During a dialogue session on Saturday (3 September), Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim questioned the existence of vernacular schools in relation to the unity of the nation.
The Crown Prince asked, “You have Malay schools, Chinese schools, Indian schools; from early age you teach them not to unite, and when they grow up, you tell them to unite?”
A single-term ‘Bangsa Johor’ (The Johorean ‘Nation’) schools for Malay, Chinese and Indian in Johor state should be used to promote unity, said Johor Crown Prince.
“I hope in the near future… the Johor Government would provide its own education module for Johoreans,” he said in the recorded dialogue session.
“In the future, there won’t be Malay, Indian or Chinese schools in Johor. Religious schools will still be around. What we will have instead is Bangsa Johor schools.”
“From childhood, kids will be taught to unite, respect other religions and respect other races,” he said.
Tunku Ismail also proposed during the session to have a syllabus in the education system to teach children to reject corruption, and to have an education system that encourages maturity and thinking outside the box.
And he added that it is important to educate the young Johoreans to know the country’s history and strengths.
The Prince speech was posted on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page on Sunday ( 4 September) and attracted more than 500 comments. Below are some positive comments from the Malaysians (with translation).
