Respect court's decision on vernacular schools, says Saifuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: All parties must respect the court’s decision on the constitutional status of vernacular schools and move on, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail

The Home Minister called on all parties interested in continuing to dispute the issue to do so through the proper channels.

"Whenever a court makes a decision, the only thing we should do is respect it.

"If there is any further dispute, then that is what the courts are for," he said in his winding-up ministerial replies on the motion of thanks on the Royal Address in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (March 11).

Saifuddin said so in response to Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam), who asked the minister about the government's stance on the issue.

"It was heard at the High Court and at the Court of Appeal and decided conclusively by the Federal Court, which means their (vernacular schools) existence is guaranteed.

"As the Madani government, shouldn’t we accept this as a reality based on the country’s social contract?" Dr Wee said.

This comes after the Federal Court ruled that vernacular schools were constitutional, dismissing the appeal of two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on Feb 20.

The two NGOs, the Islamic Education Development Council (Mappim) and the Coalition of National Writers' Association (Gapena), sought to declare that the use of Chinese and Tamil languages as the medium of instruction in vernacular schools goes against the Federal Constitution.

They had previously sued various parties, including the federal government, over the issue in 2019. The case was dismissed by the High Court in 2021, and the Court of Appeal also dismissed the appeal in November last year.

Saifuddin also revealed that investigation papers had also been opened against Historian Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Teo Kok Seong over his recent controversial remarks that Chinese vernacular schools hindered national unity.

He added, "The investigation will be under Section 505 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998."

In a TikTok video posted by local portal the Merdeka Times on Feb 29, Teo suggested that Chinese vernacular schools propagate racism, which led to generations of local Chinese to develop negative perceptions of the Malay and Indian communities.

The portal’s owner, Firdaus Wong, has since claimed to have been summoned by police for questioning over the video, which has drawn ire from many parties.

This included Teresa Kok (PH-Seputeh), who labelled Teo’s comments as "racist hate speech", and Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan), accusing Teo of having "lost his roots" in Dewan Rakyat on March 4 and Monday, respectively.

Speaking out, Wan Ahmad Fayshal Wan Ahmad Kamal (PN-Machang) lamented the criticism of Teo as being unconstitutional and unfair.

"When an accomplished scholar brings up his thoughts on sensitive national issues like this, they have the right to speak.

"If one disagrees, they should debate it with facts instead of personal attacks and threats of being arrested given that we are members of Parliament," he said.

Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin (PN-Putrajaya) then demanded Lim retract his statement against Teo, which Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul also agreed to, with Lim doing so soon after.