The demands of the Chinese educationist group Dong Zong and other similar organisations will isolate the Chinese from the mainstream of national education, said a Muslim NGO.

“Based on their demands, it seems to reveal the desire of the groups concerned to isolate a certain sector from the mainstream of national education.

NONE “And that it would sideline the important role and function of the national language also does not make sense,” said Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) president Amidi Abdul Manan in a statement today.

He also slammed one of the groups’ demands, that the teachers’ training syllabus be revised to ensure more Mandarin speaking teachers in Chinese schools.

“On this matter, Abim would like to ask, why don’t they instead revise the teachers’ training syllabus to ensure that more students in Chinese schools can speak Bahasa Malaysia?” said Amidi.

Quoting a study purportedly presented at the Malaysian Linguistics Association One-Day Seminar by one Nor Hashimah Jalaluddin, he claimed that 44.8 percent of Malaysian Chinese youths did not like to study the Malay language.

In addition, 72.1 percent of Malaysian Chinese youths purportedly felt that the language was unimportant, followed by Malaysian Kadazans (40 percent) and Malaysian Indians (37 percent).

“From this study, it clearly shows the need to form a suitable syllabus, since the value and position of the national language as the language of unity in this country fails to be appreciated and understood by the students,” he said.

Amidi said now is high-time to affirm the Malay language’s sovereignty as the national language by including it as a Rukun Negara principle.

“Therefore, every demand put forward by any party, especially if it impinges upon the fundamentals of the nation’s education system, ought to have as its objective the strengthening of unity between the races and building a society that understands and embraces the spirit of the Malaysian nation,” he said.

Abim is one of many Malay pressure groups to blast Dong Zong for its demands on Chinese education, amongst them the writers’ group Gapena , and the national language agency Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) who called the demands “ chauvanistic ”.