Although Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chief Dr Mahathir Mohamad had claimed on Tuesday that the coalition had obtained "100 percent support" for the implementation of the controversial language switch in all schools next year, MCA continues, at least according to Chinese dailies, to argue that Chinese schools have been exempted.

Sin Chew Daily today quoted MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik on its front-page as "confirming" that BN had "agreed" to allow Chinese primary schools to continue teaching Science and Mathematics in their mother tongue, and not in English.

However, leading Chinese dailies also quoted Education Minister Musa Mohamed as saying that the so-called exemption "may be a private opinion" of Ling.

Musa also reportedly said that the issue was not discussed at the cabinet meeting held yesterday.

The Umno-controlled New Straits Times today editorialised that "an exclusion for Chinese schools would keep them apart from the national syllabus" which "cannot but be detrimental to national unity". While major Chinese civil organisations like Dong Jiao Zong, the youth sections of the Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka Chinese Assembly Halls have reportedly opined that the BN decision was "not clear" and "confusing".

Details leaked

Meanwhile, the National Publicity Bureau (NPC) of MCA issued a press statement yesterday, expressing "regret" that the "confidential" details of the party's central committee meeting held last Friday were "leaked" to the media.

According to an Oct 20 report in the New Sunday Times, "the MCA central committee had unanimously decided to oppose the government's proposal to teach Science and Mathematics in English in all Chinese primary schools next year".

The newspaper reported that the MCA CC meeting was held for two hours, and its deputy president, Lim Ah Lek and vice-president, Chua Jui Meng were absent because they were in Australia and China respectively.

The duo are the chieftains in the party's dissident faction, Team B which opposes the faction led by the party president.

It was also reported that 14 of the 41 central committee members, were absent,

Following the report, other Umno-controlled newspapers such as Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian joined the fray and quoted some Umno leaders as criticising MCA.

Deputy Umno president and premier-in-waiting, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reportedly "warned" MCA not to "threaten" Barisan Nasional.

Over-sensitive leaders

The NPC statement, while confirming the "unanimous" decision to "oppose" the language switch in Chinese primary schools, accused Umno leaders of being "over-sensitive" and "indiscriminate".

Umno Youth chief, Hishammudin Hussein was named as one of such leaders.

According to the statement, the decision was supposed to be conveyed to the BN supreme council quietly "to avoid open discussion" in the media, but "someone within MCA betrayed the party and leaked the confidential details of the CC meeting to the New Sunday Times and Berita Harian".

One of the top Team B leaders, Chan Kong Choy has also come under public attack by pro-Ling MCA leaders. Chan is the Pahang MCA chief as well as a national vice-president.

According to a Sin Chew report today, MCA Youth vice-chairperson, Han Chin Peng named Chan and attacked him for not "conveying and representing the MCA CC decision to Pahang Mentri Besar, Adnan Yakob" in an Oct 20 Pahang BN meeting.

Han pointed out that "doublespeak" and "contradictory" positions expressed by different party leaders have caused "confusion" and "doubts" among MCA members and supporters. This, he added has "shaken the confidence of the Chinese community" on the party.

Yesterday, Penang MCA was also reported to have issued a statement with similar content but without naming any leader.

Fong revealed that Chan attended the MCA CC meeting last Friday.

On Oct 21, the New Straits Times quoted Adnan as saying that Pahang MCA has expressed support for the language switch. Pahang MCA, is aligned to Team B.

Yesterday, the MCA-owned China Press and the pro-Ling Sin Chew quoted Chan as denying the menteri besar's assertion.

According to him, the MCA division had only "agreed that the issue be handed over to the prime minister and cabinet for a final decision".

LDP defection

Amid the Umno-MCA and intra-MCA public polemics, a Chinese-based BN component party, Sabah Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) announced yesterday that it would not participate in any debates on the issue.

It added that it will not join MCA, Gerakan, Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) in any caucus meeting either.

According to Sin Chew today, LDP president and Sabah chief minister, Chong Kah Kiat was quoted as saying that his party would leave it to the cabinet to make a final decision, and abide by it.

LDP's latest announcement could be interpreted as defection from the MCA-led Chinese caucus within the Barisan Nasional.

MCA, Gerakan and the two other Chinese-based BN component parties will meet later today to discuss the issue.

However, the pro-Ling Federation of Chinese Assembly Halls (Hua Zong) today reiterated its position that Science and Mathematics in all Chinese primary schools must continued to be taught in the Chinese language.

According to another report in Sin Chew, the federation expressed "hope" that the prime minister and BN component parties would "respect the aspiration of the Chinese community".

Did the Oct 23 BN supreme council meeting really make a decision? Or, was there more than one decision made? Confusion still reigns.

JAMES WONG WING ON is chief analyst of Strategic Analysis Malaysia (SAM) which produces the subscriber-based political report, Analysis Malaysia. Wong is a former member of parliament (1990-1995) and a former columnist for the Sin Chew Jit Poh Chinese daily. He read political science and economics at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While in Sin Chew, he and a team of journalists won the top awards of Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) for 1998 and 1999.