Fifty two years of Merdeka, of being in full control of our own destiny, and what have we achieved as far as national unity is concerned? It remains a forlorn hope, a gleam in the eye at best. A harsh comment, perhaps, but it is not far from the truth. The polarization which exists today and which appears to have taken a grip on the nation as a whole must not be allowed to gain a permanent foothold. Bearing in mind that we are talking in national terms, the problem bedeviling us affects us all-they are our problems both individually and collectively. What can we all do about them?

Whether we succeed or fail in bringing about sustainable national unity depends very much on the social, educational, and economic policies that we develop and implement. Of these, I consider education to be the most important agent of change. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that because our education policy allows for separate existence of ethnic schools, a sort of educational apartheid, whole generations of Malaysians of different racial backgrounds have grown up without the benefit of studying, playing together and enjoying the rich cultural diversity to be found in this country of ours.

The result is apathy, indifference, ignorance and prejudice. All this is a far cry from my own school days when we were in it together, and by the time we left school, we would have made friends with boys and girls of all races, many of whom are still my friends today. Race was an accident, and it certainly never bothered me. I am convinced that the road to national integration is through the portals of our national schools. I do not believe that you can create racial unity and understanding by putting young children in their separate national institutions. My views on a single education system do not go down well with people who are blinkered, and care little or nothing about the future of their country. We have little choice in the matter if we want to achieve integration on a sustainable basis.

The government must find the courage to review the education system with the single, overarching objective of achieving national unity by providing one that, while meeting the language needs of the Chinese and the Indians, is truly national in every respect. All of us must drop our chauvinistic and selfish grandstanding, and start to think about the country for once. Otherwise, there is not going to be a ghost of a chance of creating a society that can live side by side in harmony, grounded in mutual trust, respect and understanding.

The harmony that we proudly claim to exist in our country is not deep rooted. Scratch the surface, and what do we really see? Uneasy coexistence, compounded by the most irrational suspicion and prejudice. And yet, are we doing enough to address the weaknesses inherent in our race relations? Have we made any serious attempt to understand the root causes of racial polarization and disintegration? If the holding of open houses once a year is our state of the art strategy for national unity, then it only serves to confirm my long-held belief that as a country we are unduly preoccupied with form. What we need is more substance. The Government alone cannot push this important national agenda entirely on its own, and as in the case of fighting corruption, we must become part of the solution.

There is, therefore, a role for civil society organizations, NGOs, the corporate sector, the professions, the media, parent-teacher associations, community and religious leaders to lend support to efforts to bring about racial unity and integration through a fair and enlightened school system-one that will satisfy both the individual as well as the national aspirations. All of this will require a sincere commitment to the welfare, peace, harmony and prosperity of our country and all our people, not just for now, not only just for ourselves, but for the generations after us.

National unity requires hard work, often soul-destroying because results are often extremely elusive and illusory. We must never make the mistake of thinking that national unity is product money can buy. It is a process that requires much adjusting in a never ending spirit of give and take. I believe, if we care enough about our very own Malaysian Malaysia, it is worth the sacrifice. Are we up to the challenge?

Going our separate ways in educational terms will keep us even farther apart than is good for us as a people. The way ahead for our Malaysian Malaysia is by adopting a unified education system.

The assault on the established democratic parliamentary principles and practices bears the hallmark of unabashed, unapologetic and blatant cynicism, a feature that looks set, I fear, to wreak havoc, despair and despondency in our national life. I naturally have no wish to underestimate the damage already done in the short term: the potential for lingering longer term ill effects has manifested itself in the loss of public confidence in the government of the day worries me more.

I believe the future of this country lies in our ability to unite: national unity without a common identity is an exercise in futility. In the context of our plural society with a history of decades of uneasy coexistence, with fears and suspicions as constant companions, and each community left largely to its own devices, the idea of national unity through a common identity is difficult enough to imagine, let alone embracing it wholeheartedly. Present day policies of the Barisan Nasional government, slanted and distorted as they are to benefit the Malays, and more particularly UMNOputras, tend to divide rather than unite us.

I am all for 1Malaysia and will support the idea. It is good as far as it goes, but it falls far, far short of the conditions necessary to create a common identity – a sense of Malaysianness. That can only come about when we see with our own eyes that we have in place policies of inclusiveness, of justice and equity, of equal opportunity without barriers. The government has its work cut out if it is really serious about breathing life into a slogan which will remain lifeless without fundamental policy changes to reflect today’s concerns about our country’s future. Najib has to realise that anything less than a Malaysian Malaysia with all that it implies will be unacceptable. People will not be short changed on this and on other promises.

As we search for a common identity, we have to admit, better late than never, that the biggest single impediment to nation building is our national education system. As long as we continue to allow Chinese and Indian primary schools to operate, we will never develop a sense of 1 Malaysia. Malay is our national language, and it should be the language of instruction in all of the country’s primary and secondary schools.

Singapore which, for all practical purposes, is an ethnic Chinese state does not allow Chinese or Indian primary schools to operate for very good reasons. Singapore is not known for deciding on something without a very good reason. I draw comfort from Singapore’s wisdom. Why then should Malaysian Chinese and Indians continue to insist on separate schools for their children when we are all trying to create a united country? We cannot have our cake and eat it: it is a sacrifice we must all be prepared to make in the larger interests of our country’s future well-being.

Our cultural heritage is important. As a country we should celebrate our diversity, and I am not for a moment suggesting that by adopting Malay as the only language of instruction in all schools, we are obliterating or submerging our cultural identity.

Language is an important component of our cultural makeup and it is our duty to promote and encourage all languages. I suggest that both the Malay and Chinese languages be made compulsory subjects in all our schools.

Specialist language teachers should be trained to the highest professional standards, and rewarded accordingly. Two language periods attended by all, one for the teaching of Chinese and the other Malay must be set aside every day. We have to review the number of subjects taught in our school system, and limit the maximum number of subject a student is allowed to offer for exam purposes. Education is not a numbers game.

We need to look at education beyond its utilitarian value. I believe if we depoliticise our system of education and address the social, economic, and political needs of our nation in a rational way, taking on board the cultural and language concerns of the Chinese and Indians, we will have a better chance of breaking the racial mould and achieving national unity.

We have to give careful thought to the question of Malaysian education with which is bound up the place of Chinese and Indian primary schools in nation building. The process of looking at what is best for Malaysia must start now.

Published on May 23, 2009 | Mysinchew