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'Chinese schools sow racism': Prof doubles down, says Teresa in denial
Teo Kok Seong has defended his charge that Chinese schools propagate racism, which led to DAP lawmaker Teresa Kok calling for the police to investigate the principal fellow with the National Professors Council.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, he also said Kok was in “denial” over the realities among the Chinese Malaysian community.
Teo Kok Seong has defended his charge that Chinese schools propagate racism, which led to DAP lawmaker Teresa Kok calling for the police to investigate the principal fellow with the National Professors Council.
Speaking to Malaysiakini, he also said Kok was in “denial” over the realities among the Chinese Malaysian community.
“I did not say anything wrong. Everything that I had said is correct. It is the reality of conversations among the Chinese community,” he added.
Teo claimed that conversations with a negative perception of the Malay and Indian communities were a norm among generations of Chinese in Malaysia, and this has become more visible with the advent of social media.
“The comments (on social media) are largely disparaging of the Malays,” said the former principal fellow with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute for Ethnic Studies.
Teo had first raised the issue during an interview with The Merdeka Times.
“The reporter asked ‘Why do such (racial) problems still persist today?’, so I stated the truth.
“One of the reasons (for the situation) was that I found the Chinese have looked down on the Malays.
“They refuse to integrate. They will only learn the basic (Malay language) to pass examinations, but object when asked to do more,” he alleged.
Teo, who was involved in drafting the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025, claimed that even Malays and Indians are aware of this sentiment among the Chinese community.
In a TikTok video posted by The Merdeka Times, the professor claimed that vernacular schools can be a stumbling block to national unity as Chinese students who were less intelligent could only master the Mandarin language, preventing communication with other races.
‘Assimilation better for unity’
Teo, who was born in Kelantan, claimed that even his Peranakan community had faced discrimination from the majority of Chinese who did not assimilate with the local culture.
At the same time, he said the Peranakan Chinese also looked down on the local Siamese community, but he grew up to realise that the ethnic minority was better off due to their bumiputera status.
“Such views are ingrained and so, yes, she’s in a state of denial,” Teo insisted when commenting on Kok’s remarks.
Unlike neighbouring countries Indonesia and Thailand with past administrations that enforced the assimilation of ethnic Chinese with the majority, Teo said prominent Chinese leaders in Malaysia had consistently resisted such plans.
“We (Malaysia) chose integration, and the outcome of it can be seen today,” he added.
On the contrary, Teo argued that minority Chinese and Indians in Malaysia who chose to assimilate with the Malay culture and create their own sub-ethnic groups including Baba Nyonya and Chitties have been more well accepted by the majority.
“While there was a strong resistance against assimilation, it can be seen how it has been better for the unity of the people,” he added.
In her debate of the royal address in Parliament yesterday, Kok condemned Teo’s “racist and twisted statements” which she claimed distorted the relationship between the Malay and Chinese communities.
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Vernacular schools are not the stumbling blocks to national unity. If having a common eduacation system is the answer, then why is the United States of America such a divided country. The Africans who went as slaves were assimilated forcefully or otherswise. Do the African Americans feel the same way as the White Americans? Do the White Americans accept African Americans as equals? Down deep inside.
I will start off by reciting the dictionary meaning of racism, which is "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalised". Let's look first at what happens to non Chinese students in Chinese vernacular schools. They are not marginalised nor discriminated against while at the school, they are most definitely not asked to eat next to the toilet; and there is no demand that they assimilate with chinese culture while they are there at the risk of being marginalised or even ostracised. If there was discrimination or racism (against non chinese students) in chinese vernacular schools, we would have most certainly heard of it very loudly numerous times from the mainstream press or from Malay/Muslim politicians by now. Equally crucial is why have we not heard from non chinese alumni of these schools any confirmation that indeed racism or discrimination is sowed there? So Mr. Professor, where is the evidence that Chinese schools sow racism? Why do non chinese parents continue to send their precious children to these schools in increasing numbers despite the innumerable attempts to discredit and paint these schools in a bad light through statements such as the one made by this professor and politicians over the decades? There have also been numerous failed attempts to declare these schools as illegal and unconstitutional. If indeed there was solid, credible evidence that these schools sow racism, no doubt these attempts in the courts right up to the highest level would have been met with resounding success by now. Now let's look at what happens in Malaysia as a whole in the context of that dictionary definition. Who is actually being marginalised and discriminated against? In education, particulary in places in local tertiary education and government scholarships for students who have excelled in their secondary education. In the Civil Service in all fields, both in recruitment and also promotions, in government policy in promoting business and advancing the Malaysian economy as a whole, who can deny that government policy is biased and blatantly discriminatory in favour of a particular race? True meritocracy has been abandoned a long, long time ago. Sowing racism? It happens and is practiced every day in Malaysia and is even encouraged as long as it's in favour of a particular majority (not minority) race. Yes, indeed there is racism sowed in Malaysia, with the true picture being the total opposite of the lie that this so called professor is advancing.
Truth hurts!…
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