Propuestas fundamentales

was 450/° i t h e r e were lOQf/o non-M alay f a i l u r e s i n Bahasa M a la y sia . ^ The D .A .P. b e lie v e d t h a t Malay e x tr e m is ts i n U.M.N.O. were r e s p o n s ib le f o r th e m easures t h a t had cau sed th e mass M.C.E. B ahasa M ala y sia f a i l u r e s among th e non-M alays. I t in s in u a te d t h a t by p a r t i a l m arking p ro c e d u re s , th e governm ent v/as t r y i n g to r e v e r s e th e p re v io u s p a t t e r n o f ex am in atio n r e s u l t s w hich i n ­ d i c a t e d t h a t th e non-M alays had t r a d i t i o n a l l y perform ed b e t t e r th a n t h e Ma­ l a y s . T h is r e f l e c t e d th e re s e n tm e n t o f th e e x tr e m is ts to w ard s th e dom inant s t a t u s o f th e E n g lish la n g u ag e w hich co u ld be a t t r i b u t a b l e t o i t s more ex­ t e n s i v e u se i n commerce, i n d u s tr y and h ig h e r e d u c a tio n , and th e re b y commanded g r e a t e r economic v a lu e and u s e f u ln e s s when compared to M alay. By i n s i s t i n g on a m andatory p a ss f o r B ahasa M a la y sia , th e D .A .P. h e ld t h a t th e e x tr e m is ts w ere d e term in e d t o do away w ith th e p re -e m in e n t s t a t u s o f E n g lish i n th e s e

f i e l d s , and r e p la c e i t w ith Malay by l e g i s l a t i o n , and i f n e c e s s a r y , by f o r c e as in th e c a se o f th e a c t s o f v an d alism by th e M .L.S. In t h i s way, i t was h e ld t h a t th e e x tr e m is ts w anted t o s e c u re f o r Malay th e same economic v a lu e

and u s e f u ln e s s as E n g lis h , so t h a t th e y , as u ltra -c h a m p io n s o f M alay, would b e n e f i t p e r s o n a lly . Under th e s e c irc u m s ta n c e s , th e D.A .P. s u s p e c te d th a t th e governm ent in te n d e d a s many M alays as p o s s ib le to p a ss th e M .C .E ./ S.P.M . aa a f i r s t s te p tow ards e n s u r in g th e dom inant s t a t u s o f Malay i n commerce, in d u s tr y and h ig h e r e d u c a tio n . By i m p lic a tio n , t h i s had t o mean f a i l i n g th e non-M alays in s i g n i f i c a n t num bers, and s in c e th e o n ly obvious d is a d v a n ­ ta g e th e non-M alays had i n r e l a t i o n to th e Malays was B ahasa M a la y sia , th e mass f a i l u r e s among th e non-M alays in 1972 in t h i s a s p e c t was p r e d i c t a b l e . The D .A .P. ag reed w ith non-M alay c o m p la in ts t h a t th e s ta n d a rd o f th e B ahasa M a la y sia p a p er ex p ected from s tu d e n ts was to o h ig h . As p r o o f , Lim K it S ia n g

s t a t e d t h a t among th e f a i l u r e s w ere th o s e who had done v e ry w e ll i n t h e i r

school trial examinations along the lines of the M.C.E., including a student from Chung Ling High School in Penang, who had won the Bahasa Malaysia com-

39

petition for the whole school in that year. Lim Kit Siang also refuted the

government's retort that non-Malay students had not taken the Bahasa Malay­

sia paper seriously. He held that they had conscientiously studied the lan­

guage as they and their parents were aware that it was a mandatory pass in the M.C.E., without which their chances of entering pre-university classes or seeking employment would be bleak. Besides the failures in Bahasa Malay­ sia in the previous years 197*3 and 1971 with their adverse implications and consequences, had heightened the awareness of the students of the importance of passing the mandatory Bahasa Malaysia paper. As for the government's charge that there had been no similar outcry against previous S.C. failures because of English, Lim Kit Siang held that it was irrelevant since no paral­ lel situation in the past involving 14,000 failures had existed!^

Having criticised the government strongly, the D.A.P. made its own suggestions regarding the solution of the problem. Lim Kit Siang urged the government to institute a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the causes and reasons for the high rate of Bahasa Malaysia failures, thus implying that the government had made a big mess out of the whole M.C.E. examination^ He called for conditional passes for those who would otherwise have passed

42

had it not been for a failure in Bahasa Malaysia. As for those who had

39« Ibid, p. 325. 40. Ibid, p. 326.

41. Ibid, p. 327.

42. Ibid. In the previous S.C. examination, students who had obtained

the requisite number of passes for the award of a certificate but failed in English, were given a conditional General Certificate of Education pass. This would enable them to either seek employment or

join pre-university classes if their grades were good. The majority

of these cases, however, usually repeated the S.C. It could be held

qualified for admission into 6th Form classes before the M.C.E. results were released, Kit Siang argued that their places should not be withdrawn but that they should be made to repeat the Bahasa Malaysia’pap er ' He ’* held that it was wasteful of effort for students with good results to re­ peat the whole M.C.E. examination as the government had s u g g e s t e d ^ Besides it would be a great strain on the already insufficient numbers of qualified Bahasa Malaysia teachers to handle enlarged classes caused by repeating

45

students: The D.A.P. expressed the fears and apprehensions of the non- Malays over what it felt to be Malay extremist motivated measures in the mass M.C.E. Bahasa Malaysia failures. It called upon the moderate U.M.N.O.

leadership to adopt a humanitarian approach to the affected 14,000 non- Malay students and treat the mass failures as a national rather than a com­ munal problem!^ In this way, the party argued that goodwill and unity could be created by gratitude rather than resentment shown by the non-Malays5^

\

In retrospect, the 1972 M.C.E..mass Bahasa Malaysia failures was an act deliberately and insidiously contrived by Malay extremists in the government as a reaction to the seemingly lack of regard and interest shown by the non-Malays towards the importance of Bahasa Malaysia in the New Edu­

cation Policy. The mass failures aggravated the bad feelings between the Malays and the non-Malays. This muted ill-will had been intensified by the

increasingly pro-Malay policies of the government after the 1969 racial riot. If the non-Malays felt grievous over what they perceived as the

more in the purpose of removing the psychological sense of failure among the affected non-Malay candidates.

43« Ibid. 44. Ibid.

45. Ibid. 47. Ibid.

injustice perpetrated by the government, the Malays were quick to feel offended that the non-Malays had either deliberately chosen to ignore or had not fully understood the implications of the New Education Policy.

The government thus faced pressures from the non-Malays to review the M.C.E. Bahasa Malaysia results and counter-pressures from the Malays not to do so. Given the weaker political position of the non-Malays, it appeared that they

could not do much(except to protest) in seeking redress. In the case of

those with prejudices against Bahasa Malaysia for whatever reasons, they would have to change their attitude to master the language adequately to avoid, as the government warned, a bleak future in the country. Time has proved that, with determination and a change in attitude, non-Malays could overcome the problem of not being proficient in Bahasa Malaysia, as indica­ ted by the M.C.E. Bahasa Malaysia results of subsequent y e a r s T h u s the problem of Bahasa Malaysia failures would tend to be gradually phased out in the future with the implementation of the New Education Policy as more and more non-Malays received their education in the Malay-medium^

As a Chinese-based party, the D.A.F. held the government solely

responsible for the dilemma of the 14,000 affected non-Malay students. It

successfully articulated the fear3 and apprehensions of the non-Malays and proposed solutions which appeared attractive to them. To them, it appeared

as a concerned party that was not afraid to 3peak on their behalf. The

48. For the 1978 M.C.E. results, Musa Hitarn, the Education Minister,