Tang arrived at the Wangsa Maju police headquarters at about 2pm, accompanied by his lawyer Zaid Malek.

Zaid said police had asked his client 19 questions on the issue of abolishing the matriculation programme, with investigations opened under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

He stressed that Umany’s remarks were merely a proposal on an education issue, adding that all such proposals should be welcomed.

“Whether one agrees or disagrees is another matter. But is it a crime? No. We often hear Umno leaders or others repeatedly calling for vernacular schools to be abolished,” he told reporters after Tang’s statement was recorded.

Tang, meanwhile, said Umany’s suggestion should not be blown out of proportion. He said it was made in line with Article 10 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression.

In the statement by Umany last Friday, Tang had said the STPM syllabus was better since it was more challenging and was internationally recognised.

On Saturday, however, Umany said it had not intended to call for the abolition of the matriculation programme, but had sought a merger of the programme with STPM as the sole university entrance qualification.

It admitted that the use of the word “abolish” in its earlier statement had led to confusion and rubbed certain quarters the wrong way, and apologised for the confusion caused.

However, five police reports were lodged against him.