I don't understand brouhaha behind Dissatisfied's protest (Mother tongue school promise is double-talk).

I believe neither Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad nor the party he leads has any beef about Chinese education. Maybe some implementors and officials in the Education Ministry do, which would account why certain areas including Bandar Sungai Long in Selangor have no Chinese school despite a sizeable demand for it.

There are reportedly 35,000 non-Chinese students enrolled in national-type Chinese schools. Their parents are visionary, for learning Mandarin is an asset to the country considering the economic potential of the immense market of China.

One must bear in mind that if Chinese education is suppressed, the MCA, the second most important component party within Barisan Nasional coalition will have nothing to show to say that it is representing the Chinese Malaysian

Chinese education is only a cultural symbol. Surely if MCA is deprived of even this symbol to champion, it has no reason to exist. After all we dont expect it to function like Suqiu or DAP to fight on more substantial issues like, for example, the quota system, do we?

Actually, even Barisan Nasional as a whole has a vested interest in championing vernacular education. That is the only issue left for BN to canvass for Chinese Malaysian votes in both by-elections and general elections. What else is there left for them?

So it is very pathetic for the writer to demand some sort of guarantee from the prime minister over an issue like Chinese education which is basically a non-issue (even symbolic, at that) in terms of concessions from Umno.

I can understand the writer's passionate request if it had concerned, for example, the ruling coalition's promise to abolish the quota system.

That would have been a major concession. Not the promotion of Chinese education that benefits not only Chinese Malaysian children but also children of non-Chinese descent, and the economic prospects of the country.

What we should be more concerned about is the quality of Chinese education.

It must be implemented without inculcating parochial, chauvinistic, cultural values that make national and multiracial integration and globalised economic participation difficult. It is best when it churns out students equally fluent in Mandarin, English and Bahasa Malaysia so that they can take on the world more effectively.