Why we chose Chinese school for our children

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This article was first published at english.cpisia.net

WRITTEN BY DR BOO CHENG HAU

FRIDAY, 17 SEPTEMBER 2010 12:36

Share Link:            Foon Yew High School is the one singled out by name by Kulaijaya principal Siti Inshah Mansor who implicated it as a school with Chinese students who do not speak or read Bahasa Malaysia. It is the only Chinese independent secondary school (ISS) in Johor Bahru. It is also where my two children are studying.  My wife and I had discussed in great length before we decided to send our kids to  Foon Yew, which incidentally is my alma mater. The fact is that I myself speak and debate in Malay with confidence in the Johor state assembly as the opposition leader. Interestingly enough, several special assistants  of the Johor Menteri Besar are Foon Yew alumni who deal with the state's Chinese  and Malay communities, communicating in both Mandarin and Malay.  Therefore Siti Inshah's sweeping statement that non-Malay students from vernacular schools do not speak Malay at all only proves her own ignorance and bias. After all, her non-Malay students understood her racial slurs well enough to assess her half- hearted apology as coming from a "penipu" and a "pembohong".  She is a classic example of a Biro Tata Negara (BTN) product and how a Malay ultra nationalist like Dr Mahathir Mohamed has ingrained racial prejudice into many Malays. One aspect of this racism is institutionalised towards language policies.  Parent's personal experience  My wife went to a well-known national school in Johor Bahru and has a diploma in Malay Studies. Until today, she still bitterly recalls the racist remarks made by many Malay teachers during her years in school. Unsurprisingly, she was more adamant than I that our children should not be subjected  to the same racial degradation in the national schools that she went through.  This racial taunting has been nurtured as a norm over the years by the powers-that-be  through the notorious BTN. The authorities have to be held responsible for the pathetic  state of inter-racial relations in the country today.  The Siti Inshah incident has made me realise how much my wife helped our children make  the right choice of enrolling in my old school. It is where we think not only that they could learn three languages, but more importantly that they are subjected to better discipline without going through the mental trauma of being victimised -- some ultra-nationalist Malay teachers utter racist slurs with impunity. As racial degradation is bad for any child's self-esteem, I have always been determined  to make sure my children do not go through what my wife went through studying in  national school.  Moreover, I can afford sending my children for tuition in Bahasa Malaysia at a Malay-run  private tuition centre as I always believe the best way of learning a language is from its native speakers. They enjoy learning the language from Malay teachers.  Some of the teachers have gone out their way to help my children. But some still hinted  at racialism in interpreting Malaysian history, especially in upholding Bumiputeraism, which upset the non-Malay students. My children are still puzzled as to why they are not considered 'Bumiputera' as native-born fourth generation Malaysians.  Malays in vernacular school  After 53 years of Independence, we are still polarised along racial lines, and view each other with great suspicion and prejudices. Many Malay friends of mine harbour an allegiance to Umno and hence feel obliged to defend Umno's Malay Supremism. Actually, it is an ideology whose creation has very little to do with them personally. We have to come to terms with several longstanding issues for a sustainable inter-racial  relationship in our beloved country, and among these issues is mother tongue education.  Siti Inshah's prejudice towards vernacular schools -- like my old school Foon Yew --  is quite reflective of Umno propaganda which is not only factually incorrect but certainly  politically motivated. If one feels Malays are discriminated in going to vernacular schools, why were Malays  and other non-Chinese students given free tuition? Why would halal food stalls be provided in the canteen for them? Shouldn't a blanket fee waiver for non-Chinese students in Chinese schools be considered  as 'reverse racism' against the Chinese students themselves? Previously Foon Yew High School gave a blanket fee waiver to Malay students. It was only recently that the school decided all students have to pay the same fees due to its ever increasing non-Chinese intake. However, poor Malay students are still entitled to scholarships on individual need assessment.  I myself as a wakil rakyat have recommended a few Malay students for such financial assistance.  In many Chinese independent secondary schools, non-Chinese students are still exempted from tuition fees. If the accusation is true that Chinese institutions are discriminative, why in the world would Malay students be given the same benefit and care in these schools? Mara and other single-race institutions  A mirror situation to the above would be that Chinese students are welcomed into Mara  junior colleges and not required to pay any fees to boot. But this doesn't happen, does it? Therefore, Malay Supremacists like Dr Mahatir Mohamed and Siti Inshah Mansor need to get their facts correct.  Racial integration can be achieved in any language medium of the education stream if all children are treated equally. There has been an increase in number of Malay and Indian parents sending their children to Chinese schools not only for acquiring Mandarin, but also for the schools' stricter regimen in teaching science and mathematics. These non-Chinese parents obviously believe that Chinese schools will help provide their children better job opportunities later in life. This decision indicates that many Malay parents have taken a step forward compared to the Umno supremacists who fail to  see a brighter future for their children if they were to be multilingual.  Malay and Indian parents have realized the importance of equipping their children to  compete in both the domestic and international job markets. Language competency  is also a boost for social mobility. Language is a skill, and no longer a racial trait anymore in our present 'global village'. This means it is a definite disadvantage for monolingual Malays when competing with multilingual Malays and others in our increasingly cosmopolitan world.  My wife and I are confident that we made the right choice for our children's future.

GST and federalism: Is the govt playing fair in taxing the people?

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WRITTEN BY DR BOO CHENG HAU   previously published at Centre for Policy Initiatives website www.cpiasia.net

THURSDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2010 18:48

Malaysia was formed as a federated state where power is shared between three levels of administration, i.e. Federal, State and local governments. Under this arrangement, the state governments have control over management of religion, land, natural resources and water. However, in reality, state governments in the country are practically left with very little fiscal autonomy. Centralism has been the norm with Umno holding a tight rein. Presently, Putrajaya has almost absolute power in appointing bureaucrats at all levels, down to the remotest districts. Almost all the taxes collected goes to the central government, which then decides how this money should be used and disbursed. Not only does the federal government decide how much is distributed to the states for local development, it also collects almost all the forms of taxes. Under the Federal Constitution, state governments are not allowed to raise their own funds through taxes other than revenues related to land, mining, water and forestry. They cannot even take any loans without the prior approval by the federal government and its monetary agency Bank Negara. Malaysia can only truly be said to practise federalism if there were to be a decentralisation of power to collect taxes, and autonomy to develop the various states independently. Water rights sold to GLC Barisan Nasional which has formed the federal government for 53 years practises fiscal favouritism. BN-ruled states are given favourable allocations as compared to Pakatan- ruled states which are deprived of allocations. Take for example Penang. It contributed as much as RM25.67 billion to the federal treasury in the form of taxes and customs duties between 2001 and 2008. Nonetheless, Penang only received RM794 million in federal grants or a mere 3% of its revenues contributed to the federal government. As a comparison, the Umno stronghold of Johor paid RM20.76 billion in revenues to the federal government and received development allocations as much as RM9.9 billion or 47% of what it contributed to the federal treasury between 2004 and 2008. Despite this generous allocation, the Johor state government is suffering a grave debt of RM1 billion with only RM36 million reserves in the bank as at Dec 31, 2008. Its average monthly operation cost is as high as RM57 million. Johor was forced to sell its water supply assets to Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB) at a price of RM4 billion in March 2009, But thereafter, Johoreans would have to pay an annual lease of RM260 million for water supply from PAAB in a 30-year concession. What has happened is that Johor surrendered its sovereign right on water resources to a GLC under the federal government. A similar selling away of rights has occurred in the other states too. GST burden on working class In the United States where genuine federalism prevails, state and local governments are given the power to collect certain taxes, including sales tax. This is because the individual states determine their own development in essential fields such as education, water, land, health and even public safety and security. Malaysia, a diverse country like the US, is suited to federalism – a concept we have adopted in name but not in practice. In the US, state and local governments collect Sales and Use Tax because they need to fund essential service sectors such as education and healthcare which fall under state jurisdiction. In the Malaysian situation, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) should be collected by state and local governments. State governments should then be permitted to use these funds for propping up alternative education, supportive and paramedic healthcare system, local public transport and so forth. Nonetheless, GST should not be imposed if it were a burden to the people especially the lower income group and SMEs. Essential goods, especially food, should not be taxed, and SMEs should be given GST exemption in order for them to have a competitive edge against the much more powerful big corporate outlets and hypermarkets. Expert opinion says the right time to impose GST is only when more than 85% workforce is able to pay income tax. At present, only some 15% of the Malaysians earn more than RM3,000 and are taxable. The lower income groups would be the worst hit by GST. Whether GST should be imposed and how it should be imposed so as to maximize benefits to the rakyat is a matter that needs in-depth study. But more importantly, transparency and fair distribution of our tax money should be in place before embarking on the imposition of other forms of taxes in such a hurry.