There is no more denying, Chinese vernacular schools are here to stay.

Chinese vernacular schools the unifying factor in Malaysia and the PN govt, or for that matter, any govt, should not overlooked this emerging fact.

I believe learning Chinese and the Chinese language ( Mandarin ) is essential in view of the fact that China is pretty fast emerging as a super economic and fire power in the world .

The Chinese innovation in infrastructure development, space technology, 5G & 6G, AI, EV, GE , E-trade, E-wallet, etc would revolutionize the world into a net globalized world in months, years and decades to come.

Hence Malaysians in particular and the world in general would benefit very much when we are armed with the knowledge of Chinese and the Chinese language ( Mandarin ).

America is well aware of China's vast advancement in all fields and that's the reason why they are trying to stop China at all costs in their long march into the 22nd century.

Read the following article : More Malay and Indian students join Chinese vernacular schools [Free Malaysia Today] November 11 2020.

More Malay and Indian students have enrolled in Chinese vernacular schools this year compared with 2010, according to Education Minister Radzi Jidin.

In a written parliamentary reply, Radzi said there was an upward trend in data with the enrolment of Malay students increasing from 9.15% in 2010 to 15.33% in 2020.

Meanwhile, the enrolment of Indian students and students of other races also increased slightly from 1.67% to 2.75% and 1.02% to 1.67%, respectively, in the same period.

“However, the percentage of enrolment of Chinese students in Chinese vernacular schools showed a decrease from 88.16% in 2010 to 80.25% in 2020,” he said in answer to a question from Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PH-Setiawangsa).

For private schools, Radzi said, Chinese students make up the majority with 65.88%, followed by Malays and Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak with 26.96%, Indians with 4% and other races with 3.17%.

“The participation of Malay students (in private schools) showed an increase of 0.65% whereas Chinese students showed a 0.44% decrease and Indian students showed a 0.21% decrease compared with 2019,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chinese and Indian students’ enrolment in national schools dropped from 1.17% to 0.73% and 3.15% to 2.63% in the past 10 years, with Malay students’ enrolment between 93% and 94%.

For other races, their enrolment in national schools increased slightly from 2% to 2.84%.

For Tamil vernacular schools, the majority of students continued to comprise Indian students at 99%, with the participation of the other races less than 1%.

The Rohingyas in Selayang

In the 70s when the boat people from Vietnam arrived on our shores, they were quickly huddled together into a camp in Sungei Besi pending re-settlement in another country by the UNHR.

I have personally visited the camp and I found the people were well behaved (except for one small riot) and the settlement was self-contained with its own sundry shops, barber salons, eateries, etc. Some of the refugees are now well to do Americans, professionally as well as in business.

The multi million ringgit question is, why didn't our government make such an arrangement for the Rohingyas when they arrived here as refugees instead of allowing them to roam free building a hornet's nest like the one in Selayang.

I have just received an audio recording with the voice of a foreigner speaking in BM, telling all that Selayang is their domain and that the Malays have better butt out.

Selayang used to be a typical Malaysian locality where Chinese, Malays and Indians live harmoniously together either as residents or doing businesses. Why has it come to this?

And the person responsible for bringing this people in, why have they left these immigrants on the lurch?

Jennifer Soars writes ....

We are all in the same storm : But as I learnt in the last few days, we are not in the same boat!!

A few weeks ago I wrote the first part, entitled “We Are All in this together.” In that post, I talked about taking responsibility for the posts we write. And how we must not allow ourselves to be a conduit for racial and religious bigotry. I was meant to write this second part within that week. I was thinking of making an excuse as to why I’ve been tardy, but the truth is, it is, what it is. However, I believe that actually, perhaps it’s timely that I am writing this now. A friend showed me today, why my title had to change. And maybe that’s why I had to wait.

We may just be coming out of MCO, and while part of me is feeling the adrenaline rush of anticipation that we are on the mend, I can’t help my feeling of trepidation and no, it’s not excitement. It is an unadulterated fear. My fear stems from a knowledge that as a people, Malaysians are generally not an extremely responsible lot.

Here are some reasons for this observation:

There will be immediately, on an announcement of a lifting of the MCO, an exodus of homeward bound people, with no Moses to lead them into a promised land. Instead it will be thousands of Covid zombies, many who won’t even know they are carriers, wandering around and straight into a wasteland . And until and unless all highways, back roads, and dirt tracks are manned by the police and army personnel and closed, prior to relaxing the MCO, this exodus is going to become a nightmare. In fact, this clamp down should have already started. Because, I believe, with Ramadan, just a couple of days away, some will be sneaking home already.

I know how everyone feels, though. I have so much compassion for my Muslim friends this Ramadan. It was tough on Christians going through Lent without the services at Church. It was challenging not to be able to spend Holy Week with family and abstinence during Lent took on a whole new meaning. It’s going to be harder on fasting Muslims. But I believe it will also be the most rewarding experience. If you will allow it.

However, if we are brutally honest about who we really are, as Malaysians, there will still be buka puasa clandestine gatherings and birthday and other celebrations occurring in little pockets without social distancing being in place. We have already seen how the law can be flouted....it already has been, even before the MCO has been lifted. And the culprits are those who should know better. ‘Kepimpinan melalui teladan, is just a buzz expression. Some of those now governing us believe that the restrictions of the MCO are not meant for them. They have flouted the MCO and the police are nonplussed or intimidated or just plain helpless in the wake of their arrogance. Who do we, the man in the street, look up to for guidance when they are showing such poor leadership?

At a time, when we should be tightening our belts and worrying how to feed our hard core poor, and making sure we do not have another cluster of new patients popping up, our politicians are putting our country on the world map for all the wrong reasons.

One minister, instead of focusing on women and children and domestic abuse, sacked a gentleman, who was doing a great job in her ministry, and then created instant infamy by suggesting that women tart themselves up while working from home , dress up as if they were at the office , and talk sweetly in a Doremon voice to appease their men at home. Even Trevor Noah, stopped insulting Trump for a tad to give her special mention. Or Lordy, save us from the acquiescent and submissive wife.

Then there is Dr Noraini calling for Datuk Seri Dr Zahid to be included in MY’s cabinet line-up. Why? And the PAS president dictating that only Muslims Bumiputras should govern Sarawak.

Thats not all. There’s that two- step, hustle, or line dance which I believe used to be Dr Mahathir’s forte, that caused the Heineken and Carlesberg debacle. Again, why? At a time like this to be calling for a ban on all liquor licenses and shooting themselves in the foot when the country needs the revenue so acutely, borders on the ridiculous, no actually, it borders on the sublimely stupid.

And while we do know that we have to appease that PAS chappie, do we really need a Special Envoy to the Middle East, and now China? What has happened to our Ambassadors? Have they become persona non grata overnight?

However, I believe that the perhaps the worst thing that has happened, has been the de facto law minister, announcing that all ministers of the PN government, will be made heads of GLC’s, which are supposed to be business enterties and not political parties.

So, I must admit, I’m afraid for this country. Not only have we to be afraid of Covid 19 still getting the better of us, where on earth are we heading to, politically? So, while we can no longer use the expression, ‘let your vote be counted’, what are we going to do? Willy nilly we have had a new government forced upon us. The sanction for this Government came from the top. We, the hapless voters are going to have to sit on the sidelines while we cool our heels. And our opposition is beginning to look dubious, if there is even one at all.

Usually it is during a war that we get to separate the wheat from the chaff. Like the proverbial chaff, we have seen a lot of them blowing in the wind, as some of our ministers try to make themselves heard, warm water health minister and 500 countries deputy minister spring to mind. As much as they have failed us, the good news is that we have found a saviour in our Director General of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. He has been our rock, calming us and keeping his daily reports brief, honest and clear. And had the exodus home, at the beginning of MCO, not happened, we might have been out of the woods by now. Or not.

Anyway, it’s now time to decide what’s next for us.

What happens when we get out of Covid jail? Parliament will have to sit. They cannot hold off from a sitting, any longer.

Are we going to allow this government to continue?

Have they done right by us?

What do we want?

Are we pushing for elections? Or have you all forgotten that we once went to the polls and fought for change? And won, and that we can do this together, again.

Or have you decided to accept the way things are, the status quo?

Has a fear of the Corona Virus, numbed our minds?

A few weeks ago, someone asked me what has happened to MAJU. They are still here. MAJU is still committed to becoming the third wave. Their manifesto has not changed. Neither have their strategies. As soon as this MCO is lifted, they will continue their road shows. But there can be no real change until MAJU has the numbers, and we are a force to reckon with. We need to be ready. We have been waiting around for 36 days.

Have you guys found the people you want to lead you? Some good people have come to the forefront.

Have you guys stopped enrolling people to join MAJU?

If you have, why? We can only effect change if we have the numbers.

We will come through this. We are already winning the battle against the Virus.

Now we have to continue the fight for our country. And what that means is that we need to gather our wits about us. Our economy has taken a bashing. For many businesses, things will never be the same. Some may never recover. Some of us may have to start over. At least let’s come back fighting. It’s time.

Written by

Carol Jennifer Soars.

22.4.2020

The opinions expressed in this post are my own.

The Prime Minister needs to issue a new type of MCO

PM to issue new MCO for ministers to end all confusion ...

• Trade & Industry Minister has allowed additional sectors like barber shops and salons to resume business... MoH DG said Gov't should postpone. Decision has now reversed.

• Education Minister has proposed to allowed that students be allowed to go home. Again, MoH DG not consulted. Decision has now reversed.

• Federal Territories Minister keen to have bazaars (drive through or otherwise) operating in KL and Putrajaya. Decision has now reversed.

• Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs Minister allowed Heineken to operate with minimal staff as it had met the criteria as a 'food supplier'. Decision has now reversed.

As these are frightening times with confusing directives, it will be good for PM to put into effect an MCO on his ministers ............... especially a

MOUTH CONTROL ORDER.

Is MCO3 legal?

How could an AG not know about this, something that will affect the public at large. I believe if Tommy Thomas had been still in office, he would have urged the govt to gazette the MCO3 prior before enforcing it.

So now, I can only take it that the road blocks, summons issued to 'violators', etc are illegal and the summoneses to be treated as void?

Any legal eagles out there can lend a helping hand here?

https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/national/new-gazette-needed-to-enforce-phase-3-of-mco-says-bar/ar-BB12xfKx?li=BBr8Hnu

A flaw in the 'one man, one vehicle' policy.

Due to a spat of robberies lately, the authorities have to quickly re-think about the 1 man 1 vehicle policy during the MCO period. A person travelling alone, once out in the open, becomes an easy prey for would be robbers especially in areas or places where there is little or zero traffic due to the lockdown.

For the robbers, three persons can ride on three different bikes to commit the crime. Not forgetting, the masks have now become a convenient item to hide the identity of the robbers.

People may die, not due to the virus, but due to the robberies.

Is the Bumiputera policy good for Malaysia?

It’s not good for Malaysia, and will ultimately lead to violence and misery. I think some background is required before getting into the actual policy.

When Malaya was colonized by Great Britain, the colonizers set in motion a dangerous course for a multicultural society like Malaysia is today. By bringing immigrants from India and China to do the majority of the work they needed and mostly leaving Malays to continue living as fisherman or simple servants, they educated and lifted up Chinese and Indian immigrants while allowing Malays to fall or remain behind.

When it came time to give up their colony and create the Malayan Union, the British realized the problem they had created with probably huge disparities of wealth, education, and influence among the races. This is probably primarily what led to so much tension and even the infamous race riot of 1969.

So it’s not surprising that the solution proposed by Malaysian government officials was to give Bumiputera special subsidies and advantages over other races with the New Economic Policy. As I understand it, this was intended to last for 20 years. That might have been an okay idea on paper, but in practice it was doomed to fail. To paraphrase a wise man: The closest thing on earth to eternal life is a government program.

So it never ended, but was only revised in 1991 (and maybe even made worse).

The most pernicious thing about the current Bumiputera policy is that while it hurts everyone, the people it hurts the most are the people it is designed to help the most. It is the epitome of “the soft bigotry of low expectations”. The subconscious message delivered to those being “helped” by a program which provides certain advantages based on a person’s race is “Your race is inferior to these other races and there’s nothing you can do about it but rely on the benevolence of government assistance.” Have a conversation with enough Bumis in Malaysia and they will eventually reveal this deep-seated insecurity.

(You can see a similar effect among Native Americans in the US, who receive more “help” in real dollars than any other race in America, and have many of the same problems as Bumis do today).

Of course, things have not gotten better for the Bumiputera. While the data to back up that claim is sorely missing (deliberately so, I believe), it’s fairly obvious to anyone willing to make some simple observations. Take a look at a list of the wealthiest Malaysians and notice how few Bumiputera there are. The diabetes (and obesity) rate among Malaysians over 30 years old is something over 21%, and you can pretty much guarantee that number is higher among Bumiputera. Despite huge advantages in education, Bumiputera still lag behind their non-Bumi peers.

The Bumiputera policy has also led to unofficial discrimination which has resulted in Malaysia’s civil service being dominated by Bumiputera. That includes a police and military force which doesn’t come close to resembling the mixed racial makeup of the country.

The Bumiputera policy also has the effect of making non-Bumis feel like second class citizens who, almost anyone would admit, could never become Prime Minister in their own country. Because of that sentiment, a massive brain drain of bright young Malaysians fleeing government-enforced stagnation of their own success is under way as they look for opportunities in other countries where they will be rewarded for their own merit.

[Source : Quora - Dan Jones]