In this provocative book, Jauhari Johar argues that Malaysia's vernacular schools (SJKC/SJKT) perpetuate racial division, weaken national unity, and threaten Malay cultural and political dominance. He traces their origins to British colonial policies that deliberately segregated communities and asserts that post-independence leaders failed to dismantle this system, allowing Chinese and Tamil schools to flourish at the expense of Bahasa Melayu and Islamic values. Jauhari contends that vernacular schools foster economic ...
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In this provocative book, Jauhari Johar argues that Malaysia's vernacular schools (SJKC/SJKT) perpetuate racial division, weaken national unity, and threaten Malay cultural and political dominance. He traces their origins to British colonial policies that deliberately segregated communities and asserts that post-independence leaders failed to dismantle this system, allowing Chinese and Tamil schools to flourish at the expense of Bahasa Melayu and Islamic values. Jauhari contends that vernacular schools foster economic disparity (e.g., Mandarin-speaking elites dominating business), cultural alienation (non-Malays viewing Malay history as irrelevant), and political loyalty to ethnocentric parties like DAP. He rejects "multiculturalism" as a guise for Chinese linguistic hegemony and calls for a single national school system with Bahasa Melayu as the primary medium of instruction, supplemented by mother-tongue electives. The book proposes a radical overhaul: abolishing vernacular schools, strengthening Islamic principles in education, and mobilizing Malay political will to enforce unity. Drawing comparisons to Indonesia's language policy and Thailand's assimilation model, Johar warns that without urgent reform, Malaysia risks becoming a failed state divided by colonial-era racial fault lines. Ultimately, this is a nationalist manifesto urging Malays to reclaim their leadership role while offering non-Malays a vision of integration-not assimilation-under a shared Malaysian identity rooted in Malay language, culture, and Islamic values.
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Add this copy of Why Vernacular Schools Divide Us: The Threat To Unity to cart. $12.07, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2025 by Independently Published.
