Malaysia’s plan to teach Thai, Khmer and Vietnamese in schools sparks parental backlash

A push to teach Thai, Khmer and Vietnamese in Malaysian schools has left parents questioning why the government is overlooking more marketable minority languages such as Mandarin and Tamil for Southeast Asian regional tongues.

Malaysia, a country of 34 million, is home to a diverse population, including a Malay majority and sizeable Chinese and Indian minorities – many among the latter tracing their roots to Tamil-speaking regions of India.

The initiative to introduce Thai, Khmer, and Vietnamese as elective subjects comes as Malaysia chairs the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Announcing the move on Monday, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the bloc’s strength lies in its cultural, linguistic and traditional diversity.

“To harness this, we must prepare our youth to be multilingual, adaptable and culturally competent,” Fadhlina said at an Asean education summit in Penang.

Malaysia’s geopolitical ambitions, however, are hampered by local realities as the issue of language is still a point of friction between the country’s many ethnic communities.

  

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