If any of u read the Chinese newspapers lately, u'll probably come across one particular SMJK Kwang Hua which has some internal problem among the... dang wat do u call that in English? Board of Directors? School Committee? U get wat I mean. Well, here's a really brief synopsis of wat has happened lately:
There's 2 Kwang Hua school that share the same piece of land, 1 bigger than the other. The smaller 1 is a private school, while the bigger one is a national type school, u know, owned by the government but still have heavy emphasis on the Chinese language (Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan). For the past few years, SMJK Kwang Hua's principal, Mr. Chua, have brought the school to a totally new heights. In fact, it's on the verge of being given the status of 'quality school' (I dunno wat they call it in English). His contribution to the school since the few years that he's principal, is nothing short of an amazing feat.
The number of students entering SMJK Kwang Hua has increased tremendously year after year: Currently, there are 16 classes of Form 1 student, and each class has about 50 students! The school is facing the problem of classroom shortage, and there are many students whose request to enter the school have to be turned down bcuz of the lack of facilities. The reason why it is such a popular choice among the primary school students is because it is 1 of the only 2 SMJKs in Klang, and the reputation is by far the better one. I'm not boasting here, Kwang Hua IS the most popular SMJK in Klang, and 1 of the best in Selangor. It is one of the few government school where one can learn the Chinese language as part of the normal curriculum (in national school, one has to take extra classes after school hours in order to learn the Chinese Language, & classes will only commence if only there's at least 15 students who are interested in a particular school).
And therefore, the principal suggested to the Board of Directors (I'll juz call it that way la - oh the commitee is consisted of ppl from both SMJK & the private school) to build 4 extra classrooms to fit in more students. A noble idea, rite? Apparently not from the directors from the private school. As the SMJK grows larger year after year, the smaller private school seems stagnant (it's actually the least favoured Chinese private school among the 4 private Chinese schools in Klang). The very idea of building more classrooms seems to them as a threat, bcuz it would have means that the government-owned school will claim more land for their project, and their own school will possibly dwarved even more the mere size of the SMJK. They are worried that 1 day, the government will claim the ENTIRE land, including the private school's, as government property, and therefore causing an extinction of yet another Chinese private school.
Now b4 u guys think that these ppl are paranoid & all, this kind of things do occur from time to time. Many of the ppl involved in the Chinese education do not fully trust the government for securing their interest in the continual education of the Chinese language. There is a long history of struggle behind the development of the chinese education system in Malaysia, and let's juz say that the government isn't very sympathetic with the cause. These ppl believe that given the chance, the government will totally wipe out all sorts of Chinese language classes (not to mention Tamil) from the education system, with the propaganda of racial unity and harmony.
Back to our story. The principal & some of the other commitees/directors from the SMJK were unhappy with the decision. After all, their concern are nobly aimed for the students. After much fruitless arguments, a new committee is formed in the SMJK, where all the members are from the SMJK and in support of the classrooms building project. It was sacrilegeous to some of the ppl from the original commitee (espeacially those from the private school), as the BOD has always consists of members from both schools since its beginning (eventhough the SMJK has always been the majority lately). To create a totally new BOD is something so immoral to them, they express their outrage all over the Chinese newpapers.
The issue has been going on for some time now, and now the education ministry is about to intervene: They're transfering the principal of SMJK Kwang Hua to somewhere else! The very same principal who have did so much in the efforts of improving the quality of the school in the very short years he has served as school principal! Granted, not many ppl enjoy his over-idealistic personality and occasionally wild mood swings, but he has done much for the school and only hopes to improve it further. Yes, he should have deal with this issue more diplomatically and all, but he juz dun deserved to be transfered from the school that he loved so much!
My mum wanted me to call all my friends from secondary school to request their parents to sign a petition in school tomorrow to retain the current principal.. To be honest, I find that an almost impossible task, since many of my friends are either in oversea now, or we have lost contact already.. But I guess I'l have to do wat I can to help out la.. Although I nv liked the principal's attitude, I have to admit that he has been a very efficient and dedicated principal and deserved to enjoy serving the school he loves for the last few years of his career b4 his retirement.
So to all ex-Kwang Hua student, pls help support the cause!
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