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| Southeast Asia |
| Malaysia National Schools ’hijacked by Muslim extremists’ |
| 2002-12-27 |
| The national school system has been hijacked by people obsessed with Islamic practices that emphasise form over substance, says Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. As a result, greater importance has been placed on things like the banning of shorts and skirts than getting pupils of all races to study together. In an exclusive interview with the New Straits Times and Berita Harian at his office at the Ministry of Finance on Monday, Dr Mahathir lamented that even though the system had alienated non-Muslims, some Malays said it was still not Islamic enough and enrolled their children in Islamic schools. 'The idea was to set up a school system that would cater to all races in Malaysia,' he said, citing the lack of facilities for language classes for Chinese and Indian children as an example of how this aim had been ignored. 'But we find that the people who run the schools have other ideas.' Dr Mahathir said Islamic practices had been introduced into the school system to the extent that non-Muslims had been alienated. 'So many Islamic teachers are added. 'For example, before we had no problems with girls wearing skirts and boys wearing shorts, especially for games. 'Now boys are forbidden from wearing shorts, even for playing games, and even games are discouraged.' Playing games wastes time better spent learning to hate others Dr Mahathir, who heads a committee to overhaul the national education system, said it was unfortunate that some Malays themselves had rejected the national school system, preferring to go to Islamic schools that were badly staffed with unqualified people. 'They do not learn religion, they learn politics, the politics of a certain party,' he said. He said that was why 'almost everyone' who went to an Islamic school came out hating the government, 'simply because that is what is taught in the school'. 'They say this government is not Islamic, and they can make up anything about how the government is not Islamic,' he added. The Prime Minister reiterated that he was set on retiring despite calls from certain quarters to stay on. Dr Mahathir, who had announced his plans to step down during the Umno general assembly in June, had said that his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would take over as Prime Minister next October. Sorry to see him go, seems like he has a firm grasp of the proble. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 'They do not learn religion, they learn politics, the politics of a certain party,' he said. Hmmm: Wahabi? |
| Posted by: John Anderson 2002-12-28 05:10:09 |