YOURSAY | ‘The case should have been struck off in the first place.’

High Court rules vernacular schools are constitutional

Dr Raman Letchumanan: While we welcome the judgment by High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who ruled that vernacular schools are constitutional, we should note that this matter should not have gone to court in the first place.

The Constitution is very clear on this provision, one of the few 'privileges' accorded to non-Malays such as vernacular schools, freedom of religion and worship, etc. Yet, each one of these gets challenged by the racist and religious bigots almost every other day.

Imagine if a non-Malay had challenged Article 153 or even asked for fairness in its implementation. Hundreds of police reports would have been made, and the person would be slapped with multiple charges, including sedition.

But this case goes all the way to court, and luckily an upright judge ruled in accordance with the Constitution. The case should have been struck off in the first place.

Even more alarming are the educated plaintiff and their learned lawyers, people we expect are liberal, tolerant and democratic. Many would have been western-educated in western languages.

To me, such people are the ones agitating for these kinds of divisive issues, not the ordinary Malays. The fact many Malays are registering their children in vernacular schools is because they want a better education for their children.

They cannot afford to send their children overseas, like these elite troublemakers who clamour to close down vernacular schools but send their children to international schools or overseas.

Anyway, the case is not over yet. There will be appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court, where decisions can be made by a simple majority. I wonder what punitive costs were made by this judge to stop such frivolous suits.

As the judge said, we are fortunate the Constitution is clear. He cautioned he would not interfere on matters of the legislature like national unity, national identity, etc. This is an ominous warning.

Malaysia Bharu: Thank you, Mohd Nazlan, for your sound judgment that has helped allay the fears of those who support mother-tongue education and the existence of vernacular schools that has been an integral part of the education system from pre-independent days.

Those that challenge vernacular schools as being a barrier against national unity must understand that the main cause of disunity is the absence of a level-playing field where Malaysians are treated fairly and equally without racial or religious discrimination.

Dividing the people at every turn and hollering national unity is self-defeating. Get that right and unity will fall in place automatically.

While Bahasa Malaysia is accepted as the national language and has its rightful place in our education system, the notion that a monolingual education system is the panacea for national unity is a misconception.

Mat M Din: The blame should squarely be placed on the shoulders of the government for pivoting the non-Malays for the prevailing need to set up vernacular schools. They need them to ensure that their children's access to good education is guaranteed.

National schools, which lay strong emphasis on Malay nationalism instead of Malaysian nationalism and less emphasis on the quality of education, has resulted in the deterioration of the quality of education. It is the main reason why the non-Malays and elite Malay parents are reluctant to send their children to national schools.

The government should think seriously of its folly in its high investment in education which is only able to produce half-baked educated children.

To redress the failure in improving the quality of its education, the government should take bold measures to make radical changes in its educational system.

It has been suggested that two mediums of instruction, Malay and English, be used in national schools - English for teaching mathematics and science, and Malay for the rest of the subjects. It is also suggested that the teaching of vernacular languages, Chinese and Tamil, be upgraded and improved.

If these new measures could be properly implemented, which will result in raising the quality of its education in national schools, there is no reason why they are still a need for setting up vernacular schools.

The dream of all Malaysians to see their children studying and mixing harmoniously in national schools, not vernacular schools, will finally be fulfilled.

BobbyO: We should prepare our future generations to reach for the stars. With IT (information technology) changing every day, our children must be future proof. If not, they will end up as slaves working for their ‘progressive’ foreign masters.

China and India are going to be future giants in the economic sense. The population figures together come up to nearly half the world's population.

That is why we should encourage our future generations to add as many foreign languages as possible into their curriculum. It will help them to move up the ladder of success much faster.

Vijay47: At first glance, it may seem that the lead news items - economist Edmund Terence Gomez’s resignation and the vernacular school court decision - are two distinctly separate issues. Not so.

To our undying shame and sorrow, they reflect how a once-vibrant united nation has been brought to its knees by crooks, racists, and fanatics. Yet despairing as the future appears, we may be down but not out, not as long as there are brave voices to stand for the honest and fair.

Of the MACC panel matter, I will, like most Malaysians, believe the Gomez version of what actually transpired. It is shocking but perhaps not unexpected that the gatekeeper allows wolves to rampage dressed in sheep’s clothing. The only facet more pathetic is the sorry stories the shepherd comes out with.

Corruption, financial abuse of authority, the inevitable brother-in-law projects have progressed from aberration to vocation with the perpetrators being actually accepted as national heroes seeking only to improve their golfing handicap.

Corruption has turned into a virtue and to certain Malaysians become part of the culture as much as nasi lemak. How far we have fallen from Aug 31, 1957, and Sept 16, 1963. Our diverse races, cultures, and religions were then warmly embraced as our strength and our pride.

Where else in the whole world can people celebrate Christmas one day, Chinese New Year the next, followed soon enough by Deepavali, Hari Gawai and Kaamatan, and Hari Raya. The ability to speak several languages was the icing, another feather in the cap.

Today, forces are out to unravel what the Constitution wisely provided for and protected. The move against vernacular schools was spawned only out of envy and the dog-in-the-manger attitude because, as in New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary’s words, “it is there”.

They will continue trying, even relying on imported mercenaries since they themselves do not have the wit to succeed in anything without crutches.

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