AUGUST 13 — Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Razali Ibrahim, who has been strongly condemned for his remarks claiming Chinese vernacular schools (SJKC) to be the main cause of racial division in our country, said that his remarks were misinterpreted as he was just urging for no more requests to build Chinese primary schools as the priority now is to promote national unity. He even asked: “What’s wrong with my remarks?”

Obviously, Razali does not think that his remarks are inappropriate. More ridiculously, he even tried to cover his remarks of “undermining national unity” in the name of “promoting national unity”.

In fact, Razali’s remarks have exposed his narrow mindset of singularism. It has hurt Chinese primary schools, Chinese community, education, as well as the whole country. It is unwise, and very wrong.

To justify himself, he said that there are currently a total of 1,200 Chinese primary schools in the country and 455 of them lacking in students, so why more Chinese primary schools are needed then?

It is indeed another paradoxical sophistry. In fact, from 1968 to 2008, the number of students in Chinese primary schools have increased by 204,172 people but the number of Chinese primary schools have reduced by 42. Most of the so-called new Chinese primary schools are actually existing schools relocated from remote areas to newly emerged Chinese residential areas, instead of additional new Chinese primary schools. It is weird that in the past few years, there is no new Chinese primary school in the country but more than 90 international schools have been added.

This has led to two other questions: Why we can have more international schools but not Chinese primary schools? Why the number of Chinese primary primary schools have not been increased even after the number of students have surged; while there should be no more new Chinese primary schools just because the number of students have reduced in some particular Chinese primary schools?

Building, closing, merging and relocating schools should be done based on population structure and the number of students, with a comprehensive long-term plan. To put it simply, do it when necessary. When actions are taken in accordance with the principle of equal treatment, it is believed to trigger no unnecessary rebound.

Unfortunately, some Chinese primary schools in remote areas are facing student shortage and thus, were closed. Meanwhile, the number of students in urban and new residential areas has increased drastically, but there is no new Chinese primary schools in these areas. At the same time, relocation has become a short-term expedient for some under-enrolled Chinese primary schools to survive. However, they are bound with harsh conditions and restrictions. They often have to apply for many years and wait until the general election to get their applications approved.

Over the past thirty years, with changes brought by urban and rural developments, the country’s population distribution has also encountered a huge change, but the government has neglected and even turned a blind eye to it, and did not fairly re-plan schools of various origins. The Chinese community is thus unhappy, while some under-enrolled Chinese primary schools were closed, merged and relocated, and it has now become a very sensitive issue for the Chinese community. It is indeed biased and misleading for Razali to interpret such dissatisfaction as an obstruction “hindering national unity”.

In fact, narrow and outdated thinking is the root source damaging and disrupting national unity. As a deputy minister, Razali did not set a good example in contributing to national unity, but has instead repeatedly racialised and politicised education issues. It is a move of undermining unity, instead of promoting national unity as he claimed. — Sin Chew

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.