Media statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP National Publicity Secretary and Selangor State Secretary
on Saturday, 2002-10-19
in Petaling Jaya

Mahathir should stop the suspense on the issue of teaching Maths and Science in English by sending out clear instructions now . He should also stop all his ministers and their deputies to stop making contradictory and misleading statements on the issue

Prime Minister Dato Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad should not wait longer than necessary to make a decision on the medium of instruction on Maths and Science. Any more delay could only increase the anxiety of the parents,
teachers and school children, as the mainstream media has been told to play down the public debate on this issue. The majority of the Malaysian public, who was anxious to know the outcome, were all kept in the dark. Even the teachers and headmasters have no clues as to what is going to happen next year.

The Prime Minister has openly made a plea to all communities to support the switch for the good of the nation recently. And two days later, he claimed that the majority of the parents supported the switch but at the same time they were worried about the possibility of losing their culture and their mother-tongue languages. He also said that the Cabinet has yet to make a final decision on anything.

But the Education Minister and his deputies have been talking about going ahead with the switch at least for the secondary schools. They also claimed that every possible preparation is being make to jump-start the switch to English for all levels. And at the same time, they were also talking about waiting for the Chinese- based parties in the Barisan Nasional to reach a consensus on the matter.

I believe that all BN leaders, including the Prime Minister himself, do know that the strong objections from all the three major communities in the country. And the BN leaders simply do not have valid and solid arguments to convince the general public to support the switch. They also find it difficult to justify the switch after ridding off the English medium educational system since the seventies.

I can only predict that BN government would not dare to bulldoze its idea before the next general elections. At the end of the day, Mahathir and his company can only win with the support from all the communities. He would
not want to upset the voters no matter how much he wanted the switch. Do not be surprised if his government backed out suddenly on the switch in order to ensure an electoral victory for the BN.

Learn from the SUQIU mistake. Let our votes to speak for our rights.

We wish to warn the Malaysian people not to be fooled again by the tactics  of Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Nothing can stop him to bulldoze the switch soon  after the victory. We must not forget about what he did to SUQIU committee and its 17 - point appeals. He ordered Ling Liong Sik, Lim Keng Yaik, Law  Heng Ding and Samy Vellu to make a pubic announcement before the last general elections, that the BN parties had agreed with the appeals presented by the SUQIU committee in principle, and the BN parties will take steps to realise the goals set out by the committee.

But soon after the electoral victory, he called the SUQIU extremists, like  the communists and Al-Arqam. And you can expect no steps will be taken to rectify the complaints and issues raised by the communities through the
SUQIU committee.

When the Prime Minister was challenged by the DAP Secretary General and the MP of Kota Melaka, Kerk Kim Hock in the parliament, he has no shame whatsoever but to blatantly admit that " if we (BN) have not made that statement of support for the SUQIU, we will not be able to get the votes from the Chinese community".

There is only one way to stop the switch. Taking the SUQIU as a lesson, we should not fall into the BN's trap again. We should not believe whatever the promise made before the general elections. We must say NO to the
switch by sending a strong message to the BN parties by using our votes. Let our votes speak for our rights.

If the BN government returns with a much smaller majority in the Parliament, they would not dare to bulldoze the switch. It would be disastrous if they return with an even bigger majority in the Parliament. It would be too late except to feel very sorry for our misplacement of trust with Mahathir and his company.