We from the Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page) refer to the article ‘Dr M and the New Dilemma' ’( Star , Friday March 11).      

Good sense must prevail in the question of education. Our dilemma with our national education system seems to be sending us adrift further and further away from the very object of getting an education and achieving national integration.      

Our education is a matter of national urgency. In order for us to enjoy peaceful progress, we  must pay careful attention to our education framework and ensure that we will meet our desired outcome.      

One thing is for sure is that we should always take steps forward to progress.      

Dr Mahathir's English education views have also been discussed by Tunku Abdul Rahman. Fortunately, they agreed on one good thing. The Tunku dedicated a whole chapter in his book on this subject. Below are the excerpts:      

“We obtained our Independence constitutionally and after that, we had to seek the help of  the British to educate and train our men to take over our country in order to give the best  possible Government to the people. As a result of this, we have enjoyed progress, prosperity  and peace, which other countries have never enjoyed in this part of the world.      

“Malays only form 48% of the population of Malaysia and we cannot, however much we wish it, do everything to our liking. We must find a happy medium to please all these people who  have accepted this country as their home, and it is our duty to make it an object of their  loyalty as well.      

“Unless it can keep abreast with changes and keep pace with progress, no nation will enjoy  peace.      

“Every citizen of this country should take pride in the Malay language and make a special effort to excel in it, not just to speak Bahasa but to read and write it. A nation without a language is a nation without a spirit and without a soul. If we can take pride in being  Malaysians, then we must take pride in our national language. Otherwise all this profession  of loyalty is but empty talk.             

“No sensible person will begrudge any plan by the government to implement the two languages: that I have learned from experience. The Malays also need government help –  hence our Five Year Plan. Those who benefited under the Plans are now happy and  contented. But we must not carry out the policy too far, and the Plan must not be one which  can be likened to robbing Peter to pay Paul. Those aggrieved by this policy will not give  their cooperation, and without it and the help of the non Malays, already established in big  businesses and trades, whatever one does and however much one tries to help the Malays,  it will not proceed smoothly, but invite criticism and resentment.      

“Education, at whatever level, can make or unmake a man; in the same way it can make or  unmake a nation. Our leaders are well aware of it. And they all ensure that their children  receive the best education possible. In contrast, boys in the kampungs do not have the same  opportunities; my object is to give them the best possible education. I have said that when  a good brain is not properly utilised it can be a source of danger to the society and to the  country.      

“At the moment, the danger is not too great, but I feel that before the situation deteriorates  the Government should act by setting up a Commission to review our education policy.      

“We must restore confidence to the many races here who have placed their implicit faith in  us Malays. The experiment we have carried out in our schools has not proved all that  successful, and if we take cognisance of that now, we may be able to put it right. This matter  is of the utmost importance to the nation and we must look into it as soon as possible.      

“The whole trouble with the people is that they obstinately refuse to look at facts objectively.  For this reason, we have been weak, and that weakness has been the cause of our  subjection in the past to foreign rule.      

“A student finishing Malay school at the age of twelve has achieved little to his credit. All he  can seek is a job befitting his education, and that won't be much of a job, nor does it offer  much in pay.      

“I called for an all out effort to make Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa into a slogan which was printed on  posters and pasted on walls all over the country. Surely this indicated my intention to give  the incentive to all to learn Malay and prove their loyalty to this country.      

“At the same time I advocated that English should be made, for a long time to come, the  language for higher studies. This was appreciated by many people, except by those with the- fox-and-sour-grapes or the-dog-in-the-manger attitude. They can't see why others should  obtain a good education when they themselves have not.      

“Malaysia is new, and she wants to go ahead and not take retrogressive steps. The rate of  progress rapidly developing in this world demands that we keep pace with it.          

“Every day new ideas take shape, and new achievements are recorded. There is never an end  to what is happening around the world.      

“Everything in the world has changed. It would be foolish for us to imagine that we can give  the best service to our country and people purely on sentiment and emotion, and it will be  no wiser to follow the ways of other countries that have not gone ahead with the times.      

“Our duty is to give the best way of life we possibly can to our people and to help make those  who come after us happy and our country peaceful and prosperous. Can we say with  justification that by slipping back on our education we can keep pace with progress, still less  achieve it for our new nation?      

“Half an education is no education at all.      

“The people of this country are made up of three major races – Malays, Chinese and Indians.  All have languages of their own; they have agreed that since we are Malaysians, Malay shall  be the national language, the Jiwa Bangsa, the soul of the nation.      

“But there must still be English, the language that will give them the education they seek. In  taking it up, Malays do not start from a position of disadvantage, for others have also to  learn it, learn what is equally foreign to them.      

“English can be a point of understanding and goodwill between the races, giving them  opportunities to make the best use of their brains.      

“Independence alone is not sufficient unless it has meaning. I want our people to walk the  earth with their heads up. I want to see the poor having opportunities to climb up the  ladder of success with the sons of the rich and of feudal chiefs, and not be left behind  because of poverty and lack of opportunities.      

“I am not one to shirk my responsibility; what has to be said must be said if it is for the good  of the people, and I will never be afraid to say what I think is right. My critics would not be  where they are today if this country had not been freed.”

Tunku Munawirah Putra is honorary secretary for Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page).