Siti Kasim doesn’t want Malaysia be like Indonesia where Chinese have to abandon their mother tongue

Siti Kasim doesn’t want Malaysia be like Indonesia where Chinese have to abandon their mother tongue






SLAMMING ultra-Malay politicians for incessantly pushing for the shutting down of vernacular schools, Siti Kasim wants Malaysia to preserve its uniqueness of pursuing the integration path as opposed to Indonesia which assimilates its minority citizens into speaking one single language.


On the tendency of the nationalist faction to compare Malaysia to Indonesia, the human rights activist and lawyer stressed on the need to understand that Malaysia has its own national integration concept as opposed to Indonesia’s national assimilation policy.


“As part of this integration concept, there’s a need to foster tolerance towards the use of multiple languages as medium of instruction in vernacular schools,” she schooled “morally bankrupt” politicians who tend to view vernacular schools as agents of disunity in Malaysia on her latest YouTube video rant.

The latest to join the fray is UMNO Youth EXCO member Wan Muhammad Zuhir Ghazali who recently demanded the scrapping of Chinese and Indian vernacular schools “for the sake of fostering unity with all pupils interacting in one language”.

Recall that on Feb 20 last year, the Federal Court had in a majority two-one decision dismissed the appeal of the Islamic Education Development Council (MAPPIM) and the Coalition of National Writers’ Association (GAPENA) which sought to declare the use of Chinese and Tamil languages as the medium of instruction in vernacular schools as not constitutional.

Celebrating vernacular education

“It has to be understood that our policy is different from Indonesia which encourages assimilation whereby minority groups are forced to forgo their cultural values by embracing that of the dominant group,” asserted Siti Kasim.

“This is till you can’t foretell if the person is Chinese, Javanese, Sudanese or Balinese as they speak one language … personally, I like the Chinese to maintain their language and to be able to freely associate themselves with their culture, hence making Malaysia stand out as a melting pot of cultural diversity.”

Siti Kasim further contended that vernacular school education has enabled many Malay kids to converse fluently in Mandarin “till able to make breakthrough in China” as in the case of songstress Shila Amzah who is today a household name.

“Likewise, the Indians and Orang Asli/Asal, too, can preserve their own identity … this is the best part of Malaysia for I don’t wish to see that we all look alike,” she insisted.

“Malaysia is so special … moreover, our Federal Constitution has guaranteed the rights and freedom of every citizen to learn and teach their mother tongue.”

Below are some additional thought-provoking notions of vernacular education from Siti Kasim:

We as parents have the right to determine which school we want to send our children to, ie many Malay parents today prefer to send their children to Chinese schools due to the linguistic advantages.

If I had a small kid today, I wouldn’t mind going through the hassle of enrolling my child in a Chinese school given the numerous benefits.

Imagine Mandarin is today accepted worldwide till Saudi Arabia also teaches Mandarin in their schools while those fools want to shut down Chinese schools in Malaysia.



Moreover, we’ve witnessed ourselves how non-Muslim pupils are being ill-treated especially during Ramadan when they are segregated by being made to eat near the toilets or that our national schools are increasingly becoming more like sekolah agama (religious schools).

On the contrary, vernacular schools acknowledges without fear or favour all cultures and religions regardless Chinese, Indian, Malay or that of the Orang Asli. – March 4, 2025