Gambling and education in Johor Bahru

The Johor Bahru Tiong-Hua ( Chinese ) Association resolved at its annual general meeting early this month to urge the federal government to accord Chinese education parity in the national syllabus, and to stop Johoreans from continuing to gamble in Singapore.

The association urges that the Ministry of Education should giving full recognition to the UEC ( Unified Examinations Certificate) accredited by the Malaysian Independent Chinese Secondary Schools of Malaysia, in order to give the Chinese independent students a chance to further their studies in national universities and have the opportunity to work in the public sector.

The association also urges the government to take a serious view of  the shortage of Chinese language  teachers in Chinese primary and secondary schools. The government should have train more teachers for undergraduate ( KPLIKDC ) and non-graduate (KDPMKDC) during school holidays, to meet the present shortage.

The association also urges government to build more Chinese primary schools in Johor Bahru, mainly in the crowded Chinese community areas around Johor Jaya, Masai, and the Skudai-Tampoi area.

As to gambling in Singapore, some members are of the view the federal government should give gambling licenses to the association, rather for then spending millions of ringgit every month in Singapore casinos. This is a great loss for Malaysian foreign exchange!

The annual general meeting was attended by hundreds of people and representatives of Chinese associations in Johor Bahru. All hoped the government will fair, more systematic and transparent in dealing with education and society in our multi-racial society nation.