I refer to the article Student segregation issue a bonus for vision school concept: Umno in which Perlis Umno information chief Abu Bakar Ismail mentioned a few very interesting ideas that I can't help but rephrase it here again.

"The findings of the independent committee on student segregation have further proven that the concept of vision school will help foster national unity at a younger age."

The first sentence itself is a major mistake, since the findings of the independent committee indicated there was no student segregation (hence the apology from NUTP's secretary-general, Siva Subramaniam). If "no segregation" is the outcome of the findings, how did Abu Bakar come to the conclusion that vision school will help? Unless he agrees that there is segregation?

"According to the committee's summary report, there is a wide gap between the percentage of Malay and non-Malay students in national schools, and this could only be corrected through the implementation of the vision school."

Everyone knows that for a solution to be viable, we must first find the cause. The above statement by Abu Bakar says that, "this could only be corrected" without pointing out the cause and explaining why it is the only way.

Let's examine the real reasons for the so-called gap. Non-Malay Malaysians learned while in schools that they are treated differently from their Malay counterparts. They know they have to study harder for entry into a local university and that certain courses are out of their reach.

They're told that they're not eligible for this and that scholarships. And they'll be told not to be too smart. Of course, there are much more "they'll be told not to do this and that" which I'll refrain from discussing here.

So, for once, before implementing any policy, try to think what exactly is the root cause of the problem and who are guilty for creating it in the first place.

"As Malaysians, we should be prepared to fight for it. The non-Malay organisations should not oppose the vision school concept before studying the real reasons behind it  which is to instill the importance of national unity in the minds of young Malaysians."

It seems Abu Bakar is the one who is really missing the real reasons behind it. The real reasons, as I have discussed above, is not just the word "unity" but rather the reasons behind the "unity". The word has become meaningless for many of us because it has been overused and exploited by many parties for many years.

It is used to silence dissenting voice. Those who hold different opinions are accused of being not in unity ". But consider this: civilisation advances because of creativity, and creativity stems from mind that dares to differ. If we had one mind and no variation, then our outcome will be pretty much like The Borg in Star Trek. Of course, there is time when we should work as one too. But for the rest, we should appreciate diversity.

"The main function of this council is to discuss issues related to education and find amicable remedies collectively. This would help prevent any education issue from being blown out of proportion and cause unnecessary problems, as in the case of the recent student segregation issue," he said.

Abu Bakar should define what has been "blown out of proportion"? Whenever someone points out a mistake and calls for an investigation into the folly, it is "blown out of proportion". The only thing that seems to be blown out of proportion, I think, is the pride of the Education Ministry.

He should also define what is "unnecessary problems"? The segregation issue is critical to the nation's unity and education is of utmost importance to the countrys future. I'm glad that at least the problem is disclosed to the public and investigated. Why should this all-important issue be kept from the public? Afraid of public distress?

The public is more resilient than that. On the contrary, the only thing that could make them go awry is keeping information from them and letting them discover it when it is way too late to repair the damage.