The Dong Zong extremists are up to no good again, they want to rally some more to protest about the Gomen plan in the National Education Blueprint (NEB) to increase the hours for teaching BM in Chinese Schools, it threatens the Chinese Schools they say:
I do not want to discuss the merits or demerits of Dong Zong's constant demand to the Gomen which they say is based on Article 152 of the Constitution, our Perlembagaan lah. Now lets have a look shall we:
What the Judgement above says on the matter of Article 152(1):
"On the other hand, Abdoolcader J appears to have given a more restricted protection conferred by the proviso when he said at page 362 last paragraph:
It is further significant that proviso (152(1))
(a) speaks of ‘teaching or learning’ and omits the preposition ‘in’ thereafter.
It is quite clear that MU proposes to give instruction in its courses in Chinese,
whether as the only or the main medium of instruction,
whichever it is and the proviso accordingly affords no protection for that purpose.
The omission of the preposition cannot be repaired in view of the express language of the proviso and no interpretation by analogy in this regard can be resorted to either.
Words in a statute must be taken to be used correctly and exactly and the onus on those who assert that they are used loosely or inexactly is a heavy one (New Plymouth Borough Council v Taranaki Electric-Power Board (at page 682). It was laid down by the Privy Council in Ram Chunder Dutt v Jughesh Chunder Dutt that ‘arguments from analogy may arise where a principle of law is involved; but where the courts are dealing with the positive enactments of a statute, reasons founded upon analogies are scarcely applicable'."
The Judgement continues:
"The question therefore arises as to the true interpretation of proviso (a) to Article 152(1).
Having regard to the words used in the proviso, viz. “teaching or learning any other language” as opposed to “teaching or learning in any other language”,
I tend to agree with the restricted meaning enunciated by Abdoolcader J when dealing with schools or other educational institutions.
In my view, under proviso (a), although the National Language shall be the Malay language,
the usage of any other language other than for official purposes, is guaranteed;
so is the teaching or learning of any other language in schools, be it Chinese, Tamil, Arabic or English.
But there is nothing in proviso (a) to justify the extension of the protection to the operation of schools where the medium of instruction is Chinese, Tamil, Arabic or English.
This strict interpretation is consistent with
proviso (b) which guarantees the right of the Federal Government or any State Government to preserve and sustain the use and study of the language of any other community in the Federation.
Thus, the preservation and sustenance of usage of language of any other community is guaranteed.
So is the preservation and sustenance of study of any other community’s language,
but again there is no justification in extending the guarantee to the preservation and sustenance of study in the language of any other community in the absence of specific words to that effect.
Any other interpretation of proviso (a) would result in abusing the words used in the proviso.
It is absurd for instance to think that the proviso gives constitutional protection to teaching or learning in school where the medium of instruction is Russian or Japanese.
To my mind, the protection only extends to language but not to medium of instruction in schools.
In other words, no person shall be prohibited or prevented from teaching or learning Chinese or Tamil or, for that matter, any language which is not the national language in any school as a language subject,
but such protection does not extend to the teaching or learning in a school where the teaching or learning is in any other language.
As correctly stated by Abdoolcader J the omission of the preposition “in” after the words “teaching or learning” in proviso (a) makes the distinction necessary. In the event, it is my finding that the Accused is not guilty of sedition when he advocates for the closure of Tamil or Chinese schools. Whether or not such closure is advisable or feasible is, of course, another matter to be decided elsewhere and not in this court. There is nothing unlawful in allowing Chinese or Tamil schools to continue."
Ok now, it has been established in the Constitution that no person shall be prevented or prohibited from teaching or learning Chinese or Tamil etc, BUT it is also established that the teaching in schools where the teaching or learning in any other language (means Chinese or Tamil, Arabic etc.) other than Bahasa Malaysia is NOT protected by the Constitution.
In this, the Dong Zong and their supporters should be thankful to the BN led Federal Gomen who are instrumental in propagating the vernacular schools since Merdeka.
I do not agree with the BN Gomen policy on vernacular schools as I like many other Malaysians believed that vernacular schools does not contribute to a United and Prosperous Malaysia it will only give rise to polarization, discrimination and feelings of superiority (you knowlah same old, same old my education quality is better in my language than yours thinghy).
Our young are voluntarily segregated from early childhood and do not mix like they should in a multi-racial and multi-religious nation. They will grow up (and the signs are all there) not knowing the culture of others, thinking their race are superior and refuse to understand each other, they live in a vacuum, living separate lives speaking in different languages.
That is why I strongly support the Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua..Satu Bahasa, Satu Bangsa, Satu Negara initiative, with Bahasa Malaysia as the main Language, English strengthened and Mandarin or Tamil or any other mother tongue language be taught within the National Curriculum. Children who study and play together will grow up together, will understand each other better and its contribution to a United and Prosperous Malaysia will be enormous.
Coming down to earth, the BN Federal Gomen have already made iron clad guarantees that the vernacular schools will exist as long as Malaysian wants it, read here, I have come to accept that vernacular schools are here to stay as long as Malaysian wants it to exist.
However, after more than 50 years of Merdeka and realising that vernacular schools are producing Malaysians who could not string a proper sentence in Bahasa Malaysia, the Federal Gomen in a moment of genius had decided that the Bahasa Malaysia taught in the vernacular schools shall no longer be the watered down version of the national curriculum according to the NEB read; "Standard Bahasa Malaysia curriculum for all both government and vernacular primary schools - goal to abolish 'remove' class in secondary schools by 2017" Source here. I believed this is the Dong Zong's latest focus of complaint..more BM time means less time for our precious Mandarin they say...and screamed 'bloody murder' our Chinese Culture is being threatened never mind that there are many Malaysian Chinese who could not speak or speak Mandarin sparingly and surprise of surprises, their Chineseness still remained intact, some even more so. Don't get me wrong, this is a free country you can be as Chinese or as Malay or as Indian as you like as long as you don't break the Law and cause harm to others OK.
So Dong Zong, Despite the Constitution not giving protection to the vernacular schools, the Gomen in their great wisdom have given iron clad guarantees to all communities almost like sovereign bonds and say that vernacular schools shall exist as long as they are required by Malaysians.
The Chinese schools nor the Chinese Culture in Malaysia are in any imminent threat any time soon lah. So enough of these demos OK Dong Zong? while you guys feel 'banyak syiok' shouting among yourselves in an open field saying the Gomen is bad and threatens the Chinese schools and Chinese Culture blah blah, the world knows and recognizes Malaysia as the only country on planet earth outside of the People's Republic of China which recognizes Chinese Education in Mandarin.
Dong Zong needs to change its Pre-Merdeka mentalitylah, lets join other Malaysians who have moved on more than 50 years of Merdeka. How much Mandarin do you Dong Zong wants a Chinese in this country to know anyway? This is the country where we are blessed to be born in, and this will be the country where we will, God willing, be buried by our children. We live in this blessed multiracial and multi religious country called Malaysia, no race will be satisfied with what the Gomen can give to each community. Lets live and let live, we certainly cannot live in our own vacuum.
Having said all that, if the stubborn Dong Zong continues to exert pressure on the Gomen with their unreasonable and extreme demands, be warned, it could just cause enough aggravation to majority Malaysian that a future Future Federal Gomen will have no recourse but establish a Satu Sekolah Untuk Semua. Wishful thinking? Perhaps, but in a democracy where the majority makes up more than 65% of the population anything could happen.
