KUALA LUMPUR — Government recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) will not threaten protections for Bahasa Melayu under the Federal Constitution, two Chinese education groups have said.
Dong Zong in a statement said recognising the UEC is not a threat to the national language or the constitution as the status of Malay as the national language has never been disputed.
“Mastery of Bahasa Melayu is the responsibility of every citizen,” Dong Zong said as reported by Malay Mail Online.
Dong Zong, which is the national association of Chinese school committees, also noted that Bahasa Melayu is a compulsory subject in the UEC curriculum.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak United Association of Private Chinese Secondary School Management Boards, rejected claims that UEC recognition would conflict with the Federal Constitution.
Its chairman Datuk Vincent Lau Lee Ming said Chinese schools have always complied with national education policies, whereby the Malay language is taught as a compulsory core subject.
“To suggest that such recognition is unconstitutional is inconsistent with political and administrative reality,” he said, as reported by the Borneo Post.
Both Dong Zong and Lau said debate over recognising the UEC should not be politicised, as this would create deeper divisions in the country.
Dong Zong called for openness and mutual respect in discussions, while Lau added that continued rhetoric about the UEC’s recognition must be followed by concrete steps. He reminded the government that recognition of the UEC had been a promise by Pakatan Harapan before then general election to voters and urged Putrajaya to fulfil the pledge.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday that any suggestion to recognise the examination certificate must first abide by the Federal Constitution’s protections for Bahasa Melayu.
However, Lau said the language’s status had never been disputed. He said recognising the UEC was a matter of political will, as there were no technical or legal issues that contradicted the Federal Constitution.
Recognition of the UEC, an examination taken by independent Chinese secondary school students for over 50 years, was raised again recently by DAP. Party secretary-general Anthony Loke said he was willing to resign as a minister if it meant that the government would recognise the UEC. However, he also said resigning would not immediately resolve such issues.
Dong Zong secretary-general Chng Chuwn Leong was also reported telling the New Straits Times that the group was willing to discuss with the government a move to benchmark the UEC’s Bahasa Melayu paper with SPM standards. — December 13, 2025