If you have traveled to Malaysia , you may find that Malaysia’s Chinese cultural heritage is preserved in particular in comparison with neighboring countries, such as festivals, customs, and ancestral culture!
But there is a root behind all this, which is the education system! Chinese schools in Malaysia are still in line with other origin schools and are highly valued! However, all this is not something that can be obtained, but is driven by the efforts of predecessors to eliminate all kinds of twists and turns!
Today, let’s review the deeds of the five educational wise men who strive for Chinese education!
[First] Dun Chen Zhenlu Fight for Chinese citizenship
Chen Zhenlu (1883/4/5-1960/12/21), the founder and first president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, the largest Chinese party in Malaysia.
Chen Zhenlu's ancestors came from Zhangzhou, Fujian, China, and his grandfather was in the shipping business. Chen Zhenlu was born in Melaka and graduated from Singapore Raffles College . He has been the principal of the college for 6 years since 1902. In 1908, he returned to Malacca and devoted himself to the rubber industry.
Although he was the winner of life in the community at that time, he did not forget his compatriots and unanimously maintained Chinese culture. After being appointed as a legislator of the Straits Colony in 1922, he worked harder to fight for equal rights and interests for the Chinese.
In 1931, British colonial rulers strongly implemented the "pro-Malay policy". He strongly opposed it and issued a memorandum pointing out the policy of the British government discrimination against Chinese. On the other hand, he did not forget to care about the development of Chinese civilization, including advocating the legalization of Chinese marriage customs and paving the way for future generations of Chinese citizenship.
WWII , Chen Zhenlu took refuge in India, but was not idle, founded the "Overseas Chinese Association" and prepared to establish a Chinese association after returning to Malaysia to fight for the interests of the Chinese in an organized manner.
Therefore, the Malayan Chinese Association (Malaysian Chinese Association) was officially established in 1949. Chen Zhenlu became the first president, advocating the opening of party membership and allowing all Chinese who intend to settle in Malaya to apply for joining.
Then, Chen Zhenlu led MCA to fight for Malay independence with his friends, and Malay Umno party leader- Tunku Abdul Rahman as co-chair of the "Union".
During the process, Chen Zhenlu also joined forces with Lin Lianyu of the School Teachers Association (Chairman General) to make the Ministry of Education’s attempt to turn Chinese schools into British schools fail to succeed and protect Chinese schools.
In 1957, the alliance and the British government successfully negotiated, Malaya was independent, and Chen Zhenlu also became one of the founding fathers of Malaya!
In the year of independence, the MCA successfully led the Chinese community to make more than 1 million Chinese citizens a Malayan citizen!
The so-called rights must first have rights and then be beneficial. Chen Zhenlu won the right to citizenship and continued the right to Chinese education.
Chen Zhenlu
[Second] Shen Muyu Educator who is not afraid of power
Chen Muyu (1913/7/20-2009/2/5) is an educator who is brave to be angry and speaks out and not afraid of power.
Episode 0 Malaysia has two national groups that advocate Chinese education - the China School Board Federation (Dong Zong), and the China School Teachers Association (Dong Zong), collectively known as the "Dong Zong Zong", and has worked together to fight for the rights and interests of Chinese education for more than half a century.
, and Chen Muyu served as the president of the church for 29 years, and suffered many blows during this period because of defending Chinese education.
Chen Muyu, whose ancestral home is Jinjiang, Fujian Province, was born in Malacca. He became a teacher at the age of 21 and has devoted himself to Chinese education since then. After World War II, he resumed several schools, including Chenzhongye School and Peide School, and served as the principal of Malacca Civilian School for 27 years.
In 1949, Chen Zhenluo formed the MCA Association, and Shen Muyu also joined. He served as the voluntary secretary of the Malacca branch for many years. He also established the MCA Association Youth League in 1955.
Shen Muyu spared no effort in promoting culture. He founded the "Ancient City Monthly" and proposed to establish a public library to improve reading atmosphere, promote reform of Chinese language and simplify Chinese characters, and reorganize the Confucian Church in Malacca. He also protested the action of flattening Sanbaoshan in Malacca for commercial purposes.
Shen Muyu devoted his life to defending Chinese education without fear of sacrifice, which prompted Chinese education to maintain its unique position.
Shen Muyu
[Third] Lin Lianyu Chinese sect fighters and clan souls
The famous Chinese sect fighters in the early days were Lin Lianyu (1901/8/19-1985/12/18).
He promoted the establishment of the General Secretary of Education and General Secretary Dong, committed to maintaining Chinese education, advocated national and linguistic equality, and was deprived of his citizenship.
Lin Lianyu was born and raised in Yongchun, Fujian, China, and has excellent Chinese foundation. He moved to Malaya during his youth and taught at the Confucius School in Kuala Lumpur until 1961.
At any time, Lin Lianyu defends Chinese education with actions. In 1951, he opposed the Bath Report, which was not conducive to Chinese education at that time, and also prompted the establishment of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China to embark on the journey of leadership to defend Chinese education.
In 1954, he proposed to list Chinese as one of the official languages, and also joined forces with the President of the Malaysian Chinese Association, Chen Zhenlu, to make the Ministry of Education’s plan to open English classes in Chinese schools fail. In the same year, the Dong Zong was established, which was a general meeting gathered by the Chinese school boards (the Dong Zong Association) of each state.
At that time, the Malayan League fought for independence from Britain. In 1955, Lin Lianyu led a delegation of Dong Jiao (Chengdu + Dong Jiao) to meet with Chen Zhenlu and UMNO leadership (the largest Malay party). The alliance agreed that if it comes to power, it will abolish the Education Act of 1952 and re-establish fair and reasonable education policies for all ethnic groups.
In 1956, Lin Lianyu led Dong Jiaotong again to strive for Chinese to become one of the three major schools, laying the foundation for the immortality of Chinese education. At the same time, he is also busy dealing with the problem of restructuring Chinese middle schools, the problem of over-age students, and the problem of student trends.
struggle has not stopped here. In 1960, after independence, Lin Lianyu stated that he could not accept the education report at that time in case the Chinese school was reorganized into a Malay middle school. He was very sure that in 1956, he had won the then Minister of Education Lhasa to agree not to include the "last goal" that was unfavorable to Chinese education in the Education Act.
But the result was that the Ministry of the Interior deprived of its citizenship in 1961, on the grounds that Lin Lianyu deliberately distorted the government's education policy, etc.
Lin Lianyu, who had long put his personal interests aside for Chinese education, later lived in seclusion in Kuala Lumpur for more than 20 years, and died suddenly in Kuala Lumpur in 1985. On the funeral day, there were tens of thousands of people emptying the streets, paying tribute to this ancestor who is recognized as the "soul of the Chinese religion". Chinese people have never forgotten the sacrifices and dedications he made to Chinese education, which has led to the Chinese school standing safely to this day.
Lin Lianyu
[Fourth] Chen Xiuxin For the children of Chinese, he insisted on running a university
Chen Xiuxin (1916/5/21-1988/3/17), he is the third president of the Malaysian Chinese Association and served as the Malaysian Ministry of Finance for 15 years. During his tenure as President of MCA, the establishment of Raman College was facilitated, allowing tens of millions of Chinese children to obtain higher education opportunities under affordable circumstances.
Chen Xiuxin is the son of Tun Chen Zhenlu, the founding leader of the Malaysian Chinese Association. He studied law in London in his early years and then returned to China to manage the family's rubber garden. He is a true son of a noble family. He not only inherited his father's business, but also continued his father's political ideals, hoping to enhance the status of Chinese people through politics.
He has served as a legislator for 26 years since 1948, and was elected as secretary of the Malacca branch of MCA and head of the Maqing branch. After the 1959 general election, he became the Minister of Finance. In 1961, Chen Xiuxin was elected as the president of the Malaysian Chinese Association.
During his tenure, Chen Xiuxin was committed to balancing the demands of the Chinese society with the government's policies!
1969, the Education Commission was determined to run a Chinese "independent university", and Chen Xiuxin believed that the general environment at that time was not practical!
In order to solve the problems of further studies and futures for Chinese children at that time, Chen Xiuxin proposed another method and chose to set up a college with English-oriented language.
And, this school should have the status of a college and can award widely recognized diplomas to graduates. At the same time, MCA should strive to obtain campus locations and funding sources, as well as professional faculty.
Chen Xiuxin is committed to connecting with the government, but the government agreed to bear half of the funds under the principle of "1 yuan to 1 yuan" and establish the "Raman Academy" and named it after the founding of the founding father.
is semi-funded by the government, and Raman College is able to provide quality education at a cheap tuition fee.In July 1968, Raman College was officially established to provide higher education for Chinese children who cannot reach the threshold of foreign and government universities, without any political background.
Raman College was upgraded to a university in 2013, and was upgraded to Raman Polytechnic University in April 2022, enjoying tens of millions of ringgit each year!
The teaching quality of Raman College today has not only been recognized by the Chinese community, but also by indigenous people and other ethnic groups in Malaysian . These achievements are the best legacy left to future generations by Chen Xiuxin's far-sighted vision.
Chen Xiuxin
[Fifth] Guo Heyao Dedicate his life to the Chinese society!
Guo Heyao is the cousin of Asian sugar king Guo Henian . He went to Nanyang from Fuzhou at the age of 3 and settled in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.
Although I received English education in the early days, I was influenced by my father Guo Qinduan and made great contributions to the Chinese society.
later won the "Tan Kah Kee Spiritual Award", which shows the recognition and respect of his contributions by the Chinese community!
Father Guo Qinduan was once a director of Kuanrou School, and Guo Heyao has represented his father at Kuanrou School board meetings many times. Under his promotion, Kuanrou Middle School built dormitories for students and set a precedent for "directors do not interfere in teaching" on campus, setting an example for Kuanrou Middle School and other independent middle schools.
In addition, Guo Heyao also donated RM1 million of his life savings to the "Kuanru Fund" to assist poor children in their studies, and even provided retirement benefits to teachers.
Guo Heyao also served as the chairman of Guoguang Hua Primary School. The number of students has grown from hundreds to thousands, and the surge in numbers has made it impossible for schools to accommodate the two expansions.
So, Guo Heyao mortgaged his private property to the bank as a financing condition and tried his best to promote the expansion of the school. At the same time, he also led the board of directors to apply for a branch. After many years, he coordinated the construction approval documents to determine the location of Guoguang Second School.
Mr. Guo has experienced two kidnappings. At that time, many high school students went to the playground to pull up cloth strips, asking the kidnappers to "there are also good things to steal" and release the chairman as soon as possible. Ordinary people, such as the taxi guild, also printed paper strips, hoping to find Mr. Guo's whereabouts as soon as possible. It can be seen that Guo Heyao’s status in the hearts of the people and everyone’s respect and love for him.
As one of the initiators of Southern University College , Guo Heyao also actively served as the first and second chairman of the school, jointly promoting the development of higher education in the Chinese community.
In addition, when he was 96 years old, he was still concerned about his alma mater, Kuanrou Middle School, and attended the school anniversary event when he was unable to move and had poor eyesight. His first sentence was to care whether the Kuanzhong board of directors could raise funds for the school's construction plan.
Most of his life, Guo Heyao, who is enthusiastic about Chinese education, culture and charity, invisibly shaped some important concepts and lifestyles of the Chinese community, and promoted the Malaysian Chinese to keep pace with the times.
Guo Heyao
Finally, it is not taken for granted that we can freely learn Chinese and learn in our native language on this land of Malaysia today!
The self-sacrifice of the ancestors has made the perpetual success of Chinese education!
