Common trend these days for Malay kids “to conquer” Chinese primary schools in urban outskirts

 

IT IS indeed a soothing thought that apolitical Malay parents are willingly enrolling their children in Chinese primary schools despite the glaring language command handicap if not the on-going anti-vernacular school movement.

Such booming interest is most welcome to cushion unfounded claims by their rightist brethren that Chinese national-type primary schools a.k.a. SJKCs are a stumbling block to national unity or are undermining the status of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language.

Moreover, the very fact that farsighted Malays have warmed up to Chinese education further bridge cultural and religious divide with the trade-off of Chinese primary schools being perceived to boast strong academic reputation, rigorous discipline and stellar foundation in subjects like Mathematics and Science.

Many see Mandarin proficiency as an asset in the global job market. Academic quality is a more significant driving factor for Malay parents than location, facilities or even the language of instruction.

The interest in Chinese education attracted wide exchanges among Malay parents – both pro and contra – after Facebooker Halim Bede posted a photo of a first day school assembly for the 2026 term at SJK(C) Khai Chee in the Kati town in Perak’s Kuala Kangsar district (approximately 47km from state capital Ipoh).

“First day of school in 2026. This is a Chinese national-type primary school where majority of the pupils are Malay (probably more than 90%),” penned the digital creator in his post which attracted 2.8K likes, 1.1K comments and 481 shares at the time of writing.

What is striking is the interaction between Malay parents with one encouraged “the proliferation of SJKCs with Malay pupils so more would comprehend Mandarin” while one doubted the effectiveness of Chinese primary schools with 90% Malay pupils given “the kids will end up conversing in Malay”.

Such concern was quickly put to rest with another parent quantifying that “SJKCs will not accept pupils without the Chinese kindergarten basic foundation”.

One Indian parent hailed the increased number of non-Chinese choosing Chinese education over the national school system as healthy given “from now on, all races can apply for vacant positions that require fluency in Chinese. ”

However, such joy was temporarily short-lived when one Malay parent – while praising such development – lamented that “their (Chinese employees) salaries and bonuses will still exceed that of Malays and Indians even though their ranks are lower”.

This is when a Chinese commenter stepped in to clear the air that “salaries and bonuses are based on job performance, not race”.

While many Sabahan and Sarawakians can attest that SJKCs in city outskirts are “monopolised by the Bumiputera community”, one parent attributed the lack of Chinese pupils “especially in kampung SJKCs” to the migration of the Chinese to urban surroundings.

“Previously, there were estates but now many Chinese estate dwellers have moved to the city. I did come across a news report that – if I’m not mistaken – a SJKC in Kedah only has one Chinese pupil”.

What is certain is that awareness on the ground regarding the value of Mandarin as the lingua franca to trade with China which is today’s the world’s second largest economic power has changed the mindset of Malay parents who are capable of brushing aside rightist political noises.

The bottom-line is – as one commenter aptly put it – vernacular schools “would not threaten Malay/Muslim dominance in Malaysia in the near future” based on the reality on the ground, demographic realities and the official statistics.

“This is why I didn’t shout ‘Melayu terancam! (Malays are threatened!)’ or ‘Islam dianaktirikan! (Islam is undermined)’ during the national budget announcement unlike some people/politicians,” he shared.

“With that said, the onus is upon us Malay and Muslims not to give in to the easy and un-Islamic temptation to let Malaysia be ruled by the tyranny of the majority.” 

 - Focus Malaysia