Friday, December 05, 2008

One man's meat, the people's poison

There is an issue where Mukriz Mahathir, currently contesting for the post of UMNO Youth Chief, has commented that the vernacular school system is to blame for racial divide.
The comment is totally uncalled for, and it demonstrates exactly why UMNO is the MAIN CAUSE of racial anxiety in this country.
He may be pretending not to understand, and if he really does not understand the following fact, then he is truly stupid.
To the Chinese community, one's education is paramount.
For tens of centuries, officials in China or their government servants were appraised based on their level of education. How one performed in the annual examinations was a reflection of their knowledge, maturity and language/communication skills.
Transfer that belief to our country and it becomes an even bigger issue. The Chinese know that for a person to achieve higher education, they have to outperform the rest in order to qualify for the local universities. This is not by choice. There are plenty of Chinese families who cannot afford to send their children to overseas institutions.
Therefore, you will see that year after year, the top scorers in SPM and STPM are mostly from Chinese schools. They know that if they are not the best performers, they are nothing.
Some smart non-Chinese parents have sent their children to Chinese schools. They know that even though some of the Chinese schools are not government funded, but because the Chinese believe so much in education, these schools will have the best finances, resources and the most dedicated teachers.
The forward-minded parents who sent their children to Chinese schools 20-30 years ago have benefited from their children, especially those who went into trade with Mainland Chinese counterparts before the economic boom of the 90s.
Malaysia has a mixed population with Chinese and Indians. The 2 countries with the biggest populations are China and India, with Malaysia located strategically in the middle. China has already boomed, with India on the way too.
When our trade grows with these 2 countries, our entire country benefits.
If UMNO still wishes to be so introverted, let them be. There doesn't seem to be a week going by without anyone from that party making a dumb decision or comment.
Perhaps the latest incident of sacking a gentleman like Zaid Ibrahim is a blessing for him, to be liberated of racist and greedy politicians waiting for their chance to pillage our country.
Thank you, UMNO, for killing yourself slowly.
I suppose the only problem is that the people of Malaysia have to wait too long to take you out to the crematorium in 2013.
Allow me to end with a quote from a man who started Barack Obama's journey:

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Mukriz is peeved at the Tamil vernacular schools because there's no mamak vernacalur school to cater to his true root, a mamak covered in bumiputra's clothing!