(The public forum "Higher Education Reform - Abolishing PTPTN?" was jointly organized by Cultural-Education Committee of KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall and LLG Cultural Development Centre)

Nicholas Wong

12:49PM Apr 26, 2012

Graduates are not hounded to repay loans as the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) works out of a sense of social responsibility, and not as a business entity, said its chief executive Agos Cholan.

 There are problems surrounding debt collection, but PTPTN has other mechanisms in place for ensuring repayment, he clarified at a PTPTN discussion forum last night.
However, they choose not to employ these "other mechanisms", preferring the "friendly" approach to help students meet their debts, as its PTPTN's social responsibility, not about turning in profits, Agos  said.

 "Kita bukan ah long. Kita professional," (We are not loan sharks. We are professionals)," he cracked to laughter from the audience at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH).

LLG Perak Liaison committee and 8 civil society organizations had launched a "Know Your Councillor" rate payer's questionaire in March 2012, unfortunately none of the 23 Ipoh councillor answered the questions. Therefore, 9 organizations urged ipoh citizens download the following form, fill up and return to the campaign organizer via fax or email.

Download : Form - English

Download : Form - Chinese

Tel : 013-5217234  Fax : 05-3661268, 05-2533979, Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Enquiry :

1)  Perak Consumer Association ：05-2534058
2） Oasis Library ： 012-5175809
3） 05-2433261

Resolutions of Education Equality Act National Roundtable Meeting

14^th April, 2012, Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall

Preamble

In conjunction with the 50^th anniversary of the deprivation of citizenship of Mr Lim Lian Geok in 2011, a Working Committee launched a yearlong Justice for Lim Lian Geok Campaign on the 8^th May, 2011, urging the government to: (1) reinstate the citizenship of Mr Lim Lian Geok; (2) enact Education Equality Act to ensure fair treatment of mother tongue education.

After 10 months of nationwide signature campaign, the Working Committee handed 63,848 postcards to the Prime Minister’s Department on the 5^th March, 2012, urging Prime Minister Najib to implement the above-mentioned appeal.

Education Equality Act is a policy-oriented educational reform program. The 83 Chinese associations united behind the Justice for Lim Lian Geok Campaign believe that legislation is the only means to overcome the existing policy biases and systematic discriminatory measures. A new enactment ensuring equal treatment of schools of all streams by the government and fair distribution of educational resources to primary national and national-type schools is needed.

MONDAY, APRIL 09, 2012 - 16:36

LIM LIAN GEOK, who passed away in 1985 at the age of 81, is honoured by educationists and activists of Chinese lineage as the “soul of the Malaysian Chinese”.

Lian Geok first landed in Malaya in 1927, and till 1935, he taught in Perak, eastern Java, Klang, Kajang and even in his home district Yongchun. It was from October 1935 that he started teaching in Confucian Middle School in Kuala Lumpur, an association which lasted till August 1961. During this period, he declined the offer to be the headmaster on two separate occasions.

This was in a period when the teaching profession was truly revered and routinely referred to as the “noble profession”. He could have thought it best not to be part of the school management since he decided to be deeply involved in the formation of the Kuala Lumpur Chinese School Teachers’ Association (KLCSTA).