UCSCAM’s Press Statement
16 December, 2013
Full Support for the Demand to Build a Tamil High
School!
During an activity on December 1, Datuk
R.S. Thanenthiran, the President of the Malaysian Makkal Sakti Party (MMSP),
demanded the government to set up a new Tamil High School, citing that there
had been a lot of independent Chinese high schools, but not a single Tamil high
school, ever since Malaysia’s independence 57 years ago. It was therefore the
Party’s wish to have a high school with Tamil as its main medium of instruction
and administrative language. The United Chinese School Committees’ Association
of Malaysia (UCSCAM or Dong Zong) would like to render its full support on this
matter.
Malaysia is a country of diverse ethnicity,
religion, culture and language. As such, setting up a high school with Tamil as
its main medium of instruction and administrative language conforms fully to
the propagation of the Indian culture and language. The demand is in full
tandem with the Malaysian spirit, the country’s constitution as well as United
Nations human rights mandate and educational rights of minority groups to their
mother tongues stipulated by UNESCO.
Looking back at Malaysia’s educational
history, we can see that the first Malay school was established in 1860, while
the first Tamil school, in 1880. Then in January 1958, the Malay community and
educational circle requested for a Malay high school. 56 years later, with
strong backing from the government, Malay education has blossomed and
progressed by leaps and bounds, outpacing the educational development of other
languages. However, a Tamil high school is still nowhere in sight.
Indian civilization is one of the four
greatest civilizations in the world, and Tamil is undoubtedly an integral part
of that civilization. It is therefore a grave mistake, or even a full-blown
tragedy, to ignore it or hinder its rightful progress. We feel that this
situation has to change, and that the demand by the Malaysian Makkal Sakti
Party (MMSP) is one that keeps abreast with the times. If the government is
totally sincere in its mission to transform Malaysia into a developed country
in 2020, then the establishment of a Tamil high school is timely and a definite
must. This will be an acid test to racial unity and harmony and national
development, the key agenda of the National Unity Consultative Council launched
by the government.
Under the uncompromising umbrella of
educational equality, we feel that other ethnic groups in the country such as
the Ibans, Kadazans etc must also enjoy equal and comprehensive rights to
education in their mother tongues. The government is urged to take firm
measures to support and uphold the existence and development of all mother
tongue education.
（来源：董总网页）
