28 June 2018

Press statement by MCA Deputy President Datuk Seri Ir Dr Wee Ka Siong

SJKCs need sound development, education cannot be made a political sacrificial lamb

The announcement by Minister of Education Dr Maszlee Malik to halt the construction of 8 yet-to-be-initiated Chinese primary schools (SJKCs) from the construction and relocation plan of the 10+6 Chinese primary schools, is regrettable and goes against the wishes of many Malaysians to say the least.

“The poor cannot be deprived of their right to education” is a fundamental right towards the promotion and development of Chinese education in our country. It is heart-wrenching to review or even postpone the construction of SJKCs based merely on cold financial considerations. After all, the construction of SJKCs is not a huge cost, and several!developers have chipped in to complete the work. The so-called financial capability issue is simply a lame argument to make.

It is nonsensical for the Minister of Education to try to justify the halt with claims of ‘‘political motives’’. The high demand of SJKCs is an undeniable fact, distinct from politics.

Local residents of the new communities developed from the urbanisation process, expect additional schools to be constructed. How can construction of SJKCs become politically motivated?

Moreover, the “10+6” project for the construction and relocation of SJKCs was discussed and approved by the previous Minister of Education after consulting the relevant departments within the Ministry of Education itself. All of these were based on well-founded studies and approved by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education and the Director General of Education. Ultimately, the previous Minister of Education, Dato’ Seri Mahdzir Khalid, together with members of the Cabinet at that time, Secretary General of MOE & Director General Education, formally announced it to the public on 26/10/2017.

This plan has never been the sole achievement of MCA, nor is it a political gimmick. It has been carefully studied and planned, as well as implemented according to the needs of the local Chinese community. At that time, MCA cooperated with and consulted various Chinese education groups, developers, and professional technical teams to plan and work together, including land surveyors, quantity surveyors, engineers, urban planners, and architects . How can the process not be transparent?

This was the administrative decision of the government and it has nothing to do with politics. The planning process also follows the principle of professionalism. If the current Minister has any questions, I welcome him to check with me and I am more than willing to offer my help if needed. Prior to this, I even took the initiative to write to the Minister of Education on 18 June 2018, via the Malaysian Chinese Education Advisory Committee to convey my willingness to report to him and further discuss the implementation plan.

Regrettably, the Minister has not only failed to reply nor arrange to meet, he has rashly issued unfounded comments to the media without any evidence. He has yet to raise the proposal for review in Cabinet. This is an irresponsible practice. Perhaps, he purposely intends to discredit MCA. I think that if the Pakatan government wants to crack down on and exterminate MCA, there are thousands of ways to do so. However, please spare the SJKCs from unnecessary political presecution.

We expect a better system for the development and construction of SJKCs. The expectation of the Chinese community towards the new government is for them to build additional SJKCs based on demand, and even to allocate funding for the development of SJKCs systematically. Was this not what the Pakatan pursues in the past?

If other states are considered to have the same demand for SJKCs, the Minister of Education and the present government can deal with them proactively and fulfill the original commitments they made to the people. They must not fail to commence the construction of SJKCs which was promised by MOE earlier, and there is no need to postpone the project for their own political agenda. This will not only slow down the construction of SJKCs, but also put the efforts of many Chinese education groups such as Dong Zong, Jiao Zong, The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia, The Headmasters Union, Malaysia Chinese Language Council down the drains.

I beg the Chinese elected representatives of the Pakatan Harapan government to contribute to the Chinese community by promoting the development of Chinese education, and stay committed to ensure the continuation of the original plan.
Bring more good news to the Chinese community, instead of merely giving empty talks, and repeatedly delaying.

Do not forget that as a basic human right, education should not and cannot be made a political sacrificial lamb. What SJKCs need is to be nurtured with sound developmental, not political tricks.


Datuk Seri Ir. Dr. Wee Ka Siong
MCA Deputy President

-MCA Online-