Chinese educators told to support BN in ‘special’ Johor meet

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 – Barisan Nasional (BN) ministers went on the offensive against . Pakatan Rakyat (PR) today at a “special meeting” in Johor with Chinese-language school heads and teachers nationwide, reminding the 6,000-strong crowd of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s failed education policies when the opposition leader was in government 20 years ago.

The meeting at SJKC Foon Yew in Johor Baru, which featured BN political heavyweights from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to MCA’s Datuk Wee Ka Siong and Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, was touted as an education ministry event arranged long before Parliament was dissolved on April 3, the Malaysiakini news portal reported.

“What Anwar failed to do, Najib completed in 1996, which was a turning point for Chinese education in Malaysia,” Health Minister Liow (picture) was quoted telling the audience.

Speaking partly in Mandarin, he reportedly urged the educators present to lend their full support to Datuk Seri Najib Razak so the prime minister could carry out progressive and open education policies for the Chinese community, who from about 30 per cent of the country’s multiracial population.

Muhyiddin, who heads the education ministry, assured the group that the BN government would preserve vernacular schools as part of the national education system, state news agency Bernama reported.

“The BN government will preserve the SJKC and SJKT to ensure that the children of the Chinese and Indian community in the country will be able to learn their respective mother tongues and their cultures,” the wire quoted the BN deputy chairman saying, using the initials for the vernacular schools.

Muhyiddin also called on the Chinese community not to get influenced by the opposition’s baseless allegation, especially during the polls, that the Chinese-language schools would be sidelined by the government.