Umno seemed to have embarked on a media assault against its Barisan Nasional ally MCA after the Chinese-based party, together with three others, showed its reluctance in supporting the proposal to teach Science and Maths in English in all primary schools.

English daily New Straits Times , often seen as the barometer of Umno's stand on issues, in an opinion piece on the editorial page said MCA's stand was a "shrewd" and "selfish" political decision.

The article, written by Shamsul Akmar, said MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik's statement a day after the BN supreme council meeting over the issue should "make him quite popular among the Chinese educationists and those believe in the superiority of Mandarin in the teaching of the two subjects".

Ling had said the four Chinese-based parties wanted mother-tongue to be retained for the two subjects in Chinese primary schools and suggested that the students could attend extra classes in English after school hours.