KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 — Adopting single-stream education will remove the silos that prevent Malaysians of different races and creeds from mingling, claimed controversial Muslim convert lecturer Ridhuan Tee Abdullah.

Tee, who is also a professor at the Islamic product and civilisation research institute at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, told Sinar Harian that leaders should put their political interests aside and that they have to be firm.

"Non-governmental organisations (NGO) who are against this need to cooperate. We want to strengthen unity among races, build a country where race does not create race does not become an issue.

"For those NGO who are against this, who do not want single-stream schools merely to protect their own schools, doesn't this mean they want to create racial gaps?" he asked.

His remarks follow Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's assurance to its Chinese ally, MCA that his administration will continue to defend the Chinese community’s right to vernacular education.

Speaking at the party’s annual general assembly, the Barisan Nasional chairman noted that there had been calls for Putrajaya to abolish Chinese-language schools recently, but said this was not in line with the ruling coalition’s plural policy.

Calls to end vernacular education resurfaced after participants of a pro-Malay rally held on September 16 demanded the government abolish Chinese and Tamil schools, which they claimed to promote “racist” tendencies.

To date, leaders of the Chinese component of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, MCA, have voiced their protest against the message, noting that vernacular education is a right enshrined in the Constitution and that any attempt to abolish the system was illegal.

Today, Tee stressed that single-stream education would not neglect the rights of other races to learn their mother tongue, just as they would not lose their racial identity.

"Instead, the national language will be understood and mastered well. What is more important is the racial gap will narrow and racial ties strengthened.

He said since young, children are separated based on the types of schools and a majority of them do not mingle with other races, and this continues on until their working life.

The right to vernacular education in Malaysia is specified in the Federal Constitution.