Why police action against Teo? Engage him rationally, intellectually

 

From P Ramasamy

Is there a necessity for police reports leading to the preparation of investigation papers against former UKM academic and member of the professors’ council, Teo Kok Seong?

Teo is being investigated under Section 505 of the Penal Code and Section 223 of the Communications and Multimedia Act,1998.

This was revealed in Parliament by home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail. Section 505 makes it an offence to spread fake news, whereas Section 223 makes it an offence to transmit lies and untruths through communication channels.

Teo is being investigated for saying in a recent interview with Merdeka Times that Chinese vernacular schools are the source of racism towards the Malays.

By enrolling mediocre Chinese students the schools end up not facilitating integration between students of different ethnicities.

In short, Teo said that Chinese vernacular schools are against national unity.

The statement by Teo is not the first time somebody has said unsavoury things about vernacular schools, particularly Chinese schools.

From the time of political independence until today, vernacular schools have been targeted by Malay nationalists seeking their closure.

Since the vernacular schools are seen as an aberration to the national schools system with Malay as the medium of instruction, their existence cannot be justified.

It is not just the Malay nationalists who are opposed to vernacular schools but some non-Malays, particularly those who are English- or Malay-educated.

Teo is an example of a non-Malay Chinese Peranakan from Kelantan who disagrees that vernacular schools, both Mandarin and Tamil, serve the role of unifying Malaysians of different races and religions.

DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok was terribly upset with the statement by Teo in the interview. Rather than logically and rationally countering Teo’s invalid arguments, she asked the police to take action against Teo for spreading false news about Chinese vernacular schools – a typical DAP response of non-intellectualism.

Alternatively, I countered the arguments of Teo by saying that it is wrong and intellectually incorrect to say that vernacular schools are the source of disunity in the country.

In fact, the vernacular, national and religious schools are not the primary sources of the disunity in the country.

The primary cause is the political system anchored in race and religion. It is the divisive nature of politics that is the cause of national disunity and not the vernacular or national schools.

Furthermore, ethnic and religious discrimination of the non-Malays in the public sector employment, admission to public universities and matriculation programmes and others seem to justify the existence of vernacular schools.

It is this reaction to ethnic discrimination of the non-Malays that indirectly contributes to the preservation of the vernacular schools.

Teo might be a former academic, but this doesn’t mean that we agree with him. His remarks about the Chinese vernacular schools might be offensive, but he has the right to offer his opinions. Those who are opposed to his views must take the opportunity to counter him in a rational, logical and in an intellectual manner.

Police reports against Teo are not going to solve the matter of the opposition to the vernacular schools in the country.

DAP, the one-time champions of the vernacular schools, seems to take the easy way out by asking for police reports against Teo.

Maybe rather than condemning him, Teresa should have asked him to explain the growing enrolment of Malay and Indian students in Chinese schools.

If these schools are that offensive, how come nearly 20% student enrolment consists of Malays, just from the families of ordinary Malays.

If these families can appreciate the value of vernacular education, what is the problem with Malay nationalists?

Saifuddin and education minister Fadhlina Sidek might want to defuse the polarised situation in the country in regard to the vernacular schools by emphasising police investigation and that these schools have a constitutional basis as per a court decision recently.

Maybe DAP leaders like Kok or others might find the time to call for a debate about the relevance of vernacular schools in the country. Maybe they should ask Teo for a debate. I am sure Teo will oblige. - FMT

P Ramasamy is a former deputy chief minister of Penang and an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.