1-School system and 1-Malaysia

ARCHIVES 2009

By admin-s On Nov 3, 2009

By Dr. Rafick

1. Past week few people commented about the need of having a single stream school system in Malaysia. Najib as anticipated played down the issue by saying that it will not be implemented if the people do not want it. As Malaysian, we need to ask ourselves which is more important, political survival of some politicians or the need to be one, as a nation.

2. Some people may argue that the country has progressed over the last 52 years with the current system in place. There isn’t a need to change because education index among Malaysian is high, per capita income is high. We have many highways and tall buildings. Are these criteria enough to measure the maturity and success of a nation?

3. Former Propaganda Minister, Zainuddin Maidin said “Malaysia should emulate Singapore’s single stream school system so as to produce a population that “no longer spoke and acted on racial sentiments”. Well, there is some truth about what the Zainuddin is saying but it is not the only reason. Singapore became what it is today, because of strong political leadership with political will and strong governance. They had one mission and the mission remains the same since 1965. In Malaysia, it is not the same. For e.g. One PM came with out with Islam Hadhari and the next PM made it into “Islam hari hari”. The point I am trying to get at is that our goals change with the PM of the country.

4. The key point that we must accept is that after 52 years of implementing the present education system, the people of this country are still divided along racial lines. The current system of education does not promote trust between the people. It becomes a sore point among many people in the street. We must appreciate that the current system is in place because some people felt it is a must to maintain their mother tongue and the politicians who pushed this ideology did it for the sake of themselves and not the country, Malaysia. These are the very people who govern the nation for 52 years and place their interest first before the nation. I believe it is time to move forward.