DONG Zong has expressed hope that the next education minister will seek different views before implementing policies.

The education organisation, whose full name is the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia, said the Education Ministry should be inclusive and take into account the concerns of all groups.

It is still unclear who will take up the education portfolio following Maszlee Malik’s resignation effective today.

His decision, announced yesterday, comes after 20 months of service marred by controversies, including the plan to introduce Jawi lessons in vernacular schools.

In a statement today, Dong Zong reiterated its position that vernacular schools’ boards should have a say on the addition of such lessons to the Year Four Bahasa Melayu syllabus.

Currently, the ministry allows vernacular schools to decide via a vote among parents and parent-teacher association members.

Dong Zong said it wants the new minister to include Jawi writing under a broader subject that teaches pupils about various cultures, instead of having it as a standalone topic.

Dong Zong honorary secretary Ng Chai Heng, in a separate statement on his Facebook page, acknowledged the difficulties Maszlee faced in juggling the demands of Malaysia’s different races.

He thanked Maszlee for his service, praising the latter’s focus on poor, marginalised, stateless and disabled students.

“Dong Zong does not deny that we have differences in several matters. Nevertheless, we wish to affirm that whatever our differences with the Education Ministry under Maszlee, all of it stems from our objective to make Malaysia better.

“There is no ill feeling between Dong Zong and Maszlee. We respect and appreciate him as a leader who was sincere in the course of his service. We believe he tried as hard as he could to do everything that was best for the country.”

He added that Maszlee raised the dignity of poor and marginalised students, and had to shoulder the burden of balancing different groups’ demands.

“It wasn’t just differences in terms of ethnicity, but also differences in socio-economic class. People had different views on his free breakfast programme.”

Ng said Maszlee had struggled to explain policies clearly, resulting in instances where his remarks overshadowed the policies themselves.

He acknowledged that Maszlee’s predicament was, in part, “made more complex in an era where the media and social media are ever present”. – January 3, 2020.