Mukhriz: Razak said it first

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 - Umno Youth chief candidate Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir continued to defend his proposal to unify the education system today, stating that it is an idea that was first mooted in the Penyata Razak (Razak Report) of 1956.

He made reference to the report by former Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, the then Education Minister, which was to "unify students from all races with one education system that covers all races. We are of the opinion that to carry this out, we need to integrate the syllabus of all schools."

"Of course, it did not set a deadline for this. But it has been 52 years, so when are we going to do it?" Mukhriz said as part of a panel on local television channel Astro Awani's Analisis Awani show this evening.

Mukhriz had on Monday suggested that the current dual-stream system of national and vernacular schools be scrapped and be replaced by one which would use Bahasa Malaysia as its medium of instruction in all subjects except science, math and other language subjects.

It came under heavy fire from both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat parties, to the extent of being accused of sedition with a police report filed against him.

The Jerlun MP added today that to an extent, the Wawasan schools idea could achieve the integration that was the objective of his suggestion as at the very least, the shared field, canteen and other facilities would allow the students to play and mix with each other.

Mukhriz, the son of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, also hit back at DAP for saying that he should be charged under the Sedition Act for questioning a sensitive issue that is protected under the Federal Constitution.

"In fact, all languages are protected not just Mandarin and Tamil. But while the opposition continues to criticise the allocation for vernacular schools, Ibans and Kadazans get no allocation at all," he said, implying that the opposition was playing to the gallery.

Mukhriz concluded by saying that his suggestion should be taken with an open mind and discussed together between various political parties and NGOs to come up with a policy that is accepted by all to be tabled in Parliament.

Another panellist, Mental Development Institute (Inmind) chief executive Norizan Sharif , said that the reason Mukhriz had come under heavy criticism was due to the ongoing roiling debate on the social contract and Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) and his suggestion was immediately viewed from a racial viewpoint.

tunku : we just hope that people understand the concept before opposing it blindly. this is an alternative to vision school (sekolah wawasan).anyway we need to at least start building more vision schools for a start. this is for the benefit of our future generations.