Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali has lauded the National Writer's Association's (Gapena) opposition to Chinese education rights group Dong Zong's plans to submit a memorandum to the prime minister.

He said last night that he was ‘relieved' to read about Gapena president Abdul Latiff Abu Bakar's press conference on Thursday, where he urged the government not to adopt multilingualism as part of the national education policy.

NONE At the press conference, Abdul Latiff ( left ) also expressed willingness to hold talks with Dong Zong on how to uplift Bahasa Malaysia in Chinese schools.

To that point, Ibrahim said, "If the meeting between Gapena and Dong Zong materialises, Perkasa is prepared to participate and meet Dong Zong to discuss issues regarding national education and the Malay language's place as the national language."

Dong Zong, formally known as the United Chinese School Committees Association, announced last week that it and seven other NGOs are preparing a 10-point memorandum to be submitted to the prime minister at the end of the month.

They intend to address long-standing issues such as the shortage of teachers and lack of government recognition for the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) issued by Chinese schools.

Perkasa joins national language agency Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) and several NGOs in opposing the memorandum that purportedly also called for multilingualism, such as Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) and the Malay Consultative Council (MPM).

In his speech last night at the launch of Perkasa's Selangor headquarters in Shah Alam, Ibrahim also said the Malaysian Chinese should return to MCA while Malaysian Malays should support Umno.

He said that the country is peaceful because Umno was willing to share power with other races especially through MCA, and both parties are willing to make compromises.

This, he said, is only possible because both parties enjoyed majority support from their respective voter bases prior to the 2008 general election.

"Only a few support PAS, which uses religious issues for political mileage; only a few support DAP, which uses ‘chauvinist politics'.

"Therefore for the good of the Chinese, for the good of the Malays, in the name of unity, our future, and peace in Malaysia, I urge the Malays to return to Umno and the Chinese to return to MCA and God willing we would ensure the security of Malaysia," he said.