KOTA KINABALU: Teachers and parents should encourage pupils studying at Chinese primary schools to enhance their command of the Malay and English languages, said the Minister of Special Tasks, Datuk Teo Chee Kang.
Teo said Chinese primary school pupils often gave the impression of being disciplined and polite. However, they were also generally perceived as being weaker in the command of the Malay and English languages and were only able to communicate in ‘bahasa pasar’.
Hence, Teo urged Chinese primary school pupils to reinforce their learning of Malay and English as both languages were important subjects.
He said this during a courtesy call by the organizing committee of second Kent College Chinese Course Alumni Dinner Gathering cum Outstanding Alumni Award Presentation Ceremony here.
The event will be held at Putera Theatre Ballroom, Bukit Padang at 7pm on August 21 this year.
Meanwhile, organizing chairman Yong Soo Kien said Kent College, established in 1952, began offering Chinese course from 1953 to 1970. During that 17 years, the college had trained more than 400 Chinese teachers.
In 2001, Kent College resumed its Chinese courses and since then has produced around 600 Chinese teachers. In total, Yong said the college had trained more than 1,000 Chinese teachers since 1953.
After listening to the briefing, Teo commended Kent College for its effort in nurturing Chinese teachers which in turn, helped to preserve the Chinese culture.
Teo went on to say that Chinese education had gained the recognition of bumiputras, whereby many bumiputra parents now sent their children to Chinese primary schools. This not only strengthened national integration and unity, but also enabled bumiputra pupils to learn another language.