Chinese Schools in Peninsular Malaysia: The Struggle for Survival

3. Towards the "Ulitmate Objective" of One-Medium Education

83 3 TOWARDS THE “ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE” OF ONE-MEDIUM EDUCATION The฀self-government฀granted฀by฀the฀British฀to฀the฀Alliance฀Party฀in฀1955฀was฀ returning฀partial฀power฀to฀the฀local฀people฀of฀the฀country.฀This฀was฀followed฀ two฀years฀later฀by฀the฀British฀relinquishing฀power฀altogether฀and฀Malaya฀ becoming฀independent. As฀to฀be฀expected,฀the฀political฀changes,฀like฀in฀previous฀times,฀had฀ ramifications฀in฀the฀educational฀field.฀The฀Alliance฀Party฀was฀led฀by฀UMNO,฀ a฀Malay฀organization.฀With฀power฀in฀its฀hands,฀UMNO฀aspired฀and฀took฀ steps฀to฀pursue฀an฀“ultimate฀objective”฀in฀education,฀which฀was฀to฀use฀the฀ Malay฀language฀as฀the฀main฀medium฀of฀instruction฀in฀all฀schools.฀This฀ objective฀still฀holds฀today. The฀ objective฀ was฀ called฀ ultimate฀ because฀ UMNO฀ realized,฀ for฀ various฀reasons,฀that฀this฀could฀not฀be฀achieved฀overnight.฀It฀was฀ready฀to฀ accommodate฀these฀various฀reasons฀and฀aimed฀to฀reach฀the฀objective฀only฀ ultimately. This฀chapter฀will฀attempt฀to฀chart฀the฀course฀which฀UMNO฀pursued฀to฀ achieve฀its฀goal,฀as฀this฀impacted฀on฀Chinese฀education฀from฀the฀year฀1955,฀ when฀self-government฀was฀realized,฀to฀1969,฀which฀was฀a฀turning฀point฀in฀the฀ history฀of฀the฀country฀after฀which฀there฀were฀momentous฀changes฀again฀in฀ the฀field฀of฀education.฀The฀Alliance฀Party฀was฀able฀to฀wrest฀self-government฀at฀ first,฀and฀finally,฀even฀independence฀from฀the฀British฀because฀its฀component฀ parties,฀UMNO,฀the฀MCA,฀and฀MIC,฀could฀reach฀a฀compromise฀amongst฀ themselves฀on฀what฀should฀be฀the฀respective฀status฀of฀the฀Malay,฀Chinese,฀ 03฀CSPM'sia.indd฀฀฀83 12/27/10฀฀฀4:01:20฀PM 84 Chinese Schools in Peninsular Malaysia and฀Indian฀races฀in฀a฀new฀country.฀The฀understanding฀worked฀well฀for฀many฀ years,฀but฀by฀1969฀each฀community฀had฀become฀dissatisfied฀with฀what฀the฀ others฀were฀enjoying฀and฀an฀explosion฀occurred.฀Racial฀riots฀broke฀out. TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE Between฀1955฀and฀1957,฀the฀Alliance฀Party฀led฀by฀Tunku฀Abdul฀Rahman,฀ negotiated฀with฀the฀British฀for฀independence.฀The฀talks฀were฀successful฀and฀ the฀country฀became฀independent฀on฀31฀August฀1957,฀with฀the฀Tunku฀as฀the฀ prime฀minister.1 In฀1955,฀soon฀after฀obtaining฀self-government,฀Tunku฀Abdul฀Rahman฀ also฀negotiated฀with฀the฀communists฀for฀an฀end฀to฀their฀uprising.฀By฀this฀ time,฀the฀fight฀of฀the฀communists฀had฀got฀nowhere.฀The฀two฀sides฀could฀ not฀agree฀on฀the฀terms฀of฀peace,฀however,฀and฀the฀talks฀failed.฀The฀posture฀ adopted฀by฀the฀Tunku฀towards฀the฀communists,฀insisting฀on฀the฀dissolution฀ of฀their฀party฀and฀the฀wounding฀up฀of฀their฀movement,฀satisfied฀the฀British,฀ which฀contributed฀significantly฀to฀their฀agreeing฀to฀let฀Malaya฀become฀ independent.2 During฀the฀process฀of฀the฀negotiations฀between฀the฀Alliance฀Party฀and฀ the฀British,฀the฀latter฀appointed฀a฀commission,฀headed฀by฀a฀Lord฀Reid,฀to฀ prepare฀a฀constitution฀for฀an฀independent฀Malaya.฀Simultaneously,฀the฀ component฀parties฀in฀the฀Alliance฀Party฀negotiated฀among฀themselves฀on฀ what฀status฀each฀of฀the฀communities฀which฀they฀represented฀should฀have฀ in฀the฀projected฀new฀political฀set-up.฀Reid’s฀commission฀took฀into฀account฀ their฀compromises฀and฀agreements.3 In฀brief,฀what฀UMNO,฀the฀MCA,฀and฀MIC฀agreed฀on฀was฀that฀the฀ Malays฀would฀enjoy฀political฀dominance฀in฀the฀country฀with฀the฀right฀to฀raise฀ their฀economic฀position,฀while฀the฀Chinese฀and฀the฀Indians฀could฀continue฀ with฀their฀business฀and฀other฀economic฀activities฀as฀before.4 THE ULTIMATE OBJECTIVE AND NEAR PARITY TREATMENT FOR SCHOOLS OF ALL LANGUAGE STREAMS The Razak Report, 1956, and the Education Ordinance, 1957 Because฀of฀the฀burning฀urge฀to฀achieve฀the฀“ultimate฀objective”฀in฀education,฀ the฀new฀government,฀after฀the฀electoral฀victory฀in฀1955,฀promptly฀appointed฀ a฀committee฀to฀review฀the฀education฀system฀in฀the฀country฀and฀devise฀ a฀new฀set-up.฀It฀was฀headed฀by฀the฀then฀minister฀for฀education,฀Abdul฀ Razak,฀and฀consisted฀of฀members฀from฀the฀component฀organizations฀of฀the฀ ฀ 03฀CSPM'sia.indd฀฀฀84 12/27/10฀฀฀4:01:20฀PM Towards the “Ultimate Objective” of One-medium Education 85 Alliance฀Party.฀The฀committee’s฀report฀was฀accepted฀by฀the฀Legislative฀ Council฀ in฀ June฀ 1956฀ and฀ became฀ the฀ basis฀ for฀ the฀ enactment฀ of฀ an฀ Education฀Ordinance฀in฀July฀the฀following฀year,฀just฀one฀month฀before฀the฀ country฀became฀independent.5 ฀The฀report฀and฀the฀act฀took฀into฀account฀the฀ agreements฀reached฀between฀UMNO฀and฀the฀Chinese฀educationists฀at฀the฀ Malacca฀meeting฀in฀1955,฀and฀the฀various฀promises฀on฀education฀reflecting฀ those฀agreements,฀and฀declared฀in฀campaigning฀by฀the฀Alliance฀Party฀in฀the...