Datuk Richard Wee – File photo
KUCHING: The Federation of Chinese Associations Sarawak has urged Putrajaya to recognise Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) the soonest possible.
Its president Datuk Richard Wee said such recognition is in line with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) promises made in its manifesto during the 2018 general election before it took over the federal government. He pointed out that the recognition of UEC would be akin to appreciating the contributions of the Chinese community towards the development of Chinese education.
“It would also go to show that the new government treats everyone irrespective of race in a fair manner, just like our aided Chinese primary schools (SJKC) which take in pupils of all races,” he said at a dinner held in conjunction with the Federation of Sarawak Chung Hua Associations annual general meeting here on Saturday.
Wee observed that the federal government had yet to resolve various issues faced by SJKC as well as the Chinese community.
Although he did not name those issues, the Chinese leader hoped that Putrajaya and the Ministry of Education would be liberal and hear out voices of the Chinese community and educationists before deciding on any policy.
He said any decision on education-related policies ought to be made based on the overall benefits to Malaysians.
He opined that it was not appropriate for the federal government to reduce the annual allocation for Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.
Such a move, according to Wee, has hurt the entire Chinese community, as shown by the swing of Chinese votes to Barisan Nasional in the recent Tanjung Piai by-election. Because of this, the federal government should listen to voices from the grassroots and understand why the Chinese community had been concerned about the issues circling Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, he said.
He noted that the Sarawak government had been granting annual fund to Chinese independent schools in the state since 2014 while the federal government had followed suit in the past two years, to reduce the financial burden of those schools.