KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) this afternoon said it welcomed and agreed with the Prime Minister’s Office statement this morning regarding the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
In a statement, Huazong president Tan Sri Goh Tian Chuan said he supported and agreed with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement that the UEC has to be in line with the National Education Policy if the government was to consider its resolution in the future.
Goh also concurred with the prime minister on the events that transpired during their July 16 meeting, following confusion that led to claims by some people that the federal government will be recognising the UEC which later sparked an uproar.
“Just as the prime minister stated, in the meeting, the government (prime minister) did not announce the recognition of the UEC,” he said in the statement that was released in both Chinese and BM.
“YAB PM never announced the recognition of UEC during the dialogue. This is in line with the PM’s statement and also Huazong’s statement,” he said in the latest statement.
Goh reiterated that “Huazong had never stated that YAB PM or the government is giving recognition to the UEC.”
He also expressed Huazong’s agreement with the prime minister’s call for stakeholders to hold consultations for an amicable solution on the matter.
He thanked Muhyiddin for taking the time out to receive and dialogue with Huazong’s leadership delegation on July 16 on various matters relating to Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese community and described their meeting as positive.
Goh’s statement today follows Huazong’s clarification yesterday and its July 17 article over the July 16 UEC dialogue with the PM. Both the July 17 and July 18 articles written in Chinese can be found on Huazong’s website.
Huazong has had to repeatedly make clear its stand despite its previous notice that it has never quoted the prime minister saying “the government wants to recognise the UEC”.
Malay Mail’s check of Huazong’s July 17 article confirmed Goh’s remarks of the government’s readiness to seek a final consensus on the UEC issue through further talks with Huazong and Dong Jia Zong.
In the July 17 article, Huazong said that it had submitted a memorandum to Muhyiddin covering its 15 recommendations on politics, the economy, cultural matters and education during their meeting — the first since he became PM in March.
The memorandum is published in full on its website.
