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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright December 2022
The question that is on the minds of many Malaysians is: Will Anwar give in to Dong Zong’s demand for the recognition of UEC? Or will he accede to the strong opposition mounted by the National Education Action (NEA) Council to reject Dong Zong's demand?
Anwar will be hard pressed into making a decision that will in the end disappoint one of the parties involved in the conflict.
For Dong Zong, they are now exercising their rights to demand for what has already been published in PH-DAP party's manifesto for GE15.
PH is bound to fight for the recognition of UEC as championed by Dong Zong for decades because they promised to do so as part of their campaign manifesto.
Anwar as Chairman of PH is obligated to honour the promises made by the party before GE15, or he and his party would lose the credibility in the eyes of supporters who largely made up of DAP supporters and wanted to see UEC being recognized.
Besides the vote of confidence in Parliament scheduled for December 19, this is a major test for Anwar as PM and dilemma for him having to choose one side over another.
NEA Council has urged Prime Minister Anwar to reject the demands of United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
As reported by Sinar Daily, its chairman, Datuk Zainal Abidin Borhan, said if it was recognised, it will not be in line with the existing national education system, which uses the national language as the medium of instruction.
In addition, he said Dong Zong’s demand to recognise the UEC is against the country’s aspirations based on the Federal Constitution.
NEA Council claims that UEC is an examination system provided by Chinese medium private school associations which conflicts with building a national identity for Malaysia.
“The government is also urged to not approve any allocation to schools and private education centres that Dong Zong is demanding,” he said.
The statement was issued by 11 representatives from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who attended a meeting to discuss the UEC issue. Zainal added said the council is ready to cooperate with the government to share expertise and advice for a prosperous and united country.
One group in the dispute will be disappointed by Anwar's decision. At the same time Anwar himself might be in a dilemma whether to side with Dong Zong and risk raising the anger amongst members of NEA Council.
Or alternatively Anwar may want to accept NEA Council's request and bin the demands from Dong Zong, but risk angering DAP supporters.
Being PM is no easy task as Anwar might have discovered by now.
This is just one dilemma. He'll discover that there are other issues lurking in the background just waiting for the right moment to flare up.
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