KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — Perkasa has supported the Johor crown prince’s call for single stream schools, alleging that the current system promotes racism among the Chinese and Indians.

Perkasa education bureau chief Datuk Sirajuddin Salleh said programmes to instil unity among Malaysians have so far been ineffective as they were only directed at adults and conducted periodically, noting that the multiracial country’s various ethnic communities continue to carry out activities according to their racial silos.

The member of the Bumiputera rights group said that the best time to cultivate unity among Malaysians is during their schooling period and as early as the kindergarten stage, but claimed that vernacular schools were preventing them from growing up to be part of a united society.

"The reality is, currently the children of the Chinese study in the Chinese national-type schools and the Indians’ children study in Tamil national-type schools. In other words, our education system is shaping the younger generation to practise racism, when we want them to be united instead when they grow up.

"Why not a Single Stream School? Just call it 1 MALAYSIA SCHOOL?” he said in a statement dated yesterday.

Insisting that vernacular schools would not be able to produce unity in Malaysia, he also accused those who want vernacular education to remain of being "hypocrites”.

"In such a situation, how can we hope for unity among them when they complete their schooling and are within the society? This means that the calls for unity made by the Chinese and Indian leaders are purely hypocritical if they still stubbornly insist on continuing vernacular education now.

He urged the government to immediately implement the single stream education system, which he said would be a more effective use of financial resources and human capital.

Sirajuddin added that the leaders of local ethnic communities should admit that the ultimate goal of all races was for peace and stability within the country.

"Don’t wait until ‘nasi menjadi bubur’ because if there is no unity, there will be chaos or civil war, and there will be no return anymore. Love our country and accept the SINGLE STREAM EDUCATION system,” he said, using the Malay equivalent for the proverb "there’s no use crying over spilt milk”.

Last Sunday, Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim mooted the introduction of a single-stream system dubbed "Bangsa Johor” schools and the abolition of vernacular schools in Johor, noting that the latter’s presence in the national education system had failed to realise the 1Malaysia concept launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

"You have Indian schools, you have Chinese schools, you have Malay schools. From small, you have taught them against uniting. Do you expect them to unite when they grow older?

"In the future, there will be no more Indian, Chinese, Malay schools in Johor,” he had said in a video from a dialogue session that was posted on the Johor Southern Tigers football team’s official Facebook page.

The Johor prince said the proposed "Bangsa Johor” schools will teach children in the state to unite and respect each other’s religions and ethnicities, but also said religious schools in Johor will not be abolished.

Last month, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said that promoting affinity to individual states over the country will divide Malaysians, in response to the "Bangsa Johor” notion previously raised by the state’s crown prince as a concept uniting all Johor residents without regard to race.

In response, Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar had warned those who are ill-informed of the concept to not speak about it with authority, after cautioning Dr Mahathir to keep his nose out of matters related to his state.