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Abdullah should give  assurance  that the Ninth Malaysia Plan consultation will be more meaningful and democratic than past five-year plans, that it will not   be a one-way traffic with no attempt to shut off public discussion by arbitrarily classifying issues  as “sensitive” such as building new Chinese primary schools to meet increased enrolment needs Media Statement by Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh, Thursday):  After the Cabinet meeting yesterday, the  two MCA Ministers present at the  meeting, Datuk Dr. Fong Chan Onn and Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek said that the issue of building new Chinese primary schools under the Ninth Malaysia Plan will be discussed behind “closed-doors” between the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the MCA President, Datuk Ong Ka Ting when the latter returns from abroad.   Abdullah raised  the issue in the Cabinet but Ministers were not allowed to discuss it.  Three questions are  uppermost in many minds, viz:  Firstly, what is there meaningful to be discussed between the Prime Minister who is UMNO President  and Ka Ting on this issue if Abdullah has taken the controversial   stand that Chinese primary schools is the  cause of racial polarization and that it is not in the interest of national unity and the objective to make national primary schools the first choice of the  rakyat  to build new Chinese primary schools despite increasing student enrolment?  Is Abdullah prepared to publicly clarify that  the Barisan Nasional government  has an open mind on the issue of building new Chinese primary schools to meet increasing student enrolment needs under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, and that there is room for a new policy decision to be taken, based on the merits as well as the justice or injustice of the issue?  Secondly, why should the issue of building new Chinese primary schools to meet increasing student enrolment needs be reduced to a “closed-door” discussion between two persons, the Prime Minister and UMNO President and his subordinate, a Cabinet Minister and MCA President?  Are Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament and the civil society completely redundant and irrelevant to its  decision-making process?  Thirdly, is the consultation process  for the formulation of the Ninth Malaysia Plan  even more restricted and undemocratic than previous five-year plans?   Exactly five years ago in early 2001, in the run-up to the formulation of the Eighth Malaysia Plan, DAP had called for a new Deal for Mother-Tongue Education to be incorporated into the Eighth Malaysia Plan, including the building of 250 new Chinese primary schools in the five-year period, based on the following grounds: There were  some 70,000 non-Chinese students in the Chinese primary schools in the country, which should have meant the building of some 120 new Chinese primary schools just to cater to this demand. During Independence in 1957, there were 1,333 Chinese primary schools with a total  enrolment of 310,000 students. Forty-three years later in 2000, Chinese primary school enrolment has doubled to over 620,000.  There was however no  matching doubling of the number of Chinese primary  schools in the past four decades. Instead, there was  a reduction of 49 schools from 1,333  to 1,284 schools. In 1968, there were 2,770 national primary schools with a total enrolment of 666,389 students.  In the 32 years from 1968 to 2000, total enrolment in national primary schools reached  2,218,747 (an increase of 1,552,358) while the number of national primary schools increased by 2,637 new schools to reach a total of 5,407 schools.   This works out to an average of an increase of 588 students for a new national primary school. If the above  average of a new national  primary school for every increase of 588 students is applied to Chinese primary schools, there should be an increase of 527 new schools in the 43 years from Independence in 1957 to 2,000 for the doubling of the Chinese primary school enrolment from 310,000 to 620,000.  As in the past 43 years, there had been a reduction of 49 Chinese primary schools, this would put the shortfall of Chinese primary schools as of 2,000  at  527 + 49 = 576. Asking for the building of 250 new Chinese primary schools from 2001 to 2005 when there should have been 576 new Chinese primary schools built by 2000 was reasonable and fair. Abdullah should  clarify and assure Malaysians  that the Ninth Malaysia Plan consultation will be more meaningful and democratic than past five-year plans and that it will not   be a one-way traffic.  Malaysians should be at liberty to raise wide-ranging issues in connection with the Ninth Malaysia Plan consultation  which should be  conducted in a sober, responsible and rational manner  without sensationalism, emotionalism, incitement  or  race-baiting.   Most important of all, there should  be no attempt to shut off public discussion  on any  issue by arbitrarily classifying it   as “sensitive” such as the  building new Chinese primary schools to meet increased enrolment needs, which will make both the Ninth Malaysia Plan consultation process  and Malaysian democracy a mockery.  (17/3/2005) * Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur & DAP Central Policy and Strategic Planning Commission Chairman