Chinese vernacular primary schools (SJKCs) have long been a pillar of Malaysian school life, where not only those of Chinese descent are attending classes for an education, but a large portion of Malays too.
Recently, local comedian Harith Iskander put forth a bold suggestion regarding SJKCs, where he said he doesn’t agree with its existence and offered an alternative for it.
‘We should abolish SJKCs’
Right from the get-go, Harith started off the two-minute clip with a phrase that would cause many to have whiplash: “I think we should abolish Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC)”
He quickly followed it up by acknowledging that some may agree or disagree with his view and went on to explain why he held that view.
“I don’t agree with the idea of SJKCs…not because I think the people who support it are bad people. In fact, I completely understand why they exist and I understand why many Malaysian Chinese still value them.”
Harith also outlined what he’d do if he could “redesign Malaysian’s education system from scratch”.
“I would want every Malaysian child growing up together sharing a common language in most of the subjects from the very first day they start going to school.
Other than the subjects being purely in Bahasa Malaysia and having English as a compulsory subject, I’d also make Mandarin compulsory in every Sekolah Kebangsaan (national-type schools).
“Imagine every Malaysian child leaving school, being able to communicate confidently in Bahasa Malaysia and English, and also able to chat away in Mandarin. I think that would be amazing.”
Watch the clip here:
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