Many Malays learning Mandarin in Kelantan

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Oct 7, 2013

(ST) – Proportionately more Malays study Chinese in this state than in others

IN A recent two-hour class in one of Kelantan’s religious schools, female students in veils and loose-fitting baju kurungs – traditional Malay wear – learn how to read and speak in Mandarin and write in Chinese.

Their teacher is Mr Wang Yin Kang, a Chinese-Muslim teacher from Yunnan, China.

Some of his students in the Tarbiyah Mardhiyah Religious Secondary School, which means “Upbringing that pleases Allah” in Arabic, are also members of the Chinese Language society, where they take up drama classes and carry out dialogues in Mandarin, supervised by Mr Wang.

There is a famous saying in Islam: “Seek knowledge even as far as China.” It appears that Malay-Muslims in Kelantan are, as closely as possible, trying to do just that.

Kelantan is the most Malay state in the country, yet there are proportionately more Malays studying Chinese here than in other states.

It is common to find Malays enrolling their children in Chinese-language schools or attending Chinese-language classes offered in religious schools.

The state government under Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) funds Mandarin classes in schools. It even sent three Malay-Muslim teaching college graduates to study Mandarin in Guangzhou, China in 2009 and has hired a few teachers from China to conduct Mandarin classes.

Many Kelantanese take the lead from their revered former menteri besar, said Mr Hu Pang Chaw, chairman of the PAS Supporters Congress, the party’s non-Muslim wing.

“The Kelantanese see the party’s spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat as the prime example of someone who encourages the younger generation to take up the Chinese language, as five of his grandchildren attend Chinese schools,” he said.

Located in the north-east of Peninsular Malaysia bordering Thailand and looking out to the South China Sea, Kelantan’s population is 95 per cent ethnic Malay. Chinese, Thais and Indians make up the rest of the state’s population of 1.6 million.

All around Malaysia, more parents are sending their children to Chinese schools and Chinese tuition classes. But in Kelantan, the concentration of Malay students in these schools is much higher.

Statistics on Malays’ enrolment in Chinese vernacular schools funded by the government are not publicly released.

But according to Mr Hu, between 20 per cent and 50 per cent of the student population in Kelantan’s 15 Chinese vernacular primary schools and two secondary schools are Malay. In a Chinese primary school in Rantau Panjang on the outskirts of Kelantan, two- thirds of the students are Malays.

In other parts of Malaysia, there is an average of about 10 per cent Malay students in Chinese schools.