy was inherited from the British government and it has not changed. We may have the tallest buildings and the most modern airport today, but the government's understanding about education has definitely not changed," he says.

He laments that education, particularly the vernacular system, has been turned into a political issue to serve the interests of national leaders.

Stale promises

Over the past few decades, it is common to find the government through its representatives from Chinese-based political parties constantly assuring Chinese Malaysians on the status of Mandarin schools.

On many occasions, promises about the construction of more Mandarin schools were made, but wiser from past experiences, Dong Jiao Zong now seldom takes the government's word for it.

Short of calling the goodies an election gimmick, Bock says, "We have learnt that we should only get happy when we see the real schools, not when we read about them in newspapers."

In one instance, a new Chinese primary school was built in Johor only recently although the promise of its construction came much earlier almost two decades ago.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that Dong Jiao Zong was only keen to establish Mandarin schools in Malaysia like those in the mainland China also has not helped to lessen the suspicion of the non-Chinese about the movement.

If anything, such a remark from the premier served to strengthen the movement's image as being 'extremist' and 'chauvinist'.

Significant teaching medium

Yet over the years, many non-Chinese parents have shown an increasing interest in the very institutions defended by Dong Jiao Zong. It was estimated in 1998 that of some 600,000 pupils in Mandarin primary schools, there were about 35,000 Malay Malaysian children.

Bock insists that Dong Jiao Zong's fight to preserve mother tongue education should not be misread as a sign that the movement does not love the country.

"We love the country but we cannot let go of our culture and education. The teaching medium is significant for the race because language imparts not only knowledge but also cultural and moral values.

"This is why the Malays have this saying, bahasa jiwa bangsa (language is the soul of race)," he says.

In the government's mind, vernacular education is perhaps still deemed as a stumbling block to cultivating national unity, which is why the government proposed Vision School back in 1995.

The ambitious project is aimed at locating three primary schools of different teaching mediums in the same compound. Through the sharing of common facilities and the inevitable interaction, it is hoped that racial integration would be enhanced.

Narrow political systems

But Bock disagrees. "Communication between the races was good during the early days until political leaders started to engineer racial polarisation using communal issues."

He argues that national unity will still not be achievable, even if the whole country were geared towards using a monolingual system as practised in Indonesia, simply because of "lack of mutual respect among the races".

Echoing Bock's view, Prof P Ramasamy of the Political Science Department in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia says the controversy over mother tongue education is a result of "narrow political interests".

"Dong Jiao Zong did not try to impose its will on the others by forcing the people to study at Mandarin schools but was merely defending the system," said the academic.

Ramasamy says the language barrier hardly has any impact on racial integration as all races in the country were educated to speak and write Bahasa Melayu from the onset.

"The schools of different teaching mediums were able to co-exist during the early days. Somehow this changed as the country developed. National unity is difficult these days because the political parties in Malaysia continue to thrive on communalism," he says.

Until mutual respect exists

Is there a solution? Bock is optimistic, yet realistic. "All races in Malaysia have to learn to truly respect cultural diversity and appreciate it." But this is easier said than done.

Already Dong Jiao Zong may collide with the government soon on the latter's decision to switch the teaching medium of Mathematics and Science at all levels to English starting next year, affecting the vernacular schools as well.

The movements have opposed the move and are asking the government to review its decision but officials say the change is irreversible.

Complicating their relationship are issues such as Vision School and the closure of the original site of a Selangor Chinese primary school, SRJK(C) Damansara, when it was relocated last year. Both issues are opposed vigorously by Dong Jiao Zong.

Bock has described Dong Jiao Zong's clash of interest with the government as inevitable and is "part of their destiny" from the onset.

Perhaps there is much truth in Bock's observation that until there is mutual respect among all parties, the situation will never change for the better.

This is the last of a three-part series on Dong Jiao Zong beginning Wednesday.