(Sambawang Jiang, 5th) — In response to the Education Director General at the Ministry of Education, Mohamad Azam, who recently stated that the authorities are studying the unification of school uniform colors on a national scale and noted “too many school uniform colors are not conducive to fostering unity,” with plans to announce a decision in August 2026 and gradually implement it from 2027, Datuk Dr. Ng Biow Seng, President of the Chinese Assembly of Simu Province and Chairman of the Sambawang Jiang Chinese Chamber of Commerce, believes that such a measure is making a mountain out of a molehill, does nothing to promote the long-term development of national education, and therefore strongly disagrees with the Ministry of Education’s idea to standardize school uniform colors nationwide. He directly points out that this is a typical example of bureaucratic, formalistic policy that is led by bureaucratic thinking, not only failing to advance education reform, but once again exposing the serious misdirection of decision-making priorities.
Ng Biow Seng pointed out that Malaysia is a multiethnic country rich in culture, and the differences in school uniform colors among schools of different streams precisely reflect the diversity in education, as well as each school’s historical traditions and cultural characteristics. The color of school uniforms itself is not the root cause hindering unity; true unity should be built on mutual respect, acceptance of differences, and values-based education.
He believes that regarding school uniform colors simply as a symbol of “division” or “competition” will not promote unity but may in fact weaken society’s proper understanding of pluralistic coexistence and overlook the substantive cultivation of students’ values, civic consciousness, and social responsibility.
Regarding the Ministry of Education’s claim that “too many school uniform colors may increase the financial burden on parents, especially for students who transfer between schools,” Ng Biow Seng clearly refuted it, stating bluntly that this is a reversal of cause and effect.
He pointed out that what actually costs parents money has never been the current diverse school uniform system, but the forced changes caused by inconsistent and ever-changing policies.
“The difficulties faced by students who transfer schools stem from issues in system alignment and administrative arrangements, not color issues. If, because of a minority of cases, all students nationwide are required to change uniforms, it will only force families who originally had no issues to bear new and unnecessary expenses.”
Ng Biow Seng emphasized that what Malaysia’s current education system urgently needs to address is the quality of teaching, teacher shortages, urban-rural education gaps, and deficits in digital and basic infrastructure—not what color uniforms students wear.
“If authorities place hopes for ‘unity’ on the color of school uniforms, that’s not education reform, but a lack of imagination. True unity comes from educational content and values development, not color standardization through administrative orders.”
He spoke candidly, saying that this kind of policy thinking is simply a repeat of the ‘black shoe vs. white shoe’ episode—under the guise of regulation and student welfare, resulting instead in parents paying more, society shouldering the cost, and no improvement in student learning outcomes.
“Today it’s white shoes, tomorrow it’s uniform color, and what will it be the day after? These recurring formalistic policies not only waste time but also deplete the patience and hard-earned money of the people.”
Ng Biow Seng stressed that the Ministry of Education should focus all its energy on promoting genuinely forward-looking and practical reforms, instead of constantly introducing surface-level measures that do nothing for the essence of education and only create administrative actions and societal controversies.
“Education is not to be tossed around, nor is it a stage for bureaucrats to prove they are ‘doing something.’ People pay taxes for better educational quality, not to change colors, buy new uniforms, or cooperate with policy performances.”
He pointed out that if a policy can neither improve learning outcomes nor reduce burdens on parents, then it lacks legitimacy from the outset, let alone be called reform.
“Education is not a waste of time, nor is it for wasting people’s hard-earned money on superficial projects. Fundamental educational issues cannot be solved by simply changing a color scheme.”
Ng Biow Seng finally called on the Ministry of Education to return to the original intention of education, stop formalistic operations, listen broadly to the real voices of educators, parents, and all sectors of society, and allocate limited resources to reforms that can truly transform children’s futures and improve the nation’s overall competitiveness.
Ng Biow Seng pointed out that Malaysia is a multiethnic country rich in culture, and the differences in school uniform colors among schools of different streams precisely reflect the diversity in education, as well as each school’s historical traditions and cultural characteristics. The color of school uniforms itself is not the root cause hindering unity; true unity should be built on mutual respect, acceptance of differences, and values-based education.
Regarding the Ministry of Education’s claim that “too many school uniform colors may increase the financial burden on parents, especially for students who transfer between schools,” Ng Biow Seng clearly refuted it, stating bluntly that this is a reversal of cause and effect.
He pointed out that what actually costs parents money has never been the current diverse school uniform system, but the forced changes caused by inconsistent and ever-changing policies.
“The difficulties faced by students who transfer schools stem from issues in system alignment and administrative arrangements, not color issues. If, because of a minority of cases, all students nationwide are required to change uniforms, it will only force families who originally had no issues to bear new and unnecessary expenses.”
Ng Biow Seng emphasized that what Malaysia’s current education system urgently needs to address is the quality of teaching, teacher shortages, urban-rural education gaps, and deficits in digital and basic infrastructure—not what color uniforms students wear.
“If authorities place hopes for ‘unity’ on the color of school uniforms, that’s not education reform, but a lack of imagination. True unity comes from educational content and values development, not color standardization through administrative orders.”
He spoke candidly, saying that this kind of policy thinking is simply a repeat of the ‘black shoe vs. white shoe’ episode—under the guise of regulation and student welfare, resulting instead in parents paying more, society shouldering the cost, and no improvement in student learning outcomes.
“Today it’s white shoes, tomorrow it’s uniform color, and what will it be the day after? These recurring formalistic policies not only waste time but also deplete the patience and hard-earned money of the people.”
Ng Biow Seng stressed that the Ministry of Education should focus all its energy on promoting genuinely forward-looking and practical reforms, instead of constantly introducing surface-level measures that do nothing for the essence of education and only create administrative actions and societal controversies.
“Education is not to be tossed around, nor is it a stage for bureaucrats to prove they are ‘doing something.’ People pay taxes for better educational quality, not to change colors, buy new uniforms, or cooperate with policy performances.”
He pointed out that if a policy can neither improve learning outcomes nor reduce burdens on parents, then it lacks legitimacy from the outset, let alone be called reform.
“Education is not a waste of time, nor is it for wasting people’s hard-earned money on superficial projects. Fundamental educational issues cannot be solved by simply changing a color scheme.”
Ng Biow Seng finally called on the Ministry of Education to return to the original intention of education, stop formalistic operations, listen broadly to the real voices of educators, parents, and all sectors of society, and allocate limited resources to reforms that can truly transform children’s futures and improve the nation’s overall competitiveness.