Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

February 24, 2021

Pahang Jerantut Vernacular Chinese School Development Working Committee Backed

Attorney General of Malaysia to Drop the Prosecution Urged

Dong Jiao Zong herewith expresses its support and encouragement for Pahang Jerantut Vernacular Chinese School Development Working Committee (henceforth the working committee) and urges the Attorney General of Malaysia to abort the prosecution of eight of its committee members for involvement in an unlawful assembly.

It was informed on the 20 of August 2019, the Pahang Jerantut Vernacular Chinese School Development Working Committee convened the Federal Chinese Association of Jerantut and four clan associations for a bannered picketing against the Jawi script learning implementation in vernacular Chinese primary schools in front of SJK(C) Sungai Jan, Jerantut. They were later prosecuted by the local police under Section 142 of the Penal Code for an unlawful assembly (Section 142: Whoever, being aware of facts which render any assembly an unlawful assembly, intentionally joins that assembly, or continues in it, is said to be a member of an unlawful assembly).

We understand that all Chinese communities in the country are the stakeholders of Chinese education issues and the peaceful picketing demonstrated by the mentioned working committee to voice their view was merely to practice Article 10 (Freedom of speech, assembly and association) of the Federal Constitution and Article 19 (Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers) of The Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) and thus the government needs to listen rather than to prosecute them.

The president of the working committee Wu Si Yi had clearly posited they were neither against the government nor racists earlier and what they had done was based on education as a departure point. Simultaneously, we reckon Chinese education a public issue and closely related to public interest and the stance the working committee positioned was not at all the spread of incitement, discrimination or hatred speech.

We regret to see that the Perikatan Nasional government has not forwarded any economic recovery policy in these trying times under the ravage of Covid-19 pandemic but instead obsessed in the prosecution of eight members of the working committee for their peaceful picketing and it is thus viewed as a dereliction of duty and mismanagement of the government.

We cordially urge the Perikatan Nasional government to square up to democratic leeway of the general public and respect the basic human rights such as freedom of assembly and speech. We also remind the police and Attorney General of Malaysia to comply with the rights endowed to the eight members of the working committee by dropping the irrational prosecution. We likewise urge the Attorney General of Malaysia to practice Section 145 (3) of the Federal Constitution to immediately abort the prosecution towards the eight committees.

Statement Released by Dong Zong

February 11, 2021

Mere Community Chest Appropriated to National-type High Schools

The MOE Should Honour Promises by Enforcing Fair Treatment

In respect to the Deputy Education Minister Mah Hang Soon’s release of RM1.6 million to sixteen earlier delisted national-type Chinese high schools which had relieved their financial burden temporarily, Dong Zong expresses its gratitude yet worries about their status and prospective progress. Herewith Dong Zong forwards this statement urging the government to listen to public voice by systematically appropriating all 81 national-type Chinese high schools.

It is evident that whether it was Barisan Nasional or Perikatan Harapan government, the above sixteen national-type high schools were appropriated consistently. Yet what is unacceptable to the Chinese community is the fact that the current Perikatan Nasional government simply delisted the aforementioned schools from receiving appropriation abruptly albeit holding the reign for not more than a year. Notwithstanding the effective efforts put in by the Deputy Education Minister office by making the Community Chest release the relevant appropriation, yet as a long-term consideration, it is not in any way guaranteed substantially. In the list pronounced by the Majlis Pembangunan SMJK Conforming Malaysia, currently there are 81 existing national-type Chinese high schools, inclusive of the above sixteen schools. Of which the status of those 78 time-honoured schools were pronounced clearly in an official notice dated 7 March 1997 by the Ministry of Education addressed to all directors of the state Education Bureau.

Unintelligibly, taking land ownership being transferred to the government as an excuse, the MOE categorised nine of the aforementioned schools as fully subsidised schools and eventually conformed seven of the schools as national high schools using branch or second school merger as justification thus ended up the awkward situation faced by the mentioned 16 national-type Chinese high schools.

In the sixties, many Chinese high schools accepted the transformation offer and conformed themselves into national-type high schools believing the promises made by the government: namely, the provision of sufficient appropriation and teachers, land provision for school construction, one thirds of the teaching time using Chinese as the medium of instruction as well as the assurance of the power and rights of the school boards. For the moment, being responsive to what the Deputy Education Minister Mah Hang Soon had claimed in the appropriation release ceremony online, all national-type Chinese high schools, including their branch schools, are similarly working towards one identical model, viz., to continuously disseminate Chinese culture owed to the painstaking efforts put in by their predecessors which has seen the production of many polymaths for the nation over the years. In this vein, the MOE needs to treat the 81 national-type high schools fairly in terms of their development and not to take the land entitlement or branch school status as excuse to enforce inadequate treatment towards the said sixteen schools.

Education is the foundation of nation making; for the advancement of a country, Dong Zong strongly believes the MOE should comply and honour the promises made sixty years ago when conforming Chinese high schools, let alone providing more attention and support promised to these schools amenable to the conformation in the first place.

Statement Released by Dong Zong

January 30, 2021

Chinese Vernacular Schools to Stand Firm Against Jawi Learning Urged—

MOE Should Introduce Calligraphies of All Races Responsive to Public Will

Dong Zong herewith forwarded this statement in response to the government’s recent directive to all Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools demanding them to find out parents’ decision on Jawi script learning implementation through questionnaire. The said implementation is to be put into practice in Grade Four Bahasa Melayu coursebook and the schools are directed to reply on or before 24 February.

1. Dong Zong again urges the MOE to abandon the questionnaire survey and advises all school boards, parent teacher associations, parents and non-governmental organisations to stand firm against the Jawi scripts learning implementation as it is a unary education model. They are also urged to persist in diversified approach in implementation, viz., to introduce calligraphies of all races corresponding to the multi-racial inherence of the country.

2. It is understood that the Jawi scripts learning implementation in Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools has since stirred up disputes and wide opposition. We would also like to explicitly point out, the questionnaire survey done last year by the MOE clearly indicated 1,262 schools or 97.3 percent out of all the 1,297 Chinese vernacular schools and 522 schools or 99.6 percent out of the total 524 Tamil vernacular schools were against the Jawi script learning implementation. Concurrently, the finding of Dong Zong last year likewise informed that 1,275 Chinese vernacular schools nationwide were against the said implementation. The above figures prominently indicated the implementation would not enjoy popular support; yet the MOE is riding roughshod over public will by directing another round of questionnaire survey willfully aiming to put Jawi script learning into practice. This act of the MOE is not only a waste of administration resource but also intensifies the racial divide of this multiracial society which is irksome to the core.

3. Dong Zong and all the member state associations had mooted on the directive forwarded by the MOE. In response to this, Dong Zong would closely attend to the dispatch and feedback of the relevant questionnaire and interfere if need be. It is to ensure the stance of Dong Zong to be carried through; meanwhile, the information on the implementation of Jawi script learning in Chinese vernacular schools nationwide will be collected via all possible channels.

4. In actual fact, Dong Zong had urged for many times in vain the MOE to head a meeting by inviting non-governmental organisations and associations for a solution. We herewith again recommend the MOE to convene relevant cultural and educational organisations to set up a multilingual teaching committee for opinions collection on the one hand, and allow them to assess and supervise national education policies to appropriately resolve the Jawi script learning issue on the other.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

January 16, 2021

Questionnaire Survey to Be Abandoned Urged—

‘No’ to Extant Unary Teaching Model

The MOE recently directed Chinese vernacular schools to collect views on Jawi script learning from their Grade Four students’ parents to decide whether to practice the implementation. As a matter of fact, the finding from the survey conducted by the MOE in 2020 indicated that 1,262 (97-3 percent) out of all the 1,297 Chinese vernacular schools nationwide was against the Jawi script learning implementation which had already shown their stance.  The Chinese community also declared for several times their disagreement on the administration of questionnaire survey for the second time and the inappropriateness of the said implementation. In view of this, Dong Jiao Zong strongly recommends the MOE to abandon the questionnaire survey. In the meantime, Dong Zong advises all school boards, parent teacher associations, parents and non-governmental organisations to stand firm against the Jawi scripts learning implementation by saying ‘No’ to this unary teaching model.

Meanwhile, the survey conducted by Dong Zong last year showed that 1,275 Chinese vernacular schools (98.23 percent) were against the Jawi script unary teaching which corroborated the MOE survey. The finding has markedly reflected the decision of the parents. If the MOE were to once again conduct questionnaire survey on the matter, it would be equivalent to recommitting the same error. This act not only is a waste of administration resource, but also implies the intention to divide racial unity and thus to the core irksome.

Dong Jiao Zong hereby solemnly urges the MOE to put the contentious Jawi script learning implementation aside and abandon the questionnaire survey immediately. Simultaneously, Dong Jiao Zong also urges the school boards, parent teacher association and parents of Chinese vernacular schools to attend to this matter closely as well as rejecting the extant Jawi script unary learning model by insisting on a diversified approach corresponding to the multiracial inherence of the country.

Education is a public interest and it intertwines intricately to the future of the nation. Dong Jiao Zong reiterates, the MOE needs to enforce citizen participation by convening all stakeholders including Chinese and Tamil cultural and educational organisations to set up a multilingual teaching committee such that public voices would be heard through the cooperation between the government and the general public in terms of public participation in decision making, assessment and supervision of educational policies.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

December 29, 2020

Vernacular Chinese Primary School Teacher Shortage Reemerges

Expedited Solution from the MOE Expected

Teacher shortage in vernacular Chinese primary schools once again emerges as a problem lately and Dong Zong understands it has long been interrupting the frontline educators and undermining the learning right of the students. We think it is time the MOE earnestly behoves itself a long-term solution and timetable for the settlement once and for all, and not repeating the momentary ease seeking approach practiced by the government over the years.

We are uncomfortable with the mispresented statistics released by the MOE on teacher statistics and the need of temporary teachers in vernacular schools since it is the existing fact which reemerges whenever new academic year begins. As such, Dong Zong urges the MOE to immediately rectify the informational errors as well as mispresented statistics and forward both short-term and long-term solution and measure for the pending problem.

We opine, on the matter of teacher shortage in vernacular Chinese primary schools, for a short-term measure to ensure school opening on 20 January 2021 punctually, the MOE needs to post and recruit new teachers and temporary teachers for the schools, including 681 Bachelor of Arts holders majoring in teaching graduated in June 2020 and the 21 temporary teachers who had been interviewed. Their earlier report to work will help students’ learning progress and administration work. Other than this, the MOE should release sufficient appropriation for schools of all streams to recruit temporary teachers needed and expedite approval in the recruitment of temporary teachers. With the appropriation, the school boards as well as parent teacher associations will not have to continuously pay for the salaries of the recruited temporary teachers.

As a long-term measure, thorough review and improvement should be at play on matters of teacher statistics, teacher education, interview and posting as well as recruitment of temporary teachers, including a rigid tracking mechanism for teacher shortage and the review of teacher source to broaden channels for teacher education; that is, to open teacher education courses for national university graduates and tertiary level graduates to apply thus to increase enrollment for the intake need of teacher training colleges.

As a final note, we urge the MOE to set up a vernacular Chinese primary school teacher committee shortly by inviting stakeholders like Dong Zong to review vernacular Chinese primary school teacher education system and operation. It is for a comprehensive algorithm to safeguard the teaching quality of vernacular Chinese primary schools.

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

December 21, 2020

Multilingual Resource Manual Addresses Not Qualms

Jawi Learning Implementation to Be Set Aside Urged

The “Multilingual Resource Manual” introduced by the Deputy Education Minister Mah Hang Soon of late including not only Jawi, but also Chinese, Tamil, as well as the native languages of Sabah and Sarawak to resume the multilingual teaching in Grade Four Bahasa Melayu coursebook was claimed to address the concerns of many over the Jawi teaching issue. Yet Dong Jiao Zong otherwise opines the said supplementary reference cannot alleviate the doubts on the contents of the existing coursebook. Rather, the MOE needs to set aside all the contentious measures and earnestly review the Jawi calligraphy issue.

Mah Hang Soon’s proposal is well in sync with the persistent stance of Dong Jiao Zong and other Chinese organisations; that is, to continuously employ the multivariate presentation approach in Grade Five Bahasa Melayu coursebook in the introduction of calligraphy and language of other ethnic groups so as to embody the multiracial inherence of the country as well as promoting inter-cultural interactions.

In a recent survey conducted by Dong Jiao Zong, almost all parents of vernacular Chinese and Tamil school students reject the Jawi script unit in Grade Four Bahasa Melayu coursebook. Of all 1,298 vernacular Chinese schools, 1,275 (98.23 percent) schools oppose to the Jawi calligraphy teaching, only a meagre 23 schools agree. We thus urge the MOE to set aside the controversial measure prior to the implementation and conduct an overall review beforehand, but not after having pushed out all Grade Four to Six coursebooks. It is feared that once the implementation is in practice, internal conflicts will be generated within the schools as confrontation between the schools and parents as well as the Parent and Teacher Associations will emerge which in actual fact undermines the decision power of the school boards. For the respect of the managerial power endowed upon school boards in Education Act 1996, the MOE should designate the vernacular school board decision maker on the Jawi script issue.

The Jawi script teaching worries of the general public saliently exhibit the seminal impact of social trust towards government policies. To avoid recommitting similar error, we urge the MOE to convene Chinese and Indian educational organisations for the formation of a multilingual teaching committee such that all relevant stakeholders can partake in decision making and supervision on Jawi script implementation in vernacular primary schools.