Johor Sultan: Follow S’pore Education System

(The Sun Daily) – Follow Singapore’s education system with English as the medium of instruction.

This was the call by the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar (pix), at the opening ceremony of Johor state legislative assembly today.

“Singapore’s system has proven to be successful … (it has) helped to unite the races (there),” he added.

“What we can emulate from Singapore is the unity which has been fostered by its single-stream education system which uses English language as the medium.

“I urge the people of Johor to be open-minded about the national education system and be willing to change for the prosperity of the people.

“I am confident a single stream school education system will produce a society that is united as well as competitive to face challenges to come,” the Sultan said.

He added that if the education system continues to be based on race and language, there will always be a gap between the diverse communities in Malaysia.

On the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Sultan Ibrahim said the state government should exempt local government services from the new tax regime.

“It is ridiculous to impose GST on local government services because it is the duty of local governments to render such services,” he said, adding that GST on local government services will only burden the rakyat.

The Sultan said he disagrees with the Johor Housing and Real Property Board Bill 2014, which was passed in June, last year.

He said if he approved the bill, it would not be in line with existing enactments which have been working well for a long time.

He asked the state assembly to make some amendments to the bill.

“The bill was amended because of pressure from ‘outsiders’ (orang luar) as people did not understand the role of the ruler in the Johor government.”

The ruler said the principle of “Johor must be Johor”(Johor mesti jadi Johor) should prevail.