Guan Eng surprised Johor Chinese school asking him for donation

He says the school approached him after hearing that Penang gave RM500,000 to independent Chinese high schools in Penang last year.

GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he was surprised at receiving a request for donation from a Chinese school in Johor where MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong is MP.

He claimed the school only received “tens of thousands of ringgit” in allocations despite being in a constituency held by a BN minister.

He said the incident happened during a visit to Yong Peng yesterday.

A senior staff of a Chinese school approached him for a donation, saying he heard that Penang handed out generous donations for Chinese schools.

“They asked me to give an allocation as they read in the papers that Penang independent Chinese schools received RM500,000 in total last year.

“They asked me if they, too, could get an allocation from us,” Lim said at the Han Chiang School here today.

“I was quite shocked. I said your MP is Wee Ka Siong, a federal minister.

“The school staff said they only received ‘several tens of thousands’ from the federal government, which they said was not enough.

“A minister gets RM5 million in allocations a year. Opposition MPs do not get this. Now, if an MP is a minister, he should be getting at least RM10 million.

“So why can’t the MP give RM1 million to Chinese schools? Especially when it is in his constituency? Sadly, these schools only get several tens of thousands.”

Wee is three-term MP for Ayer Hitam, Johor.

Earlier, Lim presented a RM2 million donation to five independent Chinese schools in Penang.

The recipients were the Chung Ling High School, Phor Tay School, Jit Sin Independent School, Han Chiang High School and Penang Chinese Girls High School. Each school received RM400,000.

FMT has contacted Wee for comment and is awaiting his reply. -FMT