We also wished to express our disagreement with the Cabinet for reprimanding Higher Education Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat for “interfering into another Ministry” when he was only pressing for a full inquiry into corrupt practices. Subsequent events following the visit by Works Minister Datuk S Samy Vellu and Ka Ting on 18.9.2006 to the two schools proved that Cabinet was wrong in reprimanding Ong but the reprimand was never withdrawn.

How can the Chinese community have confidence in Ka Ting’s ability when he can not even defend his own MCA Vice-Chairman and Higher Education Deputy Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat from being unfairly reprimanded by Cabinet for exposing corruption in contracts works of Chinese primary schools?

The Chinese community knew that Ka Ting would not have the courage to seek a Cabinet reprimand against Education Minister Datuk Hishamuddin Tun Hussein Onn for making false accusations against Tee Keat and also against Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamad for wrongly apologizing on Tee Keat’s behalf without Tee Keat’s consent. Some MCA members told me that they harboured hopes that Ka Ting and 3 other MCA Ministers would get Cabinet to restore justice by at least removing the Cabinet reprimand and an apology against Tee Keat. They were confident that at least Tee Keat would be vindicated by Cabinet but conceded that Ka Ting would not dare to reprimand both Hishamuddin and Mustapa.

Clearly MCA members thought too highly of Ka Ting. Not only was there no apology, there was no withdrawal of the Cabinet reprimand against Tee Keat. Clearly, 4 MCA Ministers are not comparable to one single Hishamuddin when convincing the Cabinet of giving justice back to Ong Tee Keat. Hishamuddin can not disclaim responsibility for this corruption scandal by pushing it to the Works Ministry because the Education Ministry should know of problems happening in schools.

Hishamuddin’s irresponsible and incompetent attitude is just like parents who do not know their children are being abused despite having bruises over their children’s body and require outsiders to point it to them. And instead of thanking the outsiders for pointing it out, punish the outsiders for “gross interference in their family’s affairs” when the parents should be punishing the real abusers.

We had invited the individuals concerned who however dared not come. Even though this corruption scandal is important, recent events necessitate a change in focus away from “Ong Tee Keat Vs Hishamuddin” to the “Chinese community Vs Hishamuddin”. This follows the announcement by Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar in Parliament on 20.9.2006 that not even one new Chinese or Tamil primary schools will be built under the Ninth Malaysian Plan (9MP).

Following intense public criticism from Dong Jiao Zong, DAP and the Chinese community Hishamuddin had to save MCA by announcing that 2 Chinesr primary schools will be built under 9MP namely SJKC Putra Height Selangor and SJKC Kulai II, Johor. This is misleading since the Kulai primary school is a relocated school and hence does not qualify as a new school.

In other words only one new Chinese primary school is built. Even joy at this new Chinese primary school in Selangor is tempered by the fact that this is a Wawasan school applied for by ADUN Subang Jaya Dato’ Lee Hwa Beng, as proven in a letter dated 20 April 2004 by Tuan Haji Ahmad bin Abdul Rashid Ketua Sektor Pengurusan Pembangunan Jabatan Pendidikan Selangor.

Is building only one Chinese primary school out of the 180 new primary schools fair? Dong Jiao Zong(DJZ) had announced that 134 new Chinese primary schools and 836 acres of land are required based on needs of the expanding Chinese population in Penang, Johor Baru as well as Klang Valley of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor? Building one when the Chinese community needs 134 is arrogance and irresponsible disregard of the valid requests of the Chinese community.

The Chinese community will feel betrayed when their taxes have contributed greatly to the country’s economic development. Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said that most of the tax revenue collected was from the Chinese community, which was then channeled for development projects that benefited the country, particularly the Malays.

Mahathir even said that Malaysia would not enjoy the prosperity it achieved now were it not for the contributions of the Chinese community. Is this the reward for all the hard work, sacrifices and contributions that the Chinese community that the BN government refuses to allocate even a small part of their tax payments to building Chinese primary schools urgently needed in densely populated areas such as KL, Selangor and Johor Baru?

The Chinese community should not submit to UMNO’s beggar thy neighbour approach towards Chinese primary schools so as to strenghen national schools but stand firm on a full commitment to build 134 new Chinese primary schools required throughout the country based on needs. Beggar-my-neighbour economic policies seek benefits for one country at the expense of others. Such a policy attempts to remedy an economic problem in one country by means which tend to worsen the problems of other countries. In the end the other country retaliates and both end up as losers.

From 1970 to 2006, it is estimated that the country saw an increase of 2,900 national schools whilst 58 Chinese schools and 134 Tamil schools were closed down. 58 Chinese primary schools were closed down during the last 36 years or a reduction of 4.3% from 1,346 in 1970 to 1288 schools in 2006. However during the same period, the number of students in Chinese primary schools increased by 45% or 196,443 students from 439,681 in 1970 to 636,124 students in 2006.

This is ridiculous and blatant discrimination or marginalization of Chinese primary schools. Nowhere in the world except Malaysia, would the number of schools reduce by 4.3% even though the number of students have increased by 45%,

134 Tamil primary schools were closed down during the last 36 years or a reduction of 20% from  657 in 1970 to 523 schools in 2006. However during the same period, the number of students in Tamil primary schools increased by 21% or 20,864 students from 79,278 in 1970 to 100,142 students in 2006. Again only in Malaysia would the number of students increase by 21% but the number of schools reduce by 20%.

From 1999 to 2006 the number of new Chinese primary schools increased by 5. DJZ estimated that based on approval of an extra 5 new Chinese primary schools for every 7 years, it  will take 188 years, or 47 elections, before the 134 schools will be completed. Now even that small target of 5 new Chinese primary schools every 7 years is impossible with Noh Omar’s announcement that not a single new Chinese or Tamil primary school will be built.

UMNO is playing this beggar-my-neighbour policies because, as admitted by Noh Omar in Parliament on 20.9.2006, the government intends to strengthen national primary schools and the only way to do so is to stop the expansion of Chinese primary schools. In the 9MP, the government had expressed concern about the small number of Chinese students in government primary schools. Only 6% of Chinese students are in government schools whilst the remaining 94% are in Chinese primary schools as at 2005. By 2010, the 9MP hopes to expand the student proportion of the Chinese population in national primary schools from 6% to 12% whilst for Indians from 43.2% to 60%.

Clearly not building more Chinese and Tamil primary schools is an attempt to force more Chinese and Tamil parents to send their children to national primary schools instead. Such unscrupulous and dishonest tactics are both irresponsible and unethical. The government is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of politicizing education for its political objectives of achieving the 12% and 60% proportion of Chinese and Indian population respectively by 2010.

Such “beggar thy neighbour” education policies are both backwards and regressive and will only serve to revive the Chinese community’s fears of BN’s “One-Language, One-Culture Policy” and its ultimate objective of only having one medium of instruction under one schooling system. Under MCA, MIC, SUPP and Gerakan’s sweet lies, the Chinese community had almost forgotten the Razak’s or Rahman Talib Educaton Report’s with the ultimate objective of only one single schooling system for all pupils.

DAP regrets that the government is adopting a zero sum game in education that the only way to strengthen government schools is to discriminate and hold back the progress of Chinese and Tamil primary schools. Education democracy is not a zero sum game but a win-win situation where increase in knowledge and command of languages would be an important asset and a crucial competitive advantage in the globalised world economy. Treating education as a zero sum game would make all Malaysians and finally the country losers.

Whilst UMNO is playing out their beggar thy neighbour policies, it is shameful that both MCA and Gerakan are playing their roles as “beggars”. Building only one Chinese primary school when 134 are required is no different from UMNO treating the Chinese community as beggars as it is clearly not enough and bei xui zhe xin. The time has come to put Chinese education into the mainstream of economic development and not throw us bread crumbs for political purposes to save MCA.

For instance why should Chinese primary schools receive only RM 174.3 millon in development funds or only 3.6% under the 9MP despite having 21% of the total primary school students whilst national primary schools receive 95.1% despite having only 75.7% of the students. If these figures are translated per student per month the discrimination is even more obvious in that every Chinese primary school student receives only RM 4.50 as compared to the national primary school student of RM 33.30. And 10% of Chinese primary school students are non-Chinese.

During the last economic forum organized by DAP two days ago, everyone concluded that non-Malays need no convincing that the New Economic Policy(NEP) is bad for economic health but the real challenge is that Malays have to be convinced that NEP is bad for their economic health too – it is like taking too much sweets which must be stopped or else too much sweets will cause diabetes and may even kill you.

DAP expresses concern that MCA Ministers are allowing UMNO to manipulate the Chinese community to accept “beggar politics”. Our challenge here tonight is not to be satisfied at the bread crumbs of one or two schools but to reject such beggar politics and demand 134 new Chinese primary schools built in accordance with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s his promise on 27.4.2006 that building Chinese primary schools shall be based on needs.