Were no extremists, says Chinese education lobby group

comments     Beh Lih Yi     Published     Updated

The United Chinese School Committees and Teachers Association ( Dong Jiao Zong) said today that it should not be viewed as 'extremist' since the movement was only making a stand on mother-tongue education rights as guaranteed under the federal constitution.

In a statement, the influential education movement said the public should be allowed to discuss and debate on the government's plan to use English in the teaching of Science and Mathematics in a democracy.

Dong Jia Zong was responding to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's warning to ceratin "extremist groups" on Saturday "not to play with fire".

The movement has been one of the more vocal opponents to the proposed language switch which will take effect next year.

Dong Jia Zong said Chinese lobby groups were not the only ones to object to the plan as there were also similar objections from Malay and Indian groups.

Reasonable demand

"It is not only the Chinese and Tamil primary schools which are worried their identities might be affected, but the Malay community are also worried that Malay language might be marginalised, this is a reality.

"It is not a mono-ethnic demand, but a reasonable education demand," the movement said in the statement, adding that feedback from the public also showed objection to the use of English in the two subjects.

Dong Jia Zong said it was aware of the challenges of globalisation, and it had never denied the importance of mastering English and other major languages.

The movement urged the government to gather opinion from the other ethnic groups and take their views into consideration before implementing the change to English.

It also called for more deliberation on the issue so the public could analyse the advantages and weaknesses of the plan.

Double-standards

Meanwhile, the Civil Rights Committee also criticised the government for not allowing the people to debate on the issue openly and for its double-standard practice for labelling Chinese educationists and not other critics as 'extremists'.

"It should not happen in a democratic government when only politicians are allowed to speak but not allowed civil groups to voice up their opinion," CRC said in a press statement.

Last week, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Zainal Abidin Zin also threatened to use the Internal Security (ISA) Act on those who turn the issue into a racial one.

CRC said the threat contravened the basic democratic principles conferred in the federal constitution.


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