Chinese Schools in Peninsular Malaysia: The Struggle for Survival

Acknowledgements

vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It฀was฀Dr฀Leon฀Comber฀of฀the฀Monash฀Asia฀Institute,฀Monash฀University,฀ Australia,฀who฀suggested฀to฀Ambassador฀Kesavapany,฀Director฀of฀the฀Institute฀ of฀Southeast฀Asian฀Studies,฀that฀I฀do฀this฀study฀on฀Chinese฀schools฀in฀ Malaysia.฀I฀am฀very฀thankful฀to฀Dr฀Comber฀for฀having฀made฀the฀suggestion฀ and฀to฀Ambassador฀Kesavapany฀for฀having฀accepted฀the฀book฀proposal. The฀Lee฀Foundation฀helped฀to฀finance฀this฀work฀partially.฀My฀heartfelt฀ thanks฀are฀due฀to฀the฀foundation฀for฀extending฀the฀assistance. While฀doing฀my฀research,฀I฀obtained฀substantial฀help฀from฀Mr฀Choong฀ Woei฀Chuan,฀Director฀of฀the฀Information฀Bureau฀of฀the฀United฀Chinese฀ School฀Committees’฀Association,฀and฀Mr฀Yap฀Hon฀Kait,฀Executive฀Secretary฀ of฀the฀United฀Chinese฀School฀Teachers’฀Association฀(UCSTA).฀Mr฀Choong฀ afforded฀me฀the฀opportunity฀to฀consult฀Malaysia’s฀annual฀reports฀on฀education฀ and฀the฀various฀educational฀acts.฀Mr฀Yap฀provided฀access฀to฀information฀ on฀Chinese฀primary฀schools฀that฀has฀been฀collected฀over฀the฀years฀by฀the฀ Education฀Research฀Centre฀of฀the฀association.฀He฀also฀kindly฀presented฀me฀ with฀copies฀of฀the฀association’s฀work฀reports฀of฀recent฀years.฀To฀both฀Mr฀ Choong฀and฀Mr฀Yap,฀I฀extend฀my฀profound฀gratitude. I฀ also฀ wish฀ to฀ thank฀ Mr฀ Loot฀Ting฀Yee,฀ Advisor฀ to฀ the฀ UCSTA.฀ ฀ Mr฀Loot฀generously฀and฀enthusiastically฀gave฀me฀a฀number฀of฀items฀from฀ his฀collection฀of฀publications฀on฀Chinese฀education. In฀the฀course฀of฀my฀research฀and฀writing,฀I฀was฀privileged฀to฀have฀the฀ comments฀and฀opinions฀of฀many฀seniors฀and฀colleagues฀in฀the฀field฀of฀Chinese฀ education.฀I฀am฀greatly฀indebted฀to฀them.฀Because฀of฀their฀help,฀I฀have฀been฀ able฀to฀produce฀this฀objective฀history฀of฀the฀Chinese฀schools฀in฀Malaysia. Last฀but฀not฀least,฀I฀wish฀to฀thank฀a฀close฀friend฀who฀rendered฀me฀ substantial฀research฀assistance฀but฀who฀wishes฀not฀to฀be฀named. Lee฀Ting฀Hui Singapore May฀2009 00฀CSPM'sia฀FM.indd฀฀฀7 3/2/11฀฀฀4:22:39฀PM 00฀CSPM'sia฀FM.indd฀฀฀8 12/21/10฀฀฀9:54:08฀AM ...