He made the call in response to a comment by Zairil Khir Johari of DAP about an incident in which a Malay teacher in a Chinese school was allegedly verbally attacked and had stationery flung at her by an angry parent. Zairil said it was an “isolated incident” and likened it to the treatment given to non-Muslim students in certain national schools during the fasting month.
Tee, in his column in Sinar Harian today, urged the Bukit Bendera MP to compare the treatment given to non-Malay teachers at national schools with how Malay teachers in vernacular schools were treated.
He said he would conduct the research himself if Zairil was “too scared” to conduct it but was willing to fund it.
“Sometimes it is sad to see an ultra kiasu Malay being blinded by position and promises,” he remarked. “Ultra kiasu” is a term Tee uses to describe either opposition politicians or perceived enemies of Islam.
Last week, Tee called on the government to put Chinese schools “back in their place” following reports about the alleged racially-motivated bullying of a Malay teacher at a school in Mersing, Johor.
Zairil in response said the fact that Malay parents had started sending their children to Chinese schools showed that such schools fostered unity and provided a good education.
Zairil also claimed that Malay parents opted to send their children to Chinese schools because of the declining quality of education in national schools. In response to this, Tee said, “If the education in national schools was so lousy, how is that many students from there could further their studies overseas?”