…

Datuk Zainal Kling is the man who would like to deprive kids of their blue IC if they don’t speak Malay.

…

24 Jan 2017

‘Citizenship for BM’ proposal slammed

January 24, 2017

Former senior civil servant Ramon Navaratnam says it is wrong for anyone to want to intimidate a child or threaten to deny their rights to citizenship over proficiency in Malay.

KUALA LUMPUR: A prominent former top civil servant has slammed a proposal by an academic that MyKads be issued only to children who can speak Malay.
.

“Issuing such threats is not the way to encourage people to become more proficient in the Malay language,” he said, adding that it was already mandatory to learn and pass the Bahasa Malaysia subject in the SPM examination.

“It may be the mother tongue for the Malays but not for the other races, so what is important is that they have the basics,” Ramon said on the sidelines of the launch of his latest book titled Malaysia’s Transformation Challenges: Debating Public Policies.

Ramon, who is currently the chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Studies at the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (Asli), also warned that such a policy would only divide Malaysia’s multiracial society further.

“Proficiency in a language should not be used as a benchmark for citizenship. While learning the national language is important, we must also ensure children understand the values they should have to be a good Malaysian citizen.”

This, he said, would give more meaning to a citizenship.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/01/24/citizenship-for-bm-proposal-slammed/

FMT News ‏@fmtoday 2h2 hours ago

Cenbet: Why deny citizenship to children over language?

PETALING JAYA: There is no basis for revoking the citizenship of any Malaysian under any circumstance let alone for the lack of speaking or understanding Bahasa Malaysia, the Centre for a Better Tomorrow (Cenbet) said in a statement today.

The NGO was responding to a statement by Universiti Utara Malaysia’s Professor Dr Zainal Kling on Sunday, who had reportedly said that Malaysian children be required to learn the Malay language before they are given the blue identity cards for citizenship.

“He has obviously confused the issue with the granting of citizenship to migrants.

“While migrants should be subjected to more stringent screening before being granted citizenship – including loyalty to King and country and acceptable command of the national language – it is ridiculous to impose the same linguistic standards on those born here,” Cenbet co-president Gan Ping Sieu said, adding that even convicted hardcore criminals do not have their citizenships revoked.

“There is no reason why those who do not meet language competency standards should be treated as second-class citizens.”

Gan, who is a former MCA vice-president, said the complexity of Malaysia’s social fabric means that some children will be left behind academically, and the learning of languages other than their mother tongue would also be impacted.

“These children may not be academically-inclined, less fortunate in their upbringing, or belong to socially-deprived or marginalised communities. It is heartless to penalise them by denying them of their right for subsidised healthcare, proper education, employment opportunities, financial access and voting rights, among others,” he said.

Gan added that citizenship is sacrosanct and rules pertaining to it are already clearly spelled out in the federal constitution.

He warned that any revisiting of the constitution to open up the topic of how a person is declared a citizen could create racial tensions that the country could do without under our current “fragile environment”.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/01/24/cenbet-why-deny-citizenship-to-children-over-language/

…

Malay Mail Online ‏@themmailonline

Most kids can already speak Malay, Chinese groups say
.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 — Ethnic Chinese groups and political parties have criticised a proposal to deny identity cards to children who do not understand Malay, saying that the current generation already knows how to speak the national language.

Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) deputy secretary-general Datuk Chin Yew Sin said, however, that it was not easy to make it mandatory for Malaysians to be fluent in Bahasa Malaysia as mastery of the language depended on whether one frequently interacted with those who speak it.

“These days, children in primary schools can speak Bahasa Malaysia. I don’t think it’s a problem,” Chin told Malay Mail Online.

Fluency in the language, however, could be difficult, he said.

Chin said even though Bahasa Malaysia is taught in all schools, including Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools, students in the latter two would generally speak to each other and with their families at home in their mother tongue.

– See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/most-kids-can-already-speak-malay-chinese-groups-say?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.AA0hR3vF.dpuf

…

22 Jan 2017

Malay Mail Online ‏@themmailonline 2h2 hours ago

Academic: Restrict MyKads from kids who can’t speak Malay
.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — A Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) professor has suggested that Malaysian children be required to learn the Malay language before they are given the blue identity cards for citizenship.

Datuk Zainal Kling wrote in Mingguan Malaysia, the Sunday edition of local daily Utusan Malaysia, that language used to be a requirement for citizenship, but Parliament removed this when then Gerakan co-founder Tan Sri Dr Tan Chee Khoon said Malaysians had already learned Bahasa Melayu, which is also the country’s national language, well in Chinese and Indian vernacular schools as well as in national schools.

“If the third requirement, their language, is not fulfilled, don’t give them the blue identity card, give them the temporary red one,” Zainal said, referring to the red MyKad for permanent residents.

Currently, a child is granted Malaysian citizenship if one or both parents are Malaysians or a permanent resident.

Zainal, who is a professor at UUM’s college of law, government and international studies, was a speakers at a forum called “Wacana Bahasa Melayu Wasiat Keenam Raja-Raja Melayu” that was held at Dewan Utusan Melayu here last Thursday. It was organised by the Utusan Group, together with the Majlis Perundingan Melayu (MPM) and Gabungan Persatuan Penulis Nasional (Gapena).

– See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/academic-restrict-mykads-from-kids-who-cant-speak-malay?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.BjNxHgza.dpuf

…

Astro AWANI ‏@501Awani Jan 19

#AWANInews #HariIni8 Jadikan tahu bahasa Melayu syarat dapat kad pengenalan – Zainal Kling http://www.astroawani.com/berita-malaysia/jadikan-tahu-bahasa-melayu-syarat-dapat-kad-pengenalan-zainal-kling-129530 …