Kuala Lumpur: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) concur with Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) President Datuk Nadzim Johan that part inclusion of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) into the national education system will benefit Malaysia.
Its President Tan Sri TC Goh said Nadzim’s statement was in sync with the country’s multiracial setup and hoped it would be accepted and supported by other organisations which share the same idea, especially non-Chinese communities.
He, however, said it should be discussed based strictly on the basis of promoting a multiracial and multicultural education system and not be politicised.
Goh, who is also Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) President was responding to Nadzim’s statement published in the Malay language daily, Berita Harian, recently.
Nazdim had said: “As Malaysians, we should be looking for similarities among us, instead of differences. What’s wrong with our children learning Mandarin?... the government should at least consider partially accepting UEC, especially for such subjects like language education, mathematics and science.
“What’s wrong with learning an additional language? It’s also okay to learn Arabic. After all, it’s knowledge for our children. Let’s stop dividing our nation further, and start searching for our similarities, and the similarity between UEC and SPM is education.”
Nazdim also said if given the power to make decisions, he would make it mandatory for students in the country to also learn Mandarin and Tamil, besides Malay and English.
He cited the internationally recognised International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGSCE), for example, where it is being offered by several Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM).
Goh praised Nadzim for his open-mindedness, especially that acceptance of the UEC should not be considered an act of forgetting or abandoning one’s race and religion, as education is supposed to educate a person to become literate and progrssive and not the other way around.
He emphasised that the perennial issue of UEC recognition should be properly addressed based on education and professional basis, and not to be racialised or politicised by any quarters.
He also welcomed and supported Transport Minister Anthony Loke’s assurance that the new unity government will strive to preserve and further develop the existing multi-stream education system, including the Chinese independent schools.
Loke gave the assurance while speaking at a dinner hosted by Chong Hwa Independent High School in Kuala Lumpur.
