The recent GPMS-Dong Jiao Zong debate on whether English or Chinese is the more important of the two languages for today's students misses the point.

Almost every Chinese Malaysian student considers English and Mandarin to be more important than Bahasa Malaysia. Unfortunately he does not get to choose the language of his instruction.

Chinese students have Mandarin as the primary medium of instruction in their schools. They learn BM in order to pass the SPM and qualify for entry to Malaysian public universities. They learn English in tertiary education because it is the language of knowledge and learning, diplomacy, academia, science, medicine, engineering, IT, technology, research and international business.

In summary, Chinese Malaysian students are forced to be tri-lingual to a very high level of proficiency to enter tertiary educational institutions at home or abroad. The real issue here is that very few Chinese Malaysian students will have the intellectual, educational and personal resources and stamina to accomplish this feat satisfactorily.

I notice that even very bright Chinese students have to struggle with learning three languages whilst most would easily learn two languages to a high level of proficiency without too much struggle. But current government policies virtually dictate that a failure to be literate in three languages practically condemns them to second-class jobs in the absence of a university education. Many just give up in remove class.

There is a very high dropout rate amongst Chinese students, and the main problem is that few have the stamina or resources to be seriously literate in three languages.

The level of racial segregation in Malaysia is such that BM is hardly going to be used very much in informal social gatherings. Unfortunately, current government dictates that only the very rich will be allowed to choose the education of their choice in our very exclusive international schools.

The government has never allowed increased English-language teaching at the expense of decreased BM teaching in Chinese schools. The university entrance, SPM and STPM examinations are in BM, and not in English.

The burden of learning three languages has weighed very heavily upon nearly every Chinese Malaysian student keeping in view that 90 percent of all Chinese students enroll in Mandarin schools. This back-breaking burden is unnecessary, and is viewed by many as resulting directly from inflexible government policy.

Whilst encouraging BM, Mandarin and Tamil to be taught in primary schools, it would be far more efficient for all Malaysians to learn in English in secondary school. The government need only introduce fully English medium secondary schools, and SPM-STPM exams in the English language, and Malaysians of all races would flock to enroll.

In spite of anything the language nationalists might do or shout, whether the BM or Mandarin variety, the fact is such a move would quickly lead to a true and voluntary assimilation. English medium secondary schools would certainly help integrate our society whilst existing policies serve only to segregate.

A Bangsa Malaysia is not going to arise if our politicians fail to show some backbone.

It was the ham-fisted attempt to make all students learn exclusively in BM that caused perceptions of forced assimilation to arise in the first place, and prompted a mass exodus of the Chinese Malaysians to Mandarin schools in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

The only question that remains is whether the leaders of the ruling party coalition (Umno-BN) feel confident enough to implement English-medium secondary schools without having the ugly spectacle of ambitious chauvinist intra-party political competitors trying to enhance their ethno-nationalist credentials by kicking up a hue and cry over it.