MCA defends choice of Chinese school head
It dismisses DAP’s claim that the Chinese party is attempting to exert its influence in the school.
PETALING JAYA: An MCA leader has defended the appointment of a party member to the position of headmaster of a Chinese secondary school amid criticism from DAP and its parent-teacher association.
Lua Toong Aik, the deputy chief of MCA’s Sungai Besar division, told FMT the decision to promote Siah Pang Woon from senior assistant to headmaster of SMJK Yoke Kuan was based on Siah’s grasp of the Chinese language.
Lua is also chairman of the school board.
“Previously, a non-Chinese-speaking teacher was appointed as headmaster and we do not want a repeat of such a thing,” he said, referring to a case last year in Ipoh, where a teacher who did not understand Chinese was appointed deputy headmaster of a Chinese school.
In a letter to the Sabak Bernam education district director last Oct 19, Lua said it was the school board’s unanimous decision that Siah be appointed headmaster.
The letter said Siah, who is also Kuala Selangor Batu Dua MCA branch chief, fulfilled the criteria for the position.
On Saturday, Sekinchan assemblyman Ng Suee Lim of DAP told a press conference that MCA had orchestrated the appointment of the new SMJK Yoke Kuan headmaster.
“The school’s current headmistress did not apply to be transferred to SMJK Yu Hua, Kajang,” he claimed.
He alleged that MCA was trying to spread political influence by appointing a party member to head the school, a claim that has since been dismissed by Selangor MCA secretary Ng Chok Sin as a “cheap political stunt”.
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SMJK Yoke Kuan Parent-Teacher Association chairman Lee Han Kiong also objected to Siah’s appointment, saying the association was not consulted.