THE issue of a beer company sponsoring a Chinese school fundraising concert is yet another storm in a string of political teacups in our country. 

Unsurprisingly, the champion of this issue is PAS. It has publicly shown its intolerance in a bid to score cheap political points against Amanah opponent Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government Aiman Athirah Sabu, who was present at the said fundraiser. 

No parent group took up the cudgel with this one, neither did any education group chime in. Only the politicians slugged it out with messy arguments about liberalism versus conservatism and values versus commercialism in education. 

This fiasco brings to the fore two issues that did not enjoy as much attention previously.

Firstly, there is an imbalance between national and national-type schools. The former are encouraged with ample attention, funding, and publicity while the latter have been painted as distractions to building a national identity and so on.  

Multiple elements contribute to the success of national-type schools: (a) Push factors like a perceived drop in quality in national schools, an increased right-leaning syllabus, and lack of facilities and teachers, and (b) pull factors like exposure to languages, perceived work ethic, and better facilities and locations. 

In 2024, 18.52% of Chinese primary school students are Bumiputera, the bulk of whom are Malay-Muslim students. That means out of roughly 500,000 students in Chinese primary schools, there are more than 92,000 Malay students. This corresponds roughly to the total number of kids (90,000) in Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan. 

Secondly, the relationship between Gerakan and PAS, both members of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition, is deteriorating. While PAS may need to tolerate a higher degree of failing from Bersatu, the leader and convener of PN, it owes no such favour to Gerakan, which is only there to represent multiculturalism.  

The fact that PAS leaders can openly disparage their “equal” counterpart (both PAS and Gerakan share the deputy presidency of PN), by taunting them to leave the coalition indicates that PAS has reduced the importance of playing to non-Malay-Muslim sentiment, perhaps calculating this to be less rewarding than maintaining their current support base. 

It also shows how weak a grasp PAS has on the vernacular school issue, being actually or falsely ignorant of how these schools are funded.

Since the 1980s, over RM1 billion has been raised by alcohol and cigarette companies for vernacular schools – reducing on one hand, their “sin” tax burden, and on the government’s end, its financial liabilities. 

PAS raising the issue now is one thing; the willingness of Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek to entertain the matter is another. More puzzling is the need for Umno Youth leader Muhamad Akmal Saleh to wade in on a non-issue. 

The relatively muted response from DAP and MCA and the separate and subsequent hints by its leaders that they have been asked to “tone down” in lieu of the upcoming by-elections in Kelantan is telling as it is disturbing. 

The need to cool down the political temperature is real, but there is also a need to ensure continued representation of valid minority interests, especially ones grounded in fact and necessity. – August 1, 2024.

* Emmanuel Joseph firmly believes that Klang is the best place on Earth, and that motivated people can do far more good than any leader with motive.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.