KOTA BARU: Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki has hit out at his detractors, using the fact that one of his own children was studying in a Chinese vernacular school as proof that he was not racist.
He said those who had criticised him for being against the proposal for the government to recognise the United Examination Certificate (UEC) misunderstood the reasoning behind his opposition.
“People misunderstood the issue... national type schools are schools which follow the national Education Act and are under the National Education Policy. I can send my children to a national type school because the mould for the curriculum are the same as other national schools.
“What we are against would be the recognition of private Chinese secondary schools... if this happens, the country will be facing something that is not healthy,” he said when met.
Asyraf Wajdi said having an examination certificate controlled by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) would only cause problems in the future.
“If it (the UEC) is recognised, we will have multiple examination certificates... compare it to now, where everything is controlled by the Education Ministry. Why do we want something from Taiwan which will only lead to us having several education systems and different curriculums, when the present system is adequate?
“I believe that if we want Malaysians to be united then it needs to be done via one, unified system. If (UEC) is acknowledged, then how are we to build a unified Malaysia?”
At the same time, Asyraf Wajdi suggested that the government introduce the teaching of Mandarin and Tamil in all schools.
He said this would be a better move and allow for future generations who would be able to master more than two languages.