In part one of our five-part weekly special report on Chinese medium education, we explore the role of these vernacular schools in nation-building
Students of CHMS No.1 sitting for the UEC exam.
CHINESE education has an established history of 200 years in Malaysia.
The Chinese community in the country will continue to ensure their cultural heritage, especially the right to use their mother tongue, is constitutionally safeguarded and preserved for succeeding generations.
As a Chinese saying goes: Education is the last thing to sacrifice, children’s welfare comes above all else. This is the salient reason for the Chinese community to support the development of Chinese schools across the country.
While Chinese primary schools are partially government-funded, Chinese independent secondary schools (Du Zhong) are self-funded and it was not until recent years that the governments – both Sarawak state and federal – chipped in with much-needed funding.
Temenggong Datuk Vincent Lau
Due to the challenges of language barrier and lack of information, many people, mostly Bumiputeras, do not have a true understanding of Chinese schools and the roles they have been playing and will continue to play in nation-building.
Given the country’s multi-racial and cultural composition, vernacular schools are pertinent to not just preserve the mother tongue of the Chinese but also offer an educational alternative for parents and students.
Gone are the days when only Chinese children go to Chinese schools. Today, in some Chinese primary schools, especially in rural areas, Bumiputeras form more than half of the pupil population.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg recently said 33 per cent of the over 60,000 Chinese primary school pupils in the state are Bumiputeras – which translates to almost 20,000 numerically.
Challenges and pressures
According to Sarawak United Association of Chinese School Boards of Management (Sha Dong Zong) chairman Temenggong Datuk Vincent Lau, Chinese schools in the country have withstood and lived through the challenges and pressures from various government policies.
In an interview with The Borneo Post, he noted there had been calls from certain pressure groups to abolish vernacular schools and replace them with a “one culture, one language singular type school.”
Adenan (fifth left) presenting the mock cheque of RM3 million to Lau in 2014.
“Some people still have the misunderstanding that our textbooks come from China or Taiwan, that we only study the history of China. So when Chinese education is mentioned, we are often misconstrued as racist or not being loyal to the country.”
Lau pointed out that such a perception is totally misguided possibly because the Bumiputera community lacked the information necessary to understand and appreciate the role of Chinese schools in the overall development of Malaysia.
He said the reason the Chinese community persevered with the continued development of Chinese schools was that they wanted to preserve their culture and mother tongue.
“We want all to understand that Chinese education is just a continued effort of the Chinese community to preserve their culture and the language. Even though the majority of Chinese school students are Chinese, we welcome other races with open arms as long as they are interested in learning and mastering the Chinese language.”
He stressed that Chinese schools served as a merit-based alternative for parents and students in Malaysia and must not be misconstrued as a tool to forge racial divide.
“Chinese education is not there to create a racial divide; it certainly isn’t a ‘race product’ but is all about grooming and nurturing talents for the country. All we want is to preserve vernacular schools but some groups think we are trying to create division – which is utterly misleading and untrue.”
Abang Johari (seventh right) handing over the mock cheque of RM6 million to Sha Dong Zong treasurer Datuk Richard Wee in 2017.
Greater understanding needed
Chinese schools are under Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia) and Dong Jiao Dong (Association of Chinese School Teachers and Trustees).
Lau said at times, some government policies were not favourable to Chinese schools, so they stood up to these policies, adding: “Some quarters, however, did not dig deeper into why we objected and just thought of us as mere protesters.”
He asserted that there is a legitimate need to preserve Chinese schools, given the right for the existence of vernacular schools in the country is enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
He said in the context of preserving Chinese schools, the community is more concerned about their upholding their culture and mother tongue – nothing more nothing less.
As such, he added, when government policies affected the development of Chinese schools, they were left with no choice but to voice their objection.
“It may be the government’s objective to promote singular type schools but we cannot give up on the development of our mother tongue. And it does not help when you have a national leader such as former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad labelling us (Dong Zong) a racist group. This will influence people on the ground to perceive Dong Zong as racist but in reality, Dong Zong is not.”
Lau said vernacular schools were necessary for a multi-racial country like Malaysia where the young ought to be given a choice on the medium of teaching.
He also pointed out that Chinese schools had contributed tremendously to nation-building by nurturing and grooming potential talents for future leadership roles.
“Some people may say we should look at Indonesia and Thailand where their education system is unified. I will point out that the situation in Malaysia is different from that of the two countries. Considering the demographic diversity of our country, there is a need for vernacular schools in Malaysia.
“That’s why the founding fathers, who understood and recognised the multi-racial and cultural nature of the country, made provision in the constitution to safeguard the right for vernacular schools to exist. Do vernacular schools affect national integration and harmony? I don’t think so.”
Lau noted that some quarters were claiming the Bahasa Malaysia (BM) standards of Chinese schools was not good enough.
To this, he said: Well, language can play a role in bringing the community together but it isn’t the only key foundation to unity. The key to ensuring racial harmony and unity is by fostering and promoting mutual understanding, respect and tolerance. No one should pin the blame on vernacular schools if the country is not united. It all boils down to the government giving fair treatment to all.”
Unified Examination Certificate
According to Lau, the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) is equivalent to Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) in terms of qualification merits.
In a recollection, he said before the 2013 general elections, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the government would recognise UEC if Du Zhong students acquired credit in an SPM BM subject.
Such recognition, he added, would enable UEC holders to enroll in local public universities.
Batu Kawa Mit Lit Secondary School is one of the six small-scale Du Zhong in Sarawak with fewer than 300 students.
“Dong Zong was a bit hesitant back then, saying it still needed to discuss among themselves before accepting the terms offered by Najib.
Unfortunately, three days after the offer was put on the table, parliament was dissolved, so the offer did not stand.
“After that, another offer came along – that Du Zhong students must not have just a credit in an SPM BM subject but also a pass in an SPM history subject to be fair to students from national type secondary schools.”
Lau, who was chairman of Dong Zong from 2015 to 2018, said the organisation could not accept the additional condition, requiring Du Zhong students to have a pass in an SPM history subject.
“Dong Zong opined that the SPM history textbook kept changing and had included Islam and religious matters whereas the history subject of UEC is more comprehensive, covering not just local history but also the ancient history of China and Europe.”
A view of CHMS No.1 in Pending, Kuching.
Over 60 Du Zhong
Malaysia now has 60+2 Du Zhong. The +2 in the equation are the branches of Johor’s Foon Yew High School.
Of the total, Sarawak has 14 Du Zhong – Chung Hua Middle School (CHMS) No.1, CHMS No.3, CHMS No.4 and Batu Kawa Min Lit Secondary School in Kuching; Serian Public Secondary School in Serian; Ming Lik Secondary School in Sarikei; Catholic High School, Wong Nai Siong Secondary School, Guong Ming Middle School, Citizen Middle School and Kiang Hin Middle School in Sibu; Kai Dee Middle School in Bintulu and Pei Min Middle School and Riam Road Secondary School in Miri.
All were founded between 1946 and 1968.
Lau observed that the number of Chinese primary schools in the country had continued to drop while a few had been relocated to populated areas to survive. The most recent case is SJK Chung Hua Bako which has been relocated to Kota Samarahan.
“When it comes to Chinese schools, there have been more restrictions and control but on the other hand, it seems so easy to set up international schools. There are 60+2 Du Zhong in Malaysia but the number of international schools in the country has come up to nearly 100. The number of Du Zhong students is about 84,000 or 85,000 while that of international schools now easily numbers 100,000.
“International school is not part of the national education system but why does the number keep growing? To me, it’s discrimination. Originally, international schools are meant for children of expatriates with a quota of only 30 per cent for local students. But now, this quota has been done away with.”
Annual deficit
It is learnt the 14 Du Zhong in Sarawak are incurring an annual deficit of between RM30 million and RM40 million despite the annual grant from the Sarawak government of RM9 million this year.
The Sarawak government’s annual grant for Du Zhong started from RM3 million in 2014, pledged by then chief minister, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, who promised an increase of RM1 million every year.
His successor Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has continued with this pledge.
The 14 Du Zhong in the state have to pay teachers’ salaries amounting to about RM25 million annually (yet to include the remuneration of the administrative staff and other expenses) while the school fees are about RM15 million per annum.
Six of the 14 Du Zhong collect only minimal school fees of under RM20 per month due to the limited number of students. It is noted that CHMS No.1 collects nearly RM300 per student per month.
The six small-scale Du Zhong are Batu Kawa Mit Lit Secondary School, Serian Public Secondary School, Ming Lik Secondary School, Guong Ming Middle School, Citizen Middle School and Kiang Hin Middle School, each of which has fewer than 300 students.
Apart from the Sarawak government’s annual grant, Du Zhong in Sarawak also receive about RM200,000 each from the federal government under the 2020 Budget which has set aside RM15 million for the Du Zhong across the country.
Despite these government aids, the respective boards of management of Du Zhong in the state still need to raise funds from the private sector and the community.