Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

April 19, 2021

Subang UMNO Division’s Ethnic Differentiation Decried—

Construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing Logical and Reasonable

Dong Jiao Zong regrets over Subang UMNO division chief Armand Azha Abu Hanifah’s calling for the opposition of the construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing (Bandar Kinrara) in Puchong Selangor and deems the act decriable. Herewith Dong Jiao Zong forwards its statement proper as follows:

1. Dong Jiao Zong posits, Bandar Kinrara is a densely populated town in which the population is predominantly Chinese. Since there is no vernacular Chinese primary school in its vicinity and the neighbouring vernacular Chinese primary schools are fully enrolled, the construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing to meet the educational needs of its Chinese population is both imminent and pressing. Dong Jiao Zong also opines, the multi stream education system belongs to the main stream of national education and is the country’s advantage, besides being assured by the Constitution. Moreover, it is also regulated in the Education Act that vernacular Chinese primary school can be constructed if need be. In this sense, the construction of vernacular Chinese primary schools in Bandar Kinrara is both logical and reasonable. Dong Jiao Zong similarly believes, Subang UMNO division chief Armand Azha Abu Hanifah’s calling for the opposition of the construction of SJKC Too Joon Hing is an ethnic-differentiation-provoking act and the incitation of racial hatred; it factually harms national unity and thus this irresponsible act should be decried severely.

As informed, racial extremism has gone rampant these years and a growing number of politicians and organisations are acting maliciously to compromise national integrity and unity, including the call for the closure of vernacular schools, the challenge of the right of vernacular Chinese and Tamil primary schools in the court and the objection of the construction of vernacular Chinese primary school. These acts are mushrooming for the worst and have brought about negative impact to the entire nation. Dong Jiao Zong reckons, the ruling Perikatan Nasional government recognises the Constitution and Rukun Negara as the basis for national unity promotion and thus in the face of these detrimental acts, it cannot simply stage a war of words but needs to put it into actions and stand out for multi stream education system at the first moment, as well as taking deterrent measures to curb and stop any harmful speeches or acts towards multi stream education system in a bid to end the continuous fracture of the pluralistic society.

Dong Jiao Zong hereby reiterates, although the medium of instruction in vernacular Chinese primary schools is Chinese, students from all ethnic groups are welcome to register for studies. Of late, the successful operation of vernacular Chinese primary schools has won the recognisation of non-Chinese parents and it saw a surge in non-Chinese student enrollment. In addition, the MOE statistics also show that there are currently 20 percent of non-Chinese students studying in vernacular Chinese primary school nationwide of which vernacular Chinese schools markedly enjoy the highest percentage of interethnic students among all vernacular schools. This very fact indicates students of different ethnic groups can learn happily together and it in actuality promotes interethnic acceptance and understanding.

Records further show, multi-stream schools have existed for over two hundred years in Malaysia; they not only enrich the characteristics of a pluralistic society but also proves that the several-decade existence of multi stream schools is never a stumbling stone to national unity. In this vein, Dong Jiao Zong urges all sectors in the country, particularly politicians, to discern the pluralistic inherence of the country as well as the existence and development of multi stream schools which indeed are congruent with the actual needs of all ethnic groups. Therefore, Dong Jiao Zong hopes that this act of using multi stream schools as an excuse to attain one’s political interests to compromise national integrity and unity needs to be halted.