Influential Chinese education group Dong Jiao Zong is dismayed by Malay dailies Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian for twisting the group's recent statement on the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English.

A protest letter was sent to the two dailies yesterday, urging them to be fair in their coverage of the group and to publish in full its statement issued on Monday.

"Dong Jiao Zong regrets the misleading coverage which twisted our statement. The coverage is dangerous as it deliberately projects us as a chauvinist group which rejects the use of English and confuses the public over our stand," read the letter which was made available to malaysiakini .

"If such accusations are allowed to go on, it will make the people hate Dong Jiao Zong.

Not means towards end

The main story on Berita Malaysia and Utusan Malaysia yesterday, which carried the headlines 'Chinese chauvinists reject new formula' and 'Two Chinese NGOs object', respectively, was on Dong Jiao Zong's first meeting on Monday since the alternative implementation of English in Chinese primary schools was approved by the cabinet last week.

Dong Jiao Zong is the collective name for United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) of Malaysia and United Chinese School Teachers Association of Malaysia (Jiao Zong).

At the meeting, the group maintained its objections to the imminent implementation, saying that while it supports the government's aim to upgrade English proficiency among students, the use of English in teaching the two technical subjects is not a means towards that end.

The group also said it had noted the importance of English as a communication language in this information era and proposed to the government since the early 1980s that English classes should start at Standard One.

It listed down seven points on its four-page press statement which was distributed to reporters at the press conference after the meeting.

Voicing concerns

Dong Zong chief executive officer Bock Tai Hee when contacted today said that the movement was just voicing its concerns and advising the government from an impartial, education angle.

He urged the two Malay dailies to be fair in treating all groups and to give a full picture of the issue instead of being selective about their coverage.

"We hope Dong Jiao Zong will not be projected and condemned as an extremist group just because of our objections. The group has been around since the country's independence, established with the aim of preserving mother tongue education," he said.

The group has been the most vocal opponent to the language switch since it was proposed in May by the Umno supreme council after rejecting Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's proposal to bring back English-medium schools.

For that, Dong Jiao Zong was branded "extremists" by the premier and warned not to "play with fire".

However, the label was lifted off last month when Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Hueng said the movement was not extreme as it falls neither in the religious nor racial categories of extremism as set by the ministry.