He drove this point home when he met with leaders of Chinese associations this afternoon, news portal Malaysiakini reported.

He said racial unity in the country had not been fully realised and said he believed this was due to schools being separated according to race.

The news portal said the Sultan cited a Malay proverb “melentur buluh biarlah dari rebung” to illustrate that values should be cultivated at a young age to produce a united new generation for the future.

At the opening of the Johor state assembly sitting in May last year, the Sultan pointed out how Singapore’s education system had succeeded in fostering unity.

Last month, he advocated a single-stream education system, using English as the medium of instruction.

The ruler has also in the past expressed disappointment that Malay students cannot speak English well, and Chinese and Tamil students cannot speak properly in Malay.

Meanwhile, Star Online reported that the ruler urged Johoreans to be proud to be a part of Bangsa Johor and not be bothered by ‘outside” politicians who were jealous of the concept.

He reminded the people to take care of the harmonious relationship between the different races and faiths in the state.

“Doesn’t uniting all races under one Bangsa create unity, while political feuds create disharmony?”

Last month, the Johor ruler rebuked former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad over his disapproval of the Bangsa Johor concept.