'Save Chinese education' drive heats up in Malaysia

Nationwide tour next after 2 big protests in Malaysia

By Teo Cheng Wee, The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's influential Chinese educationists are going on a nationwide tour this month to 'save Chinese education', after recently holding their second major protest here in two months.

The move ratchets up the pressure on Prime Minister Najib Razak's government, which is already suffering from low levels of Chinese support.

Nine out of 10 Chinese Malaysians attend Chinese primary schools, yet the schools have complained for years of having to make do with too few teachers and overcrowded classrooms, resulting in more than 3,000 relief teachers having to be hired to make up for the shortfall.

In the last three months, the educationists have raised the decibel level on their demands for better- qualified teachers, seizing on the tenuous period just before the next general election to push for their cause.

Now one group is going on a nationwide tour to 'save Chinese education'.

Addressing educationists in Penang a week ago, Mr Yap Sin Tian, chairman of the United Chinese School Committees Association, said Chinese education has reached a 'critical juncture' and that its supporters should seize the opportunity to push for further changes.

'Chinese education has always walked a difficult path,' he said. 'We need to continue working hard.'

The association, more well known by its Chinese name Dong Zong, is criss-crossing the country this month in a series of briefings to Chinese associations and members of the public. It represents the boards of governors of more than 1,200 Chinese schools in Malaysia.

Chinese schools have been in Malaysia since the 19th century, when Chinese settlers first arrived. As China's economy has surged, ever more Malaysians have opted to send their children to Chinese schools, with the situation exacerbated by the perceived falling standards of Malay-medium schools.

More than 600,000 students are enrolled in Chinese schools today - a figure that has been rising steadily since the 1980s. Yet many feel the schools have been sidelined for years by the government, with Malay-medium national schools getting more funding and preferential treatment.

Thousands of people attended two recent gatherings, one in Selangor to protest against the teacher shortage and another in Pahang to demand a new independent Chinese secondary school in the state.

In Pahang, one of only three states - the others are Terengganu and Perlis - that do not have a Chinese secondary school, young people were pictured in Chinese newspapers holding signs saying, 'I want to study in a Chinese school' and 'Is it so hard to set up one school?'

Chinese independent schools, while funded mostly by the community, are still governed by education laws here.

The Chinese schools saga is part of a wave of renewed activism by the community in recent years. Many Chinese have also joined a movement to stop a rare-earth plant from doing business in Pahang.

'This is an opportune time to make your voice heard, in the hope that your demands can be incorporated into the government's or opposition's manifesto,' political analyst Oh Ei Sun said.

These issues could hurt the ruling Barisan Nasional's (BN) hopes of winning back support from the Chinese community before the general election, analysts said.

But they could also bolster the BN's Malay support if Chinese activists are seen as too demanding, said Ms Rita Sim, co-founder of think-tank Centre for Strategic Engagement.

'If the Chinese push too hard, the Malay ground gets upset. It reaffirms to some Malays that the Chinese - who are associated with the opposition - are always asking for more and never satisfied,' she said.