Has anyone ever thought of this?

Whenever a person ask you what Malaysia is, you’d say she is a multi-racial country. That is a big lie. We Malaysians have been living through racial segregation, no matter they were Malay, Chinese, Indian or other races. Our country has three different types of education system which is divided to the national school (so-called), Chinese and Indian. I think no other country has this type of system. Mostly Malays would go for the national schools, Chinese for Chinese schools and Indians for Indian schools. Amazing, we already segregate ourselves since childhood. I personally think that our education system is fucked up, with students being brainwashed by their schools to be loyal to their race when in actual fact what we need to do is to be loyal to our country. Don’t say it’s UMNO’s fault 100% – other parties are equally to blame too. MCA, MIC, Gerakan, DAP, Keadilan: no exceptions, all of them are defined by racial lines. I was told by my friend that Chinese schools are no different. Best part was that he studied in a prestigious Chinese school.

Well, you may argue, "Hey, it’s just different mediums of language, not races." Technically you are right. But in reality, it is segregation.

Go to local universities. Have a look. You'll see the Malay group, Chinese group, Indian group, lain-lain group but rarely will you see a 'muhibbah' group. Walk around in shopping malls. You'll see what I mean.

So, the answer to the solution: Abolish the Chinese and Indian schools and incorporate them into the national school system. Make Bahasa Malaysia and English as compulsory language subjects. Then, make every student to take up an additional mandatory language subject: either Mandarin, Tamil, indigenous languages like the Iban language, or other widely used languages. Plus, have two tiers of proficiency: basic (for those who are not familiar) and advanced (for those who already have basic knowledge). More emphasis will be given in speaking than writing, therefore making the language more useable in the future instead of just being another subject.

To be fair, this move will certainly be an unpopular move. The Malays would be shouting that their Malay Rights are breached, the Chinese and Indians would should this would be some Malay-supremacist move or a way to destroy their mother tongue and a form of keeping the non-bumi's as second class citizens. Political parties would harp onto the issue, quickly using the race card to get popular support.

But remember this: sometimes the wisest moves are not the most popular. Civil rights of coloured people were once a very unpopular subject in the US, particularly the South. Abolishment of slavery was in the past too was a highly unpopular move in UK and the US.

Unpopular as it may seem to the narrow-minded people and political parties or maybe a certain majority of the public; this must be done in the foreseeable future. We may not have any racial riots now, but we are already feeling the tension.