Reported by:
Lim Sze Kee Sr1ScB
In order to let students explore the history of Chinese Education as well as to appreciate the dedication of our Chinese ancestors, the Chinese Language Society of Kuen Cheng High School carried out a series of meaningful events in terms of the Chinese Education Week from 12 – 15 April 2022 online.
The event kicked off on 12th April 2022, with the introduction of Chinese education. Indeed, Chinese schools were built with the main target of providing education in the Chinese language. Since there wasn’t any consistent funding from the Malaysian government, most of the schools were kept alive by donations from the public. However, most of the schools have successfully insisted on mother tongue education, these schools had greatly carried forward the Chinese language. Amidst the introduction, a simple, interesting game called “draw and guess” was carried out to increase the interaction between students. Afterwards, a film regarding the inheritance of Chinese religion in Malaysia over the past few years was played. In the film, Mr.Gu Chian Peow gave a speech entitled “Chinese Religion in The Desert” which took a dive into the story of Chinese education in Malaysia and the cultural and educational heritage of our school.
On the second day of Chinese education week, which is 13 April 2022, participants were divided into a few groups according to different themes of Chinese education to discuss their perspectives on related topics together. Following the sharing session, a video about Chinese education was shown. It pointed out the difficulties and obstacles that had been dealt with to carry on Chinese education over these years. Hence, we should be grateful and embrace the opportunity to be able to study the Chinese language. Before the end of the event, students are encouraged to publish their movie reviews anonymously in a padlet and exchange thoughts with others.
On 14 April 2022, Chinese ancestors including Mr. Lim Lian Geok, Mr. Tan Kah Kee, Mr. Tan Lark Sye were introduced. To raise the students’ spirits as well as prevent boredom, a “Q&A” session regarding the Chinese ancestors was carried out. Subsequently, a video about the history of Malaysian Chinese and Chinese schools was played. Not only did it mention that Malaysia is the best country that successfully preserved Chinese culture in addition to China, but also it pointed out the large sums of money donated by donors which strengthen the position of Chinese education. Afterwards, a video entitled “5 ancestors that Malaysian Chinese Can’t Forget” was played. The five ancestors mentioned in the film, whom we Chinese-Malaysians should appreciate, were Kuek Ho Yao, Sim Mow Yu, Tan Cheng Lock, Lim Chong Eu and Lee Hau Shik.
A topic regarding characters of Chinese religion was explained on 15 April 2022, the last day of the Chinese Education Week. The committee introduced the Lim Lian Geok Award and ten Chinese education ancestors including Ms. Zheng Gui Zhu, Mr. Zhang Tian Shi, Mr. Liu Shen Yuan, etc. Soon, in order to let students have a better understanding of the development of Chinese education, two videos were played. The first film explained the connection between education and politics while the second mentioned the hurdles encountered by Chinese society. As a closing to the event, a brief summary regarding the past four days was made. After filling in the feedback form, some of the participants were also selected to share their thoughts on Chinese education.
Undeniably, the implementation of Chinese Education Week was a success as all the activities were carried out smoothly. After four days in this special Chinese Education Week, I believe that students have immensely benefited from different ways. To prevent the language from declining or vanishing in Malaysia, Chinese should be proud of themselves and cherish their current Chinese education by understanding it.
