Racial divisions threaten Malaysian unity

Racial divisions threaten Malaysian unity

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Racial divisions in schools and
universities will threaten Malaysia's national unity unless they
are addressed, an adviser said on Sunday.

Lee Lam Thye, a member of the National Unity Advisory Panel,
said school and university students of different races were not
interacting.

"With the exception of one or two universities, the others are
not doing much in terms of encouraging students of different
races to share accommodation in the campuses," he said in a
statement carried by the official Bernama news agency.

"Unless and until bold and decisive steps are taken to address
the issue of racial polarization in schools, colleges and
universities, it would threaten unity as well as the multiracial
fabric of our society and nation," he said.

Lee urged the education ministry to set guidelines for
promoting racial mixing.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad last week announced plans to
build more primary schools shared by children of the three major
races to build better relations.

The "vision schools" will share a sports field, assembly hall
and canteen but will have separate buildings for teaching in
different languages.

Mahathir also said university authorities had been told
students of different races should share the same accommodation.
Malays make up just over half the population, followed by Chinese
and Indians.

A long-running affirmative action program to help Malays catch
up with wealthier Chinese gives them priority for college and
university places as well as a larger stake in business.

The program has helped raise the economic status of Malays but
has created some resentment among other races.

In another development, a report said Sunday that children
caught playing truant in one Malaysian town will be taken to a
police station and forced to read a book till their parents
collect them.

Students found loitering in shopping complexes during school
hours will be taken to a reading room opened Saturday at the
police station in Seremban, the Star newspaper reported.

"If parents take two hours to pick up their children they will
then have to read for that duration," Goh Siow Huat, the head of
a local crime prevention organization, was quoted as saying.

Students who do not have time to finish the book will be
allowed to take it home but must write a synopsis to prove they
have read it, he said.