Sue the Brition!

I fully support the right group, Hindraf, for bringing the class action lawsuit against the Great Britain for exploiting the Indian community and left them behind without giving them a thought when they granted independence to the Malays Federation.

History is behind the claim by Hindraf and the British brought with them Hindu migrants to work in the plantations of the British Malaya. This hardworking ethnic group was exploited and treated inhumanly by their colonial masters for more than 100 years but were left behind when the Britain surrendered the country to the locals.

The Great Britain as it was formerly called must be responsible for the state of the Indian community in Malaysia and it selfishly left them behind without consider the community's well being as a minority in term of ethical and religious backgrounds.

The Reid Commission forgot its very duty to safeguard the interests of the minorities in Malaysia by allowing the Malays majority has almost all its say about how the Malaysian Constitution ought to be drafted. There wasn't true representation by the minorities in the Commission and as such the British government must be held accountable for any defects and omission that gave rise to the marginalization and discrimination of the minorities in Malaysia.

What the Indian community demanded was what the British omitted and in the Common Law, there lies the tort for want of care of duty and the resulting breach of that duty. There shall be no defence such as the policy consideration or "floodgate" consideration. What ought to be "fair, just and reasonableness" is what the British omitted and it has to be "righted" by the represent British government.

Although the Malaysia is not in the European Community, the Britain got to realise that its law has to give effect to the Community's human rights chapter such as right to life and right not to be inhumanly treated and right not be discriminated etc.

According to Malaysiakini, the Hindraf wishes to send a petition to Queen Elizabeth II. The planned protest is to support a US$4-trillion (RM14-trillion) lawsuit by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) against Malaysia's former colonial power for bringing Indians to Malaysia as indentured labourers and exploiting them for 150 years. Furthermore, the suit sought a declaration that the Reid Commission Report 1957 failed to incorporate the rights of the Indian community when independence was granted, resulting in discrimination and marginalisation to this day. For the grivances of the Indian community, pls refer to one of my earlier postings on The Deepavali Gift was at http://davidwongsblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/malaysia-truely-land-of-malays.html

I would support the lawsuit of the Hindraf as a fellow Malaysian and a fellow human being, what is right ought to be "righted"! History should not be left where it was or else it would only be good for the silver screens of the Holi-Boly-woodlands, wouldn't it?

David Wong
DAP Sarawak publicity sec.,
24-11-2007

The Jalan DAP in Sibu?

The sign on the left would be the road sign of "Jalan DAP" in Sibu if the BN so permits.

Shortly from now, there will be a road named after DAP in Sibu. Can't believe that, can you? But it is true as long as Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh and Datuk Lau Hui Chiew admitted that they are not able and not willing to repair and upgrade Jalan Sui Lai in the west bank of Sibu and agree to the changing of the name to Jalan DAP.

The road captioned is located in Bawan Assam state constituency and Sibu Parliamentary constituency. The YBs of the area are none other than Datuk Seri Wong SK, the cabinet minister of Sarawak and the 3rd terms Adun and Datuk Robert Lau, the 4th term parliamentarian and the deputy minister of Housing and Local Government.

A local resident, Mr. Lee, came to our weekly PC today and told the press that the road in question has never been repaired or upgraded since the 2004 parliamentary election and portholes the size of a truck have caused much hardship to road users and posed dangers to travellers there. The road does not have street lighting or lamp posts.

Mr. Lee told the press that when he met one of the SUPP leaders and requested that the roads be repaired and the reply from him was "this is the Rocket stronghold, there would be no development here!"

I can't imagine what kind of person would gave such a remark but i do know that whatever inside his skull must not be "brain" as the remark not only insult the people living there but the leadership of the SUPP. But i don't blame them as their leaders are not much better and they learnt from their leaders on how to respond to people who are suspected of supporting the Rocket.

By the way, the SUPP leader who answered that was reported to be one Mr. Wong and if memory serves me well, he is the right hand man of WSK and was the seconder for WSK's nomination before. So, i would assume that WSK should know about the whole episode after all.

Anyway, the two SUPP leaders and ministers got to be ashamed of themselves for not even upgrade the infrastructure of the constituency they served for the past decade. But no, they still go on to boost about how much development they have brought to the area and how the people have to be thankful of the BN government for bringing development there.

I do know for sure that WSK campaign did distributed truckload of gravel to all the houses there in the 2001 and 2006 state election and did win the heart and soul of the poor fellow living there. Although we called that "corrupt practise" but the SPR and the ACA would never bother to investigate the BN's candidate, or would they?

Come back to the "Jalan DAP", as long as WSK and RL are willing to admit that they and the BN are not willing and not able to upgrade that road and the government gazetted that the road shall be named as "Jalan DAP", DAP is willing to go on to upgrade the road at our own expense.

Just hope that both the BN YBs can come to their sense that development is the duty and responsibility of the government and the money does not come out from their own pockets. As politicians, they must have the basic knowledge how a democratic society functions and who are the real boss. If not, then they shall retire from their offices immediately.

So, should there be a Jalan DAP? Let the BN decides.

David Wong

DAP Sarawak publicity sec.,
20-11-2007

The EC is on the leash!

Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said that he knows when the next general election will be held but he cannot reveal the date.

Commenting on the criticisms levelled at the EC, he said elections in the country were free and fair and transparent, in accordance with existing laws. “We are using the same laws which had been in existence (for a long time) and if certain quarters are not happy with that, they shouldn't blame the EC.

Rashid should know his position and that of the EC before he opens his mouth. By telling the press that he knows when the election date, he was trying to impress the people how close he is with the PM and reveal how powerful he is. In any case, the independence of the EC has been is open to question.

Rashid should answer the allegations of the NGOs and the opposition about the lack of fair and clean election in Malaysia as contains in the Memorandum submitted to the King by Bersih. Rashid got to understand that as the Chairman of the EC, he should address the issues of reform.

I remember i did openly attacked Rashid in the press for his political remarks about "the success of the BN". He has overstepped his boundary by going to the press lobbying for the BN's system. He did it again this time by telling the press that he did know about the election date as if he is the instrument of the BN.

To say that the EC is on the leash of the BN is definitely fitting as long as it Chairman acts like Rashid's and as long as the call for reform was not acknowledged by the EC. The Election Commission has brought shame to the people of the country and the BN has turned the EC into its pet instead of an independent commission as prescribed under our Federal Constitution.

Malaysian must speak, and speak they will in this coming general election!

David Wong
19-11-2007

The Ostriches in Malaysian

The politics of ceremonies
From earth breaking ceremony to project completion ceremony to official opening ceremony and then the first usage ceremony, theses show us how hard working are the BN leaders in Malaysia. It takes 4 ceremonies for a project to be completed. Don't we wonder how much resources and money was spent becuase of these ceremonies with VVIPs such as the PM and he CM gracing the occasions and thousands of civil servants and privetae sectors employees forced to attend the ceremonoies. The reason given for the attendant was to show the VVIPs how important they were and how "popular" they were.

Third world mentality creates third world coutry
The third world mentality of the BN leaders made them think that the development projects were gifts to the people when in actual fact those are the reponsibility of the governmnet of the day as custodian and trustee of the people. But we frequently see BN Logo being displayed prominently on the signboard "another project by the Barisan Nasional." It is a shame to the country that the leaders have no shame and know no integrity.

YBs work for their parties' boss only
Now when we complain that the BN YBs are not working and the delay in completion of the projects, think again! They are working their butts off attending ceremonies because they have to accompany their bosses around and that is the "real" job of the BN YBs, that is to please their political boss of the BN and not the rakyat who elected them.

No transparancy
Now, stop and think about the process of awarding the projects; there are so much bureaucratic red-tapes that it would suffocate most civil servants and professionals in any of the G7 nations. There are government directives (mostly secretive) and policies (such as the quota system under the NEP) matters to consider and then there are the political patronage( muscles from the federal to the state and then the locals) to be contended with.

Open tender is fast becoming the thing of the past
Then there are the so-called closed-tender system whereby the negotiations can take place even after the datelines (many of them). Most of the licencees hold more then 3 Ali-baba licences and submitted them under different company names to block-off others. Sometimes they will form packs so that they can make sure that the projects would be given to them at the "right price'. But these licencees are normally not the one who undertake the project at all and they simply subcontract out the project at 40-50% of the awarded price.

The Auditor-general reports, 2006
The Auditor-general's reports for 2006 speak volume about the corrupt practises of the governmental ministries and we are still waiting for the ACA to act accordingly. But if the recently concluded UMNO general assembly is any indication at all, the government is not serious about declaring war against corruption as the topic escapes the attention of the PM. Even the UMNO's supremo like Tengku Razaleigh commented “he did not say a word on corruption."

All is not well for Malaysia
Malaysia Boleh is a slogan the ruling elites use as the tool to fool the people. And if you ask me "does it work?", the answer is "yes, certainly!" and the fact that the country has been governed and ruled by the BN since Merdeka is proof to my theory. The BN says "everything is fine, tomorrow will be better." But for how long can the country substain under such a mentality of denial and corrupt practises? Your answer is as good as anyone's!

David Wong
DAP Sarawak publicity sec.
14-11-2007

March on,stop the rot!

news

March on, Stop the rot!

To all who participated in the rally organized by the opposition-backed Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih), we should give them the biggest salute for their courage and love for a fair, clean electoral system and judicial system and their desire for true democracy in Malaysia.

Constitutional right denied by the BN government

No power could deter them from taking their constitution right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to assembly peaceably and without arms [Article 10(1)].
Those who condemned the right of others given under the Federal Constitution are coward who are afraid the truth being revealed and heard and these are normally those who are associated with the ruling elites.

The BN's Cowards attacked the opposition and the media
The biggest cowards among them are of course none other than the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz who lashed out at the opposition, calling them among others, “pondan” (wimps) and the information minister Zainuddin Maidin whose ministry will be sending an official warning letter accusing Al Jazeera of being one-sided when reporting the Bersih rally on Nov 10. These two should know their action are bringing shame to the country and tell the world that we are no better than Pakistan and Myamar.

Police under siezed
The use of physical aggression, violence, spraying chemically-laced water and tear gas at a non-provocative crowd unfolded in front of thousands of local and international observers and press. The events led to the revelation of the ugly face of the Malaysian BN government and totally destroyed PM Abdullah’s image as a loving PM who wants to hear the truth. The PM earlier statement to the Malaysian“ work with us, not for us” was also under doubt as the use of force on peace-loving Malaysian surely did not fit into his projected image of a “kind and learned Muslim scholar”.

Long live democracy
However, events from around the world revealed that the Bersih march was supported all around the world with protest at Malaysian embassies in London, Dehli, Bangkok, Manila, Seoul and Jakarta. The protestors also chanted slogans like ‘Hidup Rakyat’ (long live the people), ‘Daulat Tuanku’ (long live the King) and ‘SPR (Election Commission) reform now’.

The Malaysian Bar council

In Malaysia, the crake-down on the peaceful rally was criticized by the Bar Council who reiterates it position that citizens must be allowed the right to peacefully assemble in exercising their democratic and fundamental human right.

Sarawak Bar under attack

However, the Sarawak Bar got to be ashamed of it for not making a clear stand on the Bersih rally event after it had been criticized for not supporting its counterpart in West Malaysia for the “Walk for justice” on September 26th. Not only is the appointment of judges under the watchful eyes of international community but the integrity of the lawyers are open to question.

Democracy is alive

Bersih march is more than electoral reform; it is about the rescue of the democratic institution in the country which has been hijacked and sabotaged by the BN since Merdeka. The 40,000 strong participants have created history with a well-planned and disciplined rally that make the country proud and show the BN and the world the “people power” in Malaysia.

I would like to believe that Malaysian would open their eyes and souls to the rot in Malaysia and pray that they would use their heads to vote for what is right for themselves, their children, their grand-children and the country.

Finally let me share with all my humble presentation at DAP Sarawak’s brainstorming session in Kuching on the November 11th 2007 with the following calling:

Towards the next 50 turbulence years
—-The choice is yours; a stronger opposition for a secured democracy or a stronger BN for a corrupt and authoritarian society.
-The decision is yours; votes DAP for a Malaysian First policy or the BN for a Ketuanan Melayu (Supremacy of the Malays) policy.

-The answer is obvious; it lies in your heart and soul.

David Wong
DAP Sarawak publicity sec.
13-11-2007

Speak through the tongue and think through the penis?

An Umno Youth chief from a division in Selangor, Ismail Ahmad, told opposition parties and their supporters to leave the country if they are not happy.

“These people, they come to a Malay area and they tell me that our country is not doing well and people are still suffering. Well, I’ll tell you, you can apply for citizenship in Singapore,” he said. Ismail, who helms the Youth wing of the Gombak division, was referring to an opposition claim that the economic pie is not shared equitably with all races.

“This is my house and those who do not live in my house have no right to tell me how to decorate it,” he told delegates. "Well, I’ll tell you, you can apply for citizenship in Singapore,” he said.

He then raised the issue of demolition of Hindu temples in Selangor, saying that the issue is “a small matter”. The most recent incident in Kampung Rimba Jaya had triggered outrage among non-muslim Malaysian across the country. Even Uncle Sammy could not put a stop to the demolition of the 100 years temple in Selangor even after he successfully met the Prime Minister who was accompanied by the Menteri Besar of Selangor at that time.

Ismail said Islam promotes harmony between religions but ended his statement by saying: “We understand that they too have gods. Thank God they do, if not they’d be worse off.”

But "No!" this kind of racist statement would not get the authority to charge our dear Ismail under the seditious Act or get any warning from the nation's leaders like Pak Lah and Najib. We all know what will happen if a non-bumi shouted seditious statement like that, don't we?

Afterall, the raising of the Keris or Malay dagger by the UMNO youth chief in the past few years UMNO's annual meeting has been defended by Najib who spoke of the symbolic nature of the Keris and commented “this is the last resort, and is usually not necessary as the previous two methods (tongue and penis) would have been sufficient to resolve disputes.”

Najib was commenting about the three prong solution in ancient warrior Bugis philosophy for conflict resolution, which can serve well in present efforts to resolve disputes: The first is the tip of the tongue - to solve conflicts through discussions, dialogues, and consultations. The second is the tip of 'anunya' (the penis) - to strengthen family and friendship bonds through marriage. And the third is the tip of the 'keris' (Malay traditional sword) - by going to war.

At 50, the country is truely at the crossroad if politicans "speak through their mouth and think through the 'anunya' (the penis)." I hope Najib knows the implication and so does his boss, Pak Lah.

David Wong

07-11-07

Deepavali 2007 “Gift” ?

According to Malaysiakini, MIC president S Samy Vellu has banned all Deepavali events by the party’s elected representatives as a mark of protest against the demolition of a 100-year-old temple in Shah Alam last week. The tearing down of this temple is the latest in a series of demolition exercise undertaken by the Selangor state government on Hindu temples in the state, causing much frustration and a sense of dejection among the Indian community.

In India, Bajrang Dal's Bhopal District chief Vishal Purohit threatened countrywide protests if their demands were not met."We demand the protection of the Hindu temples of the world and request the Central government to reprimand the Malaysian ambassador and send him back otherwise the activists of the Bajrang Dal will take out countrywide protest," he says.

Another headline says "Here is the Deepavali 2007 “Gift” for Us" on http://raajarox.com/?p=137

Samy Vellu was a total failure in protecting the dignity and rights of the Hindi community when he could not do anything to stop the slaughter of cattles in the Parliament compound to celebrate the second marriage of the Prime Minister earlier this year. That incident has shown the precarious position of the Hindi community in Malaysia and the insensitiveness of the ruling UMNO in respecting the culture and religion of other communities in Malaysia.

"Malaysia, truely Asia" is the slogan used by the tourism board in promoting the country but the BN government does not seem to understand what is the essence of being Asian. Being Asian means being a multi-cultural and multi-religious Malaysia and how could we connect the demolition of temple and slaughter of cattles in parliament as being "Asia".

All Malaysian irrespective of race and culture should condemn the demolition of any temple, church, mosque or any religious building by any party without the consultation and agreement of the community which it serves. We should also condemn the UMNO for turning the Parliament into a slaughter house in total defiance of other communities in the country.

At 50, we need to ask ourselves "who owns Malaysia?" and "who are Malaysian?" or else the tourism board should changed the slogan to "Malaysia, truely the land of the Malays'"

David Wong
Dap sarawak publicity sec.
05-11-2007

The speech by David Wong-a 30 minutes reflection on 50 years of the Malaysian education system

The following was the extract from my speech and presentation which even my own comrades said was boring but its importance could not be trade-off with any speech i ever made or any others for that matter. To present it in 30 minutes was itself a challenge as there were simply too many important historical and political theories to touch on with emphasis on facts and figures.

David Wong's speech and presentation on "Chinese Youth and Education" organized by the UCA's youth of Sibu on the 28th )ctober 2007.

First, I would like to congratulate the Youth Wing of the UCA, Sibu, for its 20th year formation. The 20 years would not been possible without the commitment and support of all its affiliate members and the Chinese community as a whole. The UCA youth has a paramount role to play as the "pioneer" or "wing" of the mother association as it dictates the aggressiveness of the association in tackling many sensitive issues such as the social-political issues like the land issues, education, economy, society and crimes and meritocracy.

The central theme, the"transformation of the UCA youths", of the 20th year celebration has been most fitting as it shows the mentality of its current leadership in seeking and tackling changes and challenges ahead. The theme is timely as Malaysian Chinese community is at the crossroad as where it is going and heading with so many "worrisome" social-political issues like education, economy, religion, crimes and security and rising racial tension within our multi-religious and multi-cultural society.Tonight I would like to ask everyone presence here to give the UCA youth a big hands as it has taken the very first step to change by inviting leader from both the ruling and opposition political parties to address issues of importance to the Chinese youth and Chinese community as a whole. It shows its determination in taking a stand that while it cares about politics; its position is "above politics". It is taking its leadership role that the Chinese community is demanding and waiting eagerly.

Education and Chinese Youth
Chinese with a 5000 years old history is regarded as a race rich of cultural heritage and wisdom. To understand the Chinese culture is to know the Chinese. However, one has to know Mandarin in order to understand the philosophy and culture of Chinese.History has shown how much weight the Chinese put on education. It is this unwavering attitude and believes in education and how education determines the success of a person and no richness or material well-being can replace education as the yard-stick of success. Even the Ch'ing conquerors were overwhelmed by the great Chinese culture and assimilated themselves with the Chinese.

The Chinese cultural heritage can only be maintained and carried on through mother-tongue education; the root of the Chinese would be up-rooted and its culture will be destroyed totally without its own mother-tongue education. The questions we need to address are as follow:Without our roots, who would we be? Who are we? How would we address and position ourselves? How to protect our roots and ensure that our rights are protected by laws?

Chinese youth cannot be the passive on-lookers in addressing the issues of how the national education policies affect and influence them and thought that everything is OK and that there are organizations like the UCA, Dong Jiau Zong and political parties to take care of them. The Chinese youth are the future leaders of all these organizations and it is high-time that they take a more proactive stand in all the issues that not only affect them but the country's future developments.

A) History of the national education policy and the national education system
Before we can fully understand the national education and how it affects the Chinese youth, we need to understand the national education policy as well as the national education system created under the policy. For this purpose it is necessary to understand the development of the national education policy implemented before and after Independence and its further development under the BN governmnet.

1) What is the national education policy?
The national education policy implemented by the present BN Government is in substance a policy of mono culturalism with the aim of achieving "one language, one culture" as the end objective. The mono-ethnic approach of the ruling elite as evident in the New Economic Policy [NEP] is well entrenched. It has been implemented and propagated by the ruling elite after the May 13 incident in 1969. The NEP was enacted in the 1970 as part of a bold blueprint to reduce income disparity among different ethnic groups. However the policy of the NEP permeates all spheres, including the educational field, which saw the implementation of the quota system till now.

2 What are the main characteristic of the NEP policy in our national education policy?
Among other things, they are as follows:(a) Endlessly pursuing the 'ultimate objective' of the national education policy;(b) Implementing ethnically-based quota system since the early seventies;(c) Practicing discrimination in the giving of educational funds to the educational institutions of other communities; and(d) Discourage the development of mother tongue schools.
The origins of "ultimate objective"
ii Abdul Razak Report 1956

The Abdul Razak Education Report 1956 was introduced just before Independence.The 1956 Razak Report was of dual character. The ruling elite intended to go ahead with the mono-ethnic policy by introducing the term "ultimate objective" for the first time in the history of education in Malaya:"... the ultimate objective of education policy in this country must be to bring together the children of all races under a national education system in which the national language is the main medium of instruction"

The political consensus prior to Merdeka
Consequently, the Abdul Razak Report 1956 dropped the proposal for the "ultimate objective", and instead recommended a national education system acceptable to the people. It recommended the establishment of:" ... a national system of education acceptable to the people of the Federation as a whole which will satisfy the needs to promote their culture, social, economic and political development as a nation, having regard to the intention of making Malay the national language of the country whilst preserving and sustaining the growth of the language and culture of other communities living in the country."

Education Ordinance 1957- the true multicultural educational policy based on the spirit of Merdeka
The 1957 Ordinance came into force on 15 June 1957, shortly before the attainment of Independence on 31 August 1957.

s3 of the Ordinance provides: "The education policy of the Federation is to establish a national system of education acceptable to the people of the Federation as a whole which will satisfy the needs to promote their culture, social, economic and political development as a nation, with the intention of making Malay language the national language of the country whilst preserving and sustaining the growth of the language and culture of peoples other than Malays living in the country."

The broken bow or "after-marriage" theory?
I would described the turn-about of the multi-cultural policies to a mono-cultural one as a "cheating" partner who went back against his promises before the marriage.

Rahman Talib Report 1960
In 1960, the then Education Minister Abdul Rahman Talib headed a committee to:
However, the Rahman Talib Report 1960 performed a complete about-turn by way of re-introducing the "ultimate objective". "For the sake of national unity ... to eliminate communal secondary schools for the national system of assisted schools and to ensure that pupils of all races shall attend both national and national-type secondary schools."

Communal secondary schools are against "national unity"?
The national education policy proposed in the1960 Report was designed to eliminate mother-tongue secondary schools under the pretext of achieving "national unity". Pursuant to the 1960 Report, the Education Act 1961 was enacted the following year.

Education Act 1961
Within a short span of hardly 4 years, the national education policy based on multiculturalism as embodied in the Education Ordinance 1957 was re-converted to one of mono-culturalism under the Education Act 1961.
It reads: "3. The education policy of the Federation is to establish a national system of education … which will satisfy the needs to promote the culture, social, economic and political development as a nation, with the intention of making Malay language the national language of the country …" The end result was without the "preservation and substaining of the growth of the language and culture of other ethnic communities."

The Education Act 1996, replacing the 1961 Act, came into force in 1997. This piece of legislation retains the mono-cultural nature of the 1961 Act. However, on the other hand, it still harps on a national education policy based on mono-ethnic culturalism "to be executed through a national system of education which provides for the national language to be the main medium of instruction...".

s 17(1) of the 1996 Act- the final blueprint of the BN government.
All schools to use Bahasa Malaysia as main medium of instruction.

A provision with far-reaching ramifications can be found in s17(1). Under this section, all schools [including kindergartens] must use Bahasa Malaysia as the main medium of instruction, allowing only 2 exceptions: one, all new national-type [ mother tongue] schools yet to be established under the 1996 Act; and two, any school granted exemption by the Minister of Education. s17(1) provides: "17 (1) The national language shall be the main medium of instruction in all educational institutions in the National Education System - except a national-type school established under section 28 "

B) The quota system and the affirmative action plan
The quota system
Quota system is the by-product of the NEP's affirmative action plan since the 1970. It is a concrete form of the national education policy and is the most controversial one as well . The legality of the manner of its implementation is open to question under the Federal Constitution .

[Note: the term "bumiputras" was introduced after the 13 May 1969 incident by the ruling elite after the end of the National Operation Council (NOC). It is not to be found in the Federal Constitution that came into force at Independence in 1957.]

The origins of quota system
The New Economic Policy [NEP] is a policy introduced after the 13 May 1969. The ruling elite have attributed the cause of the 1969 racial riots to Non-Malay dominance of the economy.However, academic observers have interpreted it otherwise:"… the May 13 Incident was a form of coup d'état directed against Tunku Abdul Rahman."
[Subky Latiff, Southern Asian Affairs 1977] [Suaram: Malaysian Human Rights Report 1996 at page 195]

Enrolment of bumiputra students in educational institutions
The quota system in the educational field is implemented pursuant to the NEP. Scholarships and loans 1980 -1990The scholarships and loans given out to bumiputras from 1980 to 1990 for certificate, diploma and degree courses are shown below:
1 Loans for polytechnic certificate courses -90%
2 Scholarships for Diploma of Education courses -90%
3 Local degree courses near -90%
4 Overseas degree courses almost -100%
The statistics on the highly divisive quota system were revealed in the Ministry of Education's written answer to MP Petaling Jaya, Dr Kua's Parliamentary question in December 1990.[Dr Kua Kia Soong: Reforming Malaysia 1993 at pp.257-268]

When the NEP came to an end in 1990, the ruling elite have introduced the National Development Policy [NDP] in its place, endlessly pursuing such senseless and discriminatory policy.Other ethnic groups such as Indians and the indigenous people of East and West Malaysia are marginalized in the field of education. They hardly receive sufficient financial assistance from the government, even though the NEP is claimed to eradicate poverty irrespective of ethnicity.
Quota system vs affirmative action
The quota system has always been described by the ruling elite as a form of affirmative action put in place after the 1969 May 13 incident which they claimed was aimed at uplifting the social, economic and cultural standards of the Malays. However, the term "affirmative action" has been misinterpreted by the ruling elite purely on ethnic basic, and such erroneous interpretation fails to meet the criteria of affirmative action under the international law.

What is affirmative action?
Affirmative action can not be a racially-based quota system. Apart from ethnicity, other factors such as need, social deprivation, merit, qualification, social skills and gender ought to be taken into account. Ethnicity should not prevail over other factors or else it would not be an affirmative action."
[Dr Boo Cheng Hau 1998: Quotas versus Affirmative Action ¨C a Malaysian Perspective, at page 7] "If preferential treatment only recognized the need for help along ethnicity classified along "indigenous" status alone, it would not only be discriminatory by itself. It would also defeat that actual end of affirmative action to create a just society.To transfer socio-economic domination from one ethnic group to another would only conceive a newly repressive social injustice.

Interpretation of Article 153(8A) of the Federal ConstitutionSoon after the end of the administration under the NOC, the Federal Constitution was amended to introduce the quota system in institutions of higher learning. A major change took place under the amendment introduced by Article 153 (8A) in 1971. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is to give directions to any university or college to reserve a certain proportion of places for Malays and natives of the Borneo States for any course of study. The reason for introducing the amendment was spelt out by the then Prime Minister, Tun Razak: "The intention of the amendment is to reserve places in those selected courses of studies where the number of Malays and natives of the Borneo States are disproportionately small..."

Legality of the implmentation of the quota system
From the legal point of view, the quota system ought to be applied on a faculty basis, and every faculty is to reserve places for students of every ethnic group. "Article 153(8A) does not authorize the administrator of any university to refuse admission to any student of a particular race. It only allows a proportion of the places to be reserved for Malay students ...
... On such a reasoning, the legality of the manner of implementing the quota system is open to question. Up till now, there seems to be no trace of any order made by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the manner of reservation of places in universities. There is no evidence of such order having been gazetted. It appears that the manner of implementation was adopted pursuant to an administrative directive, and not an order of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The directive was made by the officials of the Ministry of Education. [The Constitution of Malaysia, Further Perspectives and Developments" edited by F A Trinidade and H P Lee 1986, at p49]

Ridiculous results of the quota system
In recent years, a considerable number of top achievers scoring 9As - 12As in the SPM examinations were not given appropriate places in local institutions of higher learning. Massive media coverage has been given to such unfortunate incident.Such scandalous incident is the direct consequence of the discriminatory implementation of the race-based quota system and turned away the brightest students from our university. The brain drain resulted could not be quantified but could be felt even by the government. So long as such system exists, this country is going to lag far behind the other world communities in the race or competition for achieving knowledge-economy. Vision 2020 would be just a dream out of reach because of the quota system.

Failure to achieve its main purpose But, in reality, it has now come to light that, after a long period of 30 years of its implementation, the quota system has failed to achieve its main purpose, i.e. to help enhance the ability of the Malay students to catch up and eventually compete "on a level playing field" with students from other communities. It has been revealed in the mass media by some academics very recently that, after 30 years of implementing the quota system, Malay students are still not in a position to compete with students from other communities 'on a level playing field'. There was a 'shocking discovery'. Less than 20% of the total population of Malay students in tertiary institutions may be able to compete with those from the other communities after 30 years of affirmative action

Ultimately quota system benefits the privileged few
The quota system appears to benefit the Malay community as a whole, but a close scrutiny of the quota system reveals that ultimately it benefits more the privileged few within the Malay ethnic group. Its implementation operates to the disadvantage of not only the underprivileged non-Malays, but also the majority of the underprivileged Malays. The statistics available are testimony to this.
Malay students of lower income families constituting about 63% of the Malay population, received only 14% of the university scholarships; but Malay students from the top income group of 17% [the privileged few] received more than 50% of the university scholarships. (Thomas Sowell1990: Migrations and Cultures ¨C a World View at page 57)

This would mean that the majority of the lower income Malay families, who really deserve and need such financial assistance, are not given university scholarships; but a tiny minority of affluent top Malay income group is receiving most of the university scholarships. Does this fit in with the moral basis of affirmative action? Certainly not. It has become the 'special privilege' for the privileged few of the Malay community. "would take away the benefits from the other needy Malay and non-Malay students. Evidently, the race-based quota system has not only ripped off the non-Malays' equal opportunities to higher education, but also threatens the underprivileged Malays' future." [Boo Cheng Hau 1998: Quotas versus Affirmative Action ¨C A Malaysian Perspective, at page 56]

The argument for the quota system introduced under the NEP is necessary in the Malaysian context. The reason given is that, without quota system, they will be marginalized like the Red Indians or the Blacks in America. This is totally baseless and senseless as the Red Indian are a minority in the US in total sense while the Malays are the majority which govern in Malaysia.

Discrimination in providing financial assistance
Discrimination exists in the giving of financial assistance to the different sectors and language streams. According to the statistics given by the education minister in Parliament, the allocations of development funds for the different language streams of primary schools are as follows:
96.6% of the development funds for education is given to national [Malay] primary schools
2.4% to the national type [Chinese] primary schools and
1% to national-type [Tamil] primary schools.
[Note: The above statistics were given by the then Education Minister Najib Tun Razak in reply to parliamentary question by the MP for Kota Melaka on 5 November 1996]

In terms of dollars and cents, out of every 100 ringgit of financial assistance granted to educational institutions, 96,54 ringgit is for Malay schools; only 2.44 ringgit for the Chinese schools, and 1.02 ringgit only for the Tamil schools. [Suaram: Malaysian Human Rights Report 1996 at page 211]

Retarded development of schools mainly providing mother tongue education
A good example can be found in the retarded development of Chinese primary and secondary schools since Independence.40 years after independence [1957 ¨C 1997], the Chinese population grew from 2.3 million to 5.3 million approximately, an increase of 3 million people [i.e. more than doubled], but the number of Chinese schools had been reduced. The number of Chinese primary schools, instead of having a proportionate increase, was reduced from 1,342 to 1,281 - a decrease of 61 primary schools; whilst the number of Chinese independent secondary schools was reduced from 86 to 60 - a decrease of 26 secondary schools. [Kua 1990: A Protean Saga ¨C The Chinese Schools of Malaysia (2nd Edition) at page 141]

Acute shortage of qualified teachers in National-type schools
The ruling elite has paid little heed to the serious problem of the acute shortage of qualified teachers for national type [Chinese] primary schools for years. There is a shortage of nearly 3000 qualified teachers for the Chinese primary schools throughout Malaysia today, but there is a huge surplus of 6,000 Malay school teachers.

It is to be borne in mind that currently there are 65,000 non-Chinese students [Malays, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, etc.] studying in national-type [Chinese] primary schools. The number of such non-Chinese students constitutes 12-15% of the total student population in the national-type Chinese primary schools. [Annexure to the Declaration on Mother Tongue Education 1999 ¨C Dong Jiao Zong]

C) CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS
The challenges to the national education and the Chinese youth are closely linked to the reform to be made to the national education policy and system. In order to bring about reform, we have to make a serious study of the problems created by the policy and the system as embodied in the existing Education Act 1996.

1 ) Mother-tongue education of various communities is at a crossroads. It is in a precarious position. That is the insecure legal position of mother-tongue education today. Mother tongue education is no longer a basic human right enjoyed by every citizen, but a "privilege" only, granted solely at the discretion of the ruling elite in the form of "exemptions" given by the Minister of Education.This is totally against international recognition of mother tongue education as a fundamental human right and against the spirit of a multicultural society..

2 ) Problems posed by the 1996 Act are as follows:
(a) Threat to growth of language and culture of other communities The Education Act 1996 constitutes a threat to the mother tongue education of the various ethnic communities. The 1996 Act stresses that " the national language shall be the main medium of instruction in all educational institutions in the National Education System¡".The mother tongue education is apt as the pig in the slaughter-house; its existence is at the mercy of the power that being. It is up to the Minister to grant or not to grant the exemption from the application of the Act.

(b) Survival of national-type [Chinese and Tamil] primary schoolsS28 of the existing 1996 Act creates serious doubts about the survival of the existing national-type [Chinese and Tamil] primary schools. It provides: "Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Minister may establish national-type school and shall maintain such schools".

(c) The Minister is endowed with discretionary powers to de-register educational institutions and teachers, and to dismiss school committees. There are provisions in the 1996 Act ousting the jurisdiction of the courts. The Minister's decisions cannot be challenged in court, thereby eroding the judicial power of the courts. Malaysian would then lose any chance of appeal by law under the 1996 Act.

(d) The Malaysian Chinese Independent Secondary Schools [MCISS] cannot conduct the Unified Examinations unless exemptions are granted by the Minister under s143 of the Act. [See ss67-67] With the announcement of the Minister of Education on the 23st October 2007 that the government is not going to recognize the Certificate of the unified Examination conducted by the Chinese Independent schools, the Chinese community hope that the BN government has come to its sense was finally trashed.

(e) The 2008 UPSR exam is the high water-mark of the Chinese mother tongue education.Until today (28-10-2007), the Ministry of Education has yet decided whether the Science and Maths subject in the 2008 UPSR exam will be in English only or bi-lingual. If it is in English only, then that would be the beginning of the end of Chinese mother-tongue education in Malaysia as then only 2 subjects in the Chinese primary school will be taught in Mandarin, i.e the Chinese and the moral study.Educationists and political observers believe that the BN government would decide the matter in a political-sense and not on grounds of education.The Independent Chinese Secondary school will lost its supply of new students' intake if the Chinese primary schools lost its ground as will be determined by the 2008 UPSR exam.

3 ) Mother tongues is a basic human rightLearning and developing one's mother tongue is a basic human right. No one should be deprived of such fundamental right by legislation or administrative direction from the authorities. Mother tongue education is the basic right of all ethnic communities. It is recognized internationally. Such basic human right can be found in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and other related international covenants. The Mother tongue is the soul of any ethnic community, and the means to transmit its cultural heritage. Any attempt at "forced assimilation" of languages, cultures and education system will invariably lead to communal conflict . On the other hand, the respect for diversity and tolerance guarantees genuine unity among peoples of all ethnic communities.[Dong Jiao Zong: Declaration on Mother Tongue Education 19994)

4)Globalization and language The globalization process is fast taking place. It will have an immense impact on the national education in any country. Proficiency in the English language is an asset while proficiency in Mandarin is a dream for many who wish to deal with the emerging of China as the 4th economy power house. It is high time for us to discard the old perception of English and Mandarin as aliens' languages, but to look upon them as an international language for advancement.

In the New Era of the 21st century, multiculturalism will be the order of the day. The world community adopts multiculturalism in all spheres, including education. The mother tongue will be the most effective tool for achieving the purpose of discovering one's roots.On the other hand, the policy of "forced assimilation" rooted in mono culturalism, is "fighting a losing battle".

DR. M acknowledged the existence and failure of the "ultimate objective"
Even our ex-Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir, in an interview with the Time Magazine on 9 December 1996, when asked for his view on the policy of assimilation, had to admit it, and he said:"The idea before was that people should become 100 per cent Malay in order to be Malaysian. We now accept that this is a multi-racial country. We should build bridges instead of trying to remove completely the barriers separating us. We do not intend to convert all the Chinese to Islam, and we tell our people, the Muslims, not to try to force people to convert."-Dr. M admitted the existence of the Ultimate Objective which was to turn Malaysia into "one language, one culture "nation.

Conclusion
Education's Rocky Path to National UnityEducation system is a subset of Malaysian institutionalized , racial and oftentimes, racist politics. Any serious attempt to deal with national unity should start with breaking that down as only a fair, just and multi-cultural educational policy will turn Malaysia into a developed nation.

A former education director-general Tan Sri Murad Mohammed Noor said in an interview years ago, "The Malays say they don't want to give up their privileges. But the Chinese say: 'With these privileges, your children can go to university, you don't have to worry. I've got to sell my house to send my child to university. But I am a citizen like you. I pay taxes like you. What integration are you talking about?' That's the Chinese view. The Malays say, 'This is in our constitution, before we got our independence. This is what we agreed on.' -What he didn't say was that there was no affirmative action plan and no NEP and no Bumiputras status prior to 1970 (before and after Merdeka).

My question is why can't we stick to the social contract as agreed by all parties prior to Independence? " Why can't we have a Malaysian First policy after 44 years of nation building?
Why, indeed?

The social contract agreed and formulated by our forefathers should be the basic of our education policy which can preserve and sustain the growth of the language and culture of all the communities to reflect our multi-racial and multi-cultural society.

Only a visionary educational policy can promote national integration and solve any mistrust among the people and prepare us to face the challenge in this "Global Era". Let us go back to the Education Ordinance 1957 as it was molded with the Merdeka spirit in mind. I personally do not see any reason why the BN, especially the UMNO can't accept the 1957 Ordinance as it was drafted and accepted by all parties prior to Merdeka.

The "ultimate objective" of all Malaysian-rivival of the 1957 Education Ordinance
May be the Chinese community and other non-Bumi communities did not send the ultimatum to the government yet and the voice has been lost over so many years of consultation and "collusion" by the political parties within the BN.
s3 of the 1957 Ordinance provides: "3. The education policy of the country (amended) is to establish a national system of education acceptable to the people of Malaysia(amended) as a whole which will satisfy the needs to promote their culture, social, economic and political development as a nation, with the intention of making Malay language the national language of the country whilst preserving and sustaining the growth of the language and culture of peoples other than Malays living in the country."

The Chinese community should have its own "ultimate objective" in the national education policy. All the political parties (from both spectrums), Dong Jiau Zong, UCA, all gilds and associations must create a united front and send the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education a joint Memorandum to restore the 1957 Ordinance to solve this long standing issue one and for all.

Only when the 1957 Ordinance replaces the 1996 Act shall there be true integration among all Malaysian.The Chinese youth have an important role to play as they are the members of all these political parties and associations; they have to act as the locomotive for-change or pressure-group within their own associations for the above-mentioned "Ultimate objective" to crystallize.

David Wong on 28-10-2007