This UMNO Assemblyman Thinks Chinese And Tamil Schools Destroy Unity In Malaysia
Datuk Mohd Fadil Osman has since been asked to apologise for his statement.
By Jia Vern Tham — 17 Apr 2019, 02:06 PM
Yesterday, 16 April, Kemayan assemblyman Datuk Mohd Fadil Osman claimed that Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools destroy unity in Malaysia
Fadil also argued that the more funds vernacular schools receive from the government, the more severe the damage done to national unity.
Sin Chew Daily reported that the UMNO politician made the remark during a question-and-answer session in the 14th Pahang State Legislative Assembly yesterday.
Fadil further accused students of vernacular of acting like 'foreigners' as they cannot speak Bahasa Malaysia
"They are Malaysians, but they act like 'pendatang' (foreigners)," the Kemayan assemblyman said, according to Sin Chew Daily.
He added that students fail to speak Bahasa Malaysia after six years of education in vernacular schools.
Following an uproar in the assembly, Pahang Science, Green Technology, Communications and Multimedia Committee chairman Datuk Mohammad Fakhruddin Mohd Ariff attempted to defend Fadil by saying that it is common to be called a "pendatang".
Pahang MCA Youth has since demanded an apology from Fadil for his "extremist" statement
"I can't imagine how an assemblyman has such a lack of general knowledge," Pahang MCA Youth secretary Saw Yee Fung was quoted as saying by Kwong Wah.
"Fadil obviously does not know that Bahasa Malaysia is a compulsory subject in schools and also UPSR," she added.
Saw also urged Fadil to contact MCA for proof of students who speak Bahasa Malaysia fluently.
"We can introduce one to you, don't make a fool of yourself in the state assembly... If (you) don't even have this bit of common sense, you don't deserve to be an assemblyman," she said.