Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

April 21, 2021

MOE to Redress Untrue History Learning Materials Urged—

Establishment of Cross Ethnic Experts Committee for Review Proposed

Of late, the History learning materials published by the MOE once again triggered disputes; some scholars pointed out the extant History coursebooks have long been focusing on ethnic Malay and Islam and they either provide little contents or mention nothing for other ethnic groups thus cannot reflect the inherent reality of the country. Informed by this, Dong Jiao Zong herewith urges the Ministry of Education to take immediate measures to redress the shortcomings of secondary school History coursebooks introduced by the Ministry.

In reality, the History coursebooks for primary and secondary schools published by the MOE have been known to embed strong unary element, excludability and distorted imbalance in presentation, apart from not comprehensively reflecting the country’s multiracial, multicultural and multi-religious inherence; they therefore ended up not embodying national history spirit. It not only misleads the students, but also makes it hard for new generations to genuinely and comprehensively learn about her history. Moreover, students from particular ethnic groups and Sabah as well as Sarawak will feel like being excluded and marginalised. What is happening backfires the country’s pluralistic inherence and the generated disputes have long been compromising national integrity and belongingness which is detrimental to the stability and advancement of the country. We hence believe the government needs to honestly redress and address this severe issue.

The National Unity Blueprint 2021-2030 forwarded in February this year has mentioned its intent to promote national unity via History education. In view of this, Dong Jiao Zong urges the government to honour its promises by convening learned experts and educators to set up a committee for the solution of the various problems generated by the History coursebooks, including the review of History curriculum in the National Curriculum Standard and Assessment Document (DSKP), as well as the composition of writing team for History coursebooks and supervision committee jointly formed by experts and educators from different ethnic groups including Sabahans and Sarawakians.

We believe, the rampant spread of racial and religious extremism and scurrilous speeches are caused by the unary mindset exhibited by the government in its governance over the years, yet the government has not positioned itself immediately and addressed the problems, and it is disappointing and worrying to the people. We also reckon, the government should take immediate actions and enforce preventive measures when the said matter occurs and not simply tight-lipped leaving it to worsen and ravage. Take for instance, in the recent racialisation of the Physical Exercise subject which regulated certain sports to be reserved for particular ethnic group in a national high school (Batu Pahat), the government was expected to take initiative and immediate action to redress the issue.

The secondary school curriculum standard of the MOE highlights the objectives of higher order thinking and critical thinking. Zong Jiao Zong opines, the government needs to redesign and reformulate the curricular objectives and outlines of History education in such a way to provide leeway for students to discuss, reflect and make comments in History learning, for the fostering of a ready listener for diverse views, as well as the broadening of their eyesight in a bid to develop their reasoning competency, if not more, to eventually be an open-minded person with a sense of belonging.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

April 19, 2021

Subang UMNO Division’s Ethnic Differentiation Decried—

Construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing Logical and Reasonable

Dong Jiao Zong regrets over Subang UMNO division chief Armand Azha Abu Hanifah’s calling for the opposition of the construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing (Bandar Kinrara) in Puchong Selangor and deems the act decriable. Herewith Dong Jiao Zong forwards its statement proper as follows:

1. Dong Jiao Zong posits, Bandar Kinrara is a densely populated town in which the population is predominantly Chinese. Since there is no vernacular Chinese primary school in its vicinity and the neighbouring vernacular Chinese primary schools are fully enrolled, the construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing to meet the educational needs of its Chinese population is both imminent and pressing. Dong Jiao Zong also opines, the multi stream education system belongs to the main stream of national education and is the country’s advantage, besides being assured by the Constitution. Moreover, it is also regulated in the Education Act that vernacular Chinese primary school can be constructed if need be. In this sense, the construction of vernacular Chinese primary schools in Bandar Kinrara is both logical and reasonable. Dong Jiao Zong similarly believes, Subang UMNO division chief Armand Azha Abu Hanifah’s calling for the opposition of the construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing is an ethnic-differentiation-provoking act and the incitation of racial hatred; it factually harms national unity and thus this irresponsible act should be decried severely.

As informed, racial extremism has gone rampant these years and a growing number of politicians and organisations are acting maliciously to compromise national integrity and unity, including the call for the closure of vernacular schools, the challenge of the right of vernacular Chinese and Tamil primary schools in the court and the objection of the construction of vernacular Chinese primary school. These acts are mushrooming for the worst and have brought about negative impact to the entire nation. Dong Jiao Zong reckons, the ruling Perikatan Nasional government recognises the Constitution and Rukun Negara as the basis for national unity promotion and thus in the face of these detrimental acts, it cannot simply stage a war of words but needs to put it into actions and stand out for multi stream education system at the first moment, as well as taking deterrent measures to curb and stop any harmful speeches or acts towards multi stream education system in a bid to end the continuous fracture of the pluralistic society.

Dong Jiao Zong hereby reiterates, although the medium of instruction in vernacular Chinese primary schools is Chinese, students from all ethnic groups are welcome to register for studies. Of late, the successful operation of vernacular Chinese primary schools has won the recognisation of non-Chinese parents and it saw a surge in non-Chinese student enrollment. In addition, the MOE statistics also show that there are currently 20 percent of non-Chinese students studying in vernacular Chinese primary school nationwide of which vernacular Chinese schools markedly enjoy the highest percentage of interethnic students among all vernacular schools. This very fact indicates students of different ethnic groups can learn happily together and it in actuality promotes interethnic acceptance and understanding.

Records further show, multi-stream schools have existed for over two hundred years in Malaysia; they not only enrich the characteristics of a pluralistic society but also proves that the several-decade existence of multi stream schools is never a stumbling stone to national unity. In this vein, Dong Jiao Zong urges all sectors in the country, particularly politicians, to discern the pluralistic inherence of the country as well as the existence and development of multi stream schools which indeed are congruent with the actual needs of all ethnic groups. Therefore, Dong Jiao Zong hopes that this act of using multi stream schools as an excuse to attain one’s political interests to compromise national integrity and unity needs to be halted.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

April 19, 2021

Mahathir’s Recalcitrant Education Mindset Denunciated—

Unary Thinking Backfires Education Advancement

To Dong Jiao Zong’s deepest regret, the former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad reraised the ‘Vision School Project’ in a bid to promote unary education, insisting that mother tongue education compromises national integrity and unity. Dong Jiao Zong opines, despite assuming the Prime Minister post twice, after the debacle of the Pakatan Harapan government, Mahathir is still obsessed with the will to realise unary education in the country through the implementation of Vision School. This very fact reveals his deny of pluralistic value and ignorance of multiplicity inherence.

We realise Mahathir’s education belief is one of technological superstition that belittles humanity and embraces English learning as well as being indifferent towards pluralism. As history reveals, Mahathir being the Prime Minister had stubbornly devoted in the implementation of Vision School Project and the use of English in Science and Math teaching that ended up as failures; it not only wasted public funds and education resource for several years, but also made the students guinea pigs in his illusive experiment.  Now that he is beating over the old ground and it vividly shows his recalcitrancy and want of reflective capability, apart from his outdated education mindset which is reversing the wheel of history.

The cultural diversity of Malaysia owed much to the multi stream education preserved since independence until today which fosters generations of social pillars and is a unique resource of the country. The practice of multicultural education is a hardcore reality and cannot be denied. The attempt to administer the Vision School Project to eliminate ethnic division is factually not getting the gist and overlooking ethnic disputes generated by policy discrepancy and political hypes that widens the ethnic gap. As such, the so-called Vision School Project is an ostensible harmony at best and its core dispute is yet to be addressed.

Mother tongue is the instrumental vehicle for ethnic interactions and the emblem for one’s culture and identity. To promote mother tongue education equates the dissemination of multiculturalism. The safeguard of one’s mother tongue as well as multi stream education system translates the embodiment of identification and respect for this soil. The existence of multi stream schools owed to the persistency on mother tongue education; though their medium of instruction varies, they accord the national curriculum formulated, executed and imparted by the MOE to foster identical knowledge and value and are open to all ethnic groups for enrollment. The allegation that mother tongue education compromises national unity is unwarranted; both the government and non-government sectors should be cautious of the inconsistent policy enacted by the MOE to avoid disappointment in national education.

Our country has experienced two rounds of political turn-taking in governance, one may wonder if the national education policy will keep abreast of the times and be up-to-date. All sectors in the country are prevailingly concerned about it; if the government and private sectors have no intention to reform education thoroughly, this unary thinking will continuously corrode social foundation at the expense of students at large.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

April 15, 2021

Political Commitment from Government and Public is Called for—

Full Force Solution for Jawi Script Learning Dispute Expected

Dong Jiao Zong hereby urges both the government and private sectors to show political commitment and courage by putting their feet on the ground to solve the Jawi script dispute in full force, rather than pointing fingers at each other while staging a war of words. The fact being, 98 percent of the vernacular Chinese primary schools disagree with the Jawi script learning; the will of the parents is telling thus the MOE needs to respond as anticipated by putting the measure aside. On the other hand, government and non-government politicians are obliged to jointly push the ruling government to abandon this public opinion defiling implementation.

The recent allegation of Dong Jiao Zong’s indecisiveness in its stance on the Jawi script learning was one of unfair and unfounded which defies the truth and is misleading. As a matter of fact, Dong Jiao Zong has been consistent on its ground and never opposed to the Jawi calligraphy learning but merely disagrees with the learning approach implemented by the MOE which in actual fact defies our country’s multicultural inherence. We reckon, on the contrary, the government needs to refer to the existing Grade Five Bahasa Melayu coursebook in its introduction of calligraphies of all ethnic groups to primary students, including Chinese, Tamil, Jawi and various indigenous groups from east Malaysia as the approach is more viable, appropriate and had been approved by the Deputy Education Minister Mah Hang Soon. In the meantime, we insist that the school boards of vernacular schools should be included in decision making on the said matter; therefore, we hope the government will put the Jawi script learning implementation aside as well as convening relevant Chinese and Tamil stakeholders, let alone education representatives from east Malaysia to mull over the besetting matter.

Dong Jiao Zong has been consistent in its ground to attentively supervise educational implementation from the former Pakatan Harapan government to the present Perikatan Nasional government. Last July, the Education Minister Radzi Jidin had consented to review the Jawi script learning in vernacular schools in a parliament statement; to our regret, six months has since passed yet no follow-up is seen. Worse still, the government did not seem to hear the disagreeing voice from both the Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools as it instead posted Jawi script learning questionnaire to parents asking for decision which again generates disappointments and worries.

Witnessing the MOE’s all mouths in the matter, we sincerely hope both the government and non-government politicians are ready to be accountable as well as seeing the case from the perspective of education professionalism to jointly solve the Jawi script learning dispute. Nonetheless, Dong Jiao Zong will continue to supervise the MOE’s education implementation attentively. By the same token, Dong Jiao Zong appreciates comments and examination from all walks of life.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

March 8, 2021

Diversity Inherence Should Be Embodied in National Unity Blueprint—

Espouse Cross Ethnic Interaction to Rid of Unitary Thinking

The National Unity Strategy and National Unity Blueprint 2021-2030 (henceforth The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint) launched by the Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on 15 February contains three aspirations and 12 strategies, as well as 41 transformation strategies. The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint details the government’s action plan to achieve goals set out in the National Unity Policy, which among others, aim to foster national integration based on the key pillars of the Federal Constitution and Rukun Negara. Dong Zong opines it agreeable as the Federal Constitution is the basis of constitutional democracy and national unity which assures people the freedom of religion and the right to learn and use their mother tongue; yet the core value of Rukun Nagara is to unite the citizens to eventually create a fair and equal society thus to narrow disparities among the people while treating the cultural tradition of other ethnic groups freely. As such, the government needs to promote national unity on pluralistic ground to ensure the execution of the said policies which is complied with the spirit of the Federal Constitution and Rukun Nagara.

It goes on page six of The National Strategy and Blueprint, ‘the definition of unity is generally to create a common and unified national identity, take for instance, one nation and her language.’ Yet due to the multiracial, multilingual, multireligious and multicultural inherence of our country, the concept of ‘unity in diversity’ is emphasised in The National Strategy and Blueprint to uphold the harmony of a pluralistic society. In fact, Dong Jiao Zong reckons it narrow minded to equate national identity with unitary culture identification as it defies the multiracial reality of the country and thus backfires national integrity and social harmony. Attributed to this, Dong Zong deems the government’s taking ‘unity in diversity’ as the direction of national unity correct only that it needs to be reflected through specific policies and executive plans and not mere exuberant verbosity on paper.

In the meantime, if the ‘nation state’ mentioned on page 27 of The National Strategy and Blueprint focuses only on a unitary thinking ‘nation state’, the multiethnic inherence of the country on matters of national integrity and harmony will be folded as this model poses injustice governance and conflicts with the ‘unity in diversity’ emphasised in the document. Our country is a multiracial structured society and thus it needs to be aligned with the concept of ‘multicultural state’ so that freedom of religions and welfare will be assured for the enjoyment of prosperity and advancement no regards of ethnic groups. In this train of thought, Dong Jiao Zong herewith urges the government to clarify its position and negotiate readily with all racial communities intensively in a bid to pool opinions and ideas for the genuine practice of ‘unity in diversity’.

It is proven diversity and unity can fare abreast not contradicting each other; the fundamental prerequisites of steady development in a multiracial nation are harmony and national integrity between the ethnic groups and this must be built on fair policies or else the foundation of nation building will be eroded. As a matter of fact, since independence, all ethnic groups have long been upholding the spirit of ‘seeking common ground while reserving differences’ for nation building. Unfortunately, the ruling government has not rendered fair treatment on the educational, economic, cultural and social domain, let alone the deliberate distortion of truth committed by a sizeable number of political parties, organisations and individuals by airing racial and religious comments of extreme; they are truly in many ways impeding national unity. Weighing on this, Dong Jiao Zong posits, for the realisation of genuine national unity, the government needs to treat all ethnic groups equally; whereas on the provocation of sensitive sentiments, like the closure proposal of multi-stream schools, the government should stand out forthwith to safeguard the system and not tight-lipped as well as letting them indulge in disputes detrimental to national development.

Diverse streams of school have coexisted and advanced in our country for over two centuries; they are the precious resource and competitive advantage of the nation which enrich the characteristic of a diverse society. The existence of these schools as a phenomenon denies the claim that multiple stream education is a hinderance to national integrity and harmony since their curriculums are attuned with the national curriculum formalised by the MOE and thus sharing common core values. To our regret, this multiple stream education system is not prominently recognised in The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint, it otherwise claims that Vision Schools help racial understanding and quicken the pace of national integrity instead (The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint: 40). Dong Jiao Zong strongly disagrees with this comment and reiterates its opposition towards the establishment of Vision Schools, understanding the eventual goal of Vision Schools is to ‘gradually realise the aim of using Bahasa Melayu as the common medium of instruction for all streams of schools’ which will subsequently terminate the use of mother tongue as medium of instruction in both vernacular Chinese and Tamil primary schools. Many research findings have indicated that the implementation of Vision Schools was unsuccessful notwithstanding these schools shared common facilities, they could not withstand the long existing firewall formed by external factors over the decades and thus could not meet the objectives of effective communication and integrity in form.

We reckon that putting schools of diverse streams under one roof stubbornly is not a strategic approach; nonetheless, the contacts and interactions between the schools need to be enforced for national integrity (The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint: 39). We understand the ultimate goal of The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint is to enhance contact and interactions between all streams of schools nationwide for better mutual understanding and national integrity. In fact, all streams of schools have been holding sports meets and cross-ethnic cultural activities under the Student Integration Plan for Unity (RIMUP) and achieved fruitful results. Moreover, for the past couple of years, independent Chinese secondary schools likewise have been enforcing interactions with private religious schools initiatively through the organisation of cross ethnic activities.

Dong Jiao Zong respects the constitutional status of Bahasa Melayu as the national language and has striven hard to promote Bahasa Melayu proficiency in both vernacular Chinese primary schools and independent Chinese secondary schools. In addition, Dong Jiao Zong also urges the ruling government to intensively interact and discuss education issues with ICSS teachers and relevant education organisations thus to bring about effective Bahasa Melayu learning approaches for non-Malay learners to command the language. Similarly, we also believe the government needs to forward concrete projects to encourage students in all streams to learn more additional languages and cultures for ethnic understanding and national unity.

We affirm Bahasa Melayu as the language of national unity as emphasised in The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint and are proactively pushing the use of Bahasa Melayu in Chinese schools, yet we expect the government to fairly treat mother tongue education of other ethnic groups and should not marginalise non-Malay mother tongue education. It is pointed out in The National Unity Strategy and Blueprint, for the goal of national unity, the understanding and appreciation of national History should be observed. Unfortunately, the History coursebooks published by the MOE do not in any way reflect the reality of multiracial, multicultural and multireligious inherence. This defect should be rectified as it will end up causing the upcoming generations to misunderstand national history and worse still, be misled. Dong Jiao Zong believes that History coursebooks should be redacted in congruence with the diverse reality of the country, including the reaffirmation of dedications shown by different ethnic groups in nation building; it is intended for the foster of mutual understanding, respect and friendly cooperation towards national integrity and unity.

Dong Jiao Zong opines, if the Perikatan Nasional government intends to promote national unity, it must accept the country’s historical gene of diversity and abandons unitary ruling model thoroughly, as well as redressing enactments which harm national integrity. Moreover, the government needs to prevent racial and religious speech and acts of extreme by law aiming to improve the political ecology of the nation for cohesion such that all people can work towards a bright future altogether with concerted efforts.