UMNO AGM An Umno delegate has suggested that the government establish a special commission to monitor and improve the country’s vernacular schools.

The move is necessary to determine whether such schools truly appreciate the national agenda, said Terengganu delegate Wan Abdul Hakim Wan Mokhtar at the Umno general assembly today.

This is to ensure that the spirit of patriotism  remains strong in the hearts of students, he added.

"The headache is not the many types of schools, it is whether these schools appreciate the national agenda," he said.

Hakim cited a case where 604 Chinese and Indian national service trainees could not speak Bahasa Malaysia properly and an MP who allegedly did not know the date of the country's Independence Day.

"If they can't even talk properly, what will happen to national unity?" he queried.

"Is this one of the reasons why respect and tolerance among races continues to slide ?"

Meanwhile, Wanita Umno delegate Rahimah Mohamad said that feelings of distrust and jealousy among the rakyat was evident and the spirit of patriotism continues to spiral down.

"That's why Wanita Umno agrees with Terengganu (Wan Abdul Hakim) for a special commission to be established to determine how far the various types of schools are able to create a patriotic generation.

She added that the commission will act as a monitoring body to ensure race polarisation does not become the agenda.

"We reject extremism and race polarisation from becoming our value system," she said.

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