In a statement, Mahathir Rais said Mandarin and Tamil were widely spoken in Malaysia and had extensive historical roots.

He also said that they did not belong to a particular race.

Unfortunately, he added, they were offered only as elective subjects.

“These two languages should be taught not only at vernacular schools, but at national schools as well, to bring together students of various backgrounds,” he said.

Yesterday, education minister Fadhlina Sidek said Malaysia was expanding its elective language offerings in schools to include Thai, Khmer, and Vietnamese to strengthen regional collaboration.

Mahathir, a former secretary of Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional’s federal territories chapters, said if Malaysia sought to lead by example in terms of strengthening Asean integration, fostering unity in the country “must begin in the classroom”.

He said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had emphasised several times the role of language in bridging communities, and defended the importance of Mandarin and Tamil in the country’s education system.

He said Malay students learning Tamil, Chinese students who were fluent in Malay, and Indian students mastering Mandarin were no longer an ideal but “the reality that we need to build together”.

He said in countries like the UK and US, students were encouraged to take up a foreign language to foster greater cultural understanding. Such countries also had dual language classes which had led to better academic performance and reduced the social gap, he said.

“These approaches can be used as examples.”

However, he said that initiatives of the sort would only work if there were enough teachers, calling for more to be trained in Mandarin and Tamil in order to serve at national schools.

He said multilingual schools could help do away with stereotypes before they become ingrained, and allow an appreciation of diversity among students.