Many parents have opted vernacular schools for their children because of the higher education quality, apart from the fact that being equipped with the ability to speak Mandarin has proved to be an asset these days given China's rising economic force. Abolishing vernacular schools is, in other words, denying these parents' children the opportunity of better quality education.
Definitely, the idea of single-stream system is not viable, at least not at this moment. The decision by Najib, whose popularity has just increased among the non-Malays, to make the statement, is definitely the correct one in terms of political strategy.
But if we look beyond political ratings, what really is the significance of single-stream system in terms of forging national unity? Is the fact that vernacular schools exist and some of us are educated through a different medium that is hampering national unity?
Being educated in a Chinese primary school myself, I can personally testified to no indoctrination of racial discrimination by my teachers.
Nevertheless, I have had experience of friends who generally did not have good perception of our Malay friends. I could always conclude that their dissatisfaction was due to the fact that they perceived Malays as weaker performers, yet could easily secure a scholarship or a place in public universities to pursue what they wanted.
I would be guilty to say that I have never questioned the ease of my Malay friends in securing what they desired. But I can safely say that I have always tried to establish good relationship with my Malay friends and classmates, because, on one hand and on a more personal level, I have always tried to convince myself that as long as I work hard enough, my dreams will come to me ultimately and on the other hand, particularly when I started to appreciate the complexity of the issue at hand, I know that this is essentially a matter of government policies, and no one should ever get personal with their Malay friends.
Education blogger cum political analyst Ong Kian Ming has once written a good blog post on how high-performing Malay students would be sent to the prestigious MCKK and other boarding schools on a government scholarships. He also elaborated on the different typologies of Malay students whom he himself had came across during his days in high school. Reading Kian Ming's article, I personally think that this approach by the government (whether it is an elitist or nationalistic approach, I won't comment) has, over the years, led to stratification of the national education system. It is because of this stratification, that national schools now consist of mainly weaker Malay students, accentuating the perception of poor quality education in national schools among non-Malay students and their parents. And where does this lead us to national unity?
Because of these personal experiences, I see the our lack of national unity as the government's inability to promise all Malaysian students who have worked hard, regardless of race and religion, the just and equal opportunities to pursue their ideals.
Annually, the headlines of high-achievers failing to secure government scholarships continue to bombard the media and the government's refusal to declassify / make clear the selection criteria have further worsened the problem.
Single-stream system can never be the solution to the lack of national unity, essentially because the crux of the problem lies on the inequalities perceived and experienced by Malaysians that have never been properly justified. What's more, abolishing vernacular schools may also worsen the situation in the Malaysian education system, because it denies parents the opportunities to send their children to affordable quality education.
Projecting the consequence further, a single-stream system can even diminish the diversity among our country's human resources, leading to "group think" mentality. In the worst scenario, a single-stream system can be a fertile ground for indoctrination, leading to more racial extremism and discrimination.
