Perak exco dismisses claims that UEC will cause racial tension

IPOH: Perak exco for education Prof Abdul Aziz Bari dismissed claims by state mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria that the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) will cause racial tension.
He said the recognition of UEC would not undermine Bahasa Malaysia as the national language.
"This is not a problem of Chinese going against the Malay language.
"We have come across instances where Malay students form the majority of enrolment in Chinese schools," he told a press conference today.
" We must not equate languages with a certain race.
"If the UEC is recognised today, is there going to be fights tomorrow? This will not happen unless we create an issue out of it,"he added.
Abdul Aziz who is a constitutional law expert, stressed that Bahasa Malaysia's position was enshrined in the Federal Constitution and official government matters are conducted in the national language.
He pointed out that recognition of UEC still required the holders to at least obtain a SPM credit in the Bahasa Malaysia paper.
"This goes to show that we are not ignoring the national language,"he added.
On Wednesday, Harussani had said that national unity will be endangered if the government recognises the UEC.
The cleric said the Chinese-language school leaving certificate threatens the status of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language, adding that it would impact the spirit of racial unity.