But when our society is already polarised by the laws and other economic realities, and we tell our children otherwise in school, it is likely that the unity lessons will never stick for long or even worse result in a backlash.

What is more distressing is the fact that national education policy is only meant for the masses while our political leaders send their children overseas. Can we believe they have faith in our own educational facilities and that they are sincere in wanting the best for us?

In Malaysia, unfairness is institutionalised. For example, it is alright for certain schools or universities like the Universiti Institut Teknologi Mara to bar non-malays.

So it piques me to hear some blaming vernacular schools for racial tensions. Vernacular schools have never barred malays from enrolling into them unlike Mara educational institutions. If vernacular schools are to be blamed, so too must the Mara institutions.

(A minister responsible for higher education who can make such inflammatory statements confirms that the so-called meritocracy system of university entrance is a sham, since he was able to promise that the percentage for malay applicants will never fall below the previous quota percentage.

Is he suggesting that we should rejoice over our poor education? Please do not confuse quality with quantity.)

I cannot help but think that the politicians have an ulterior motive. If so, please be honest and brave enough to admit it.

With such narrow-minded people in charge, it is difficult to have confidence in any of their suggestions.

When it came to choosing a career, I avoided public services for the fear of being excluded from promotions just like how I was excluded from matriculation etc. Many employers are also very racially defined.

Now, as much as I miss hanging out with people of other races, I end up being with people of my own race.

Looking back, I don’t think our primary vernacular system is the cause of disunity. On the contrary, it enriches our Malaysia heritage. The real problems are with the uneven playing fields that split malays and non-malays from secondary school onwards.

Another examples are the Chinese Indonesians. Most of them don’t even speak their mother tongue, nor do they even carry Chinese names anymore, yet come any major political turmoil, they are targeted by the majority. Is this due to vernacular education?

The government should be aware of the fact that the number of Chinese schools has not increased over the past 30 years despite the need for them due to increased demand from both Chinese and non-Chinese students.

The diversity of education methods in the country is a national treasure and should be upheld. Unity will come from mutual respect and fair treatment for all – not necessarily from a uniform education.

Whether they will take concrete steps to address the imbalance is another matter for, while I am optimistic about the people of Malaysia, I have very little faith in politicians.

And the common use of English did not stop Americans from fighting Britons in the War of Independence. And let us not forget the American Civil War – both sides spoke English.

And to the contrary, we see Europeans of different mother tongues coming together in a democratic manner to forge a united continent in the form of the multilingual European Union with common standards of human rights, governance and democracy.

English-speaking people with different mother tongues are also now living peacefully in five different sovereign and independent countries namely the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

It is time for the Malaysia ruling elite and their ideologues to stop spreading the voodoo of that language diversity hampers national unity.

The root cause of national disunity is none other than the existence of race-based political parties like UMNO, MIC and MCA, which perpetuate race-based affirmative action policies and which only benefit the upper class BN gangs and their sons, daughters and cronies.

The prime minister and all the Umno ministers will never admit that polarisation arises more out of the race-based policies and privileges one race gets over another.

Similarly, there are other areas of our daily lives where terminologies used have made us view certain practices as privileges rather than sacrifices. For instance, the bumi discount for houses.

The total sale value to the developer is still the same. It is just that the non-malay buyer is likely to be required to pay for some of the discount given to the malays.

But the longer the NEP policies continue and the greater the vehemence with which Umno politicians issue threats, terminologies will change and more people will talk about these practices or policies in words that may not sound as pleasing to the ears of the beneficiaries.

Obviously, at that point we shall probably see a new round of discriminations and disagreements. Unfortunately, as long as only weak people take on leadership roles within Umno, threats will continue, NEP policies will be sustained and corruption will prevail.

That unfortunately is the legacy we have as Malaysians.

The basic building blocks of unity, whether you are uniting different ethnic groups in a country or trying to re-engineer a corporation of differing cultural values, are the same.

The principal parties have to be treated as equals – nor special privileges no favours that would favour one group over another. Any privilege that is given should be given to all on the same basis – for example, special privilege given to the financially poor regardless of race or ethnic origin.

It is only on this equitable footing that you can foster true nationalism and build lasting unity, since each component group will have the same stake in the nation and has equal likelihood in reaping the rewards or suffering the consequences.

My recommendation to the government, not simply as a businessman but also based on pragmatism, is not to waste any more taxpayer ringgit on nationalism programmes until it has established the pre-conditions for its success.

What is sad is that, after almost five decades of independence, we have been unable in Malaysia, to bring globally-vision leaders to the forefront – leaders who can see beyond racial boundaries to recognise the immense sociological and economic potential that can benefit all Malaysians.

I think 7 years is too short a time for us to come to a conclusion on whether or not the system works.. It is a bit too premature……to change the syllabus… if and when done … it will definitely be at the expense of our youngs… they r the future of our nation …we should not be expreimenting them… n especially not succumb to the selfish needs n desire of certain quarters….That is indeed very sad…

We should look at the first batch of those who started learning sc n mth in eng fr year one.. n let them …… What our leaders must do now… is to train our teachers better.. have a structured long term training program to better equip our teachers … with storng comannd of the language…

We should also look at improving the communication skills of our kids… yes… when i was at uni… the msian students were the “shy & quiet ” batch… hardly heard during tutorials let alone during lecture ….

Lastly… my heart yearns… come 2012…as both my boys will be affected… one will be in Form 4,… to learn new terms in malay n ready himself for SPM in 2 years… The other will be in year 4… Good Lord!!! For those who are lucky enough to have the choice have the kids continue learning math n sc in eng … we r indeed v lucky.. but to those who do not have the choice… the disparity gap will continue to be steeper…………… How sad…. I do hope that DPM’s annoucnement in Perth recently is true.. or will it be a series of flip flop.. again… ….

She may be gone but there is much that we can all learn from what she has left us. Many Malaysians that I spoke to are very touched by her work despite not knowing her personally. My daughter and I had the opportunity to casually chat with her a few years ago . She definately made an impact .Despite some setback and criticism about her movie, she suceeded to reach out to all ethnic groups. Remarkable !!!.
I am indeed upset by the article in Kosmo which to me is trying to mar her image. We do not need this two cents worth of news.

perhaps you should hear what yasmin said about PM’s 1Malaysia, before thinking that she would agree to your idea. Yasmin has had the idea of ‘One Malaysia’ already, and so did many others – as opposed to the divisive politics of the day. PM’s 1Malaysia concept is nothing knew.. what’s most troubling about it, and that which yasmin said very diplomatically in her interview, was that it is extremely difficult to believe the sincerity of the PM as he has not said or done anything to reflect such values before this. I hope you can understand that point better and take the PM into account, looking at fundamental changes to foster understanding and not mere lip service and expensive PR. Also, do respect the dead in understanding the values she lived for before suggesting what she would otherwise support or do – don’t misrepresent her or use her name to further your agenda.