IT is with regret that my letter “Bold move needed to forge Bangsa Malaysia” (The Star, May 18) has caused some people to take exception to my mentioning tahfiz schools in the same breath as vernacular schools. I guess I was out of line as matters relating to Islam, including religious schools, are under the purview of the Sultan of each state and thus not under the federal government, and for this I apologise.
However, the view that I presented was motivated by my wanting to see Malaysia develop into a country with one identity where people of all races can work and live together in peace and harmony. What we see today are signs of polarisation of races and hence my presenting an opinion that perhaps the solution lies with having only one school system for the whole nation where children from the ages of seven to 17 years of all races study together, play together and socialise with each other in order to understand each other better.