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Sunday, June 16, 2024

Unlocking doors with Mandarin fluency

Two Steps to Mandarin Fluency

SJKC reality: For better future opportunities

JKC reality: Sink or swim for non-Chinese students?

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Testing his knowledge: Year 4 pupil Muaz Harith reading in Mandarin during a Science lesson while his tea cher Tam Kai Shan looks on at SJK(C) Kampung Baru Paroi. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

PETALING JAYA: Many parents, including those who are non-Chinese, have opted to send their children to a Chinese school in the hopes of expanding their children’s opportunities in the future.

This is especially so as China has rapidly become a global economic powerhouse that is still expanding.

But what is the reality on the ground? Are employers more keen to hire workers with the added advantage of being fluent in Mandarin?

Having an extra language in your arsenal is always a positive thing in terms of employability, according to business leaders from various chambers of commerce and industry in the country.

While Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor president Datuk Ng Yih Pyng agreed that being able to speak Mandarin gives one more options in terms of employment, he said proficiency in any foreign language is valuable in today’s more connected world.

It also depends on the specific business and its dealings, he added.

“It is always good for one to learn more languages, regardless of race. A lot of schools also offer French or Spanish

“I think it all depends on the company. If my company specialises in dealing with Japan, for example, it would be good for me to have candidates who speak Japanese.

“Your supplier and your customer will feel more comfortable and the chances of misunderstandings will be lower,” he said.

Ng pointed out that there are other considerations when hiring an employee aside from their language proficiency.

“Language is important. But there are also more skill sets out there.

“So it really depends on a lot of factors. But being able to communicate in Mandarin is an advantage,” he said.

Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia president Tan Sri Low Kian Chuan believes Mandarin fluency will indeed improve someone’s chances of getting hired in China-oriented businesses and Chinese-populated countries such as China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

“Being able to communicate in their native language enhances communication and cultural understanding, develops connection and fosters trust, which are valuable in building stronger relationships and conducting business effectively,” he said.

He cited the example of the Malaysian tourism industry, where mastering Mandarin could help tourism practitioners such as tour agencies and tour guides provide value-added services and tour experiences for tourists from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Concurring, Christina Tee, president of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry, highlighted that China is a big economic region now, so it is almost certain that being fluent in Mandarin will give these job seekers a higher potential of getting employed.

Those who learn an extra language tend to have very good communication skills as well, which will give them even more of an edge in getting hired, she added.

“They definitely stand a higher chance at getting better opportunities internationally because they have opened themselves up to a different kind of market,” she said.

This is the final part of Media in Arms’ special report series “SJKC: Reality for Non-Chinese students”, which explores the experience of non-Chinese students in Chinese schools.

Media in Arms is a media collaboration comprising five mainstream media outlets: Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily, Malay daily Sinar Harian, local news broadcaster Astro Awani, Tamil newspaper Malaysia Nanban and The Star, which formed this initiative in February 2022 to share resources and collaborate on diversified news content.

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Monday, April 1, 2024

Rediscovering the heart of Qing Ming tradition

Important observance: Lim (right) and his family members preparing for Qing Ming prayers for his late parents at the Johor Baru Tiong-Hua Association memorial park.

It is important to educate the young about purpose of practices to honour ancestors

FOLDING gold and silver foil paper ingots was an annual exercise that my brother and I were tasked to do before Qing Ming.

Both of us would compete to see who could fold more ingots.

My late grandmother would remind us that folding these ingots was not about the quantity or quality, but our sincerity in carrying out the process.

Traditionally, people believed that these ingots, resembling money in the afterlife, would bear different values depending on their shapes.

Those that were perfectly folded would bear more value, in contrast to imperfect ones with pointed edges or which looked like cups.

These memories come flooding back as Qing Ming approaches this year.

Although it falls on April 4, it is observed two weeks before and after that date.

Qing Ming is a day for Taoists and Buddhists to honour their departed family members and ancestors.

Back then, my family and I would visit the columbarium and pay our respects to my grandparents and great-grandparents.

We would always bring their favourite food, such as kopi O kosong for my late grandfather as well as fruits and roasted meat for our ancestors.

We would burn the gold and silver ingots, alongside boxes of other paraphernalia such as clothes, shoes and “hell banknotes”.

After praying, my mother would “update” them on our lives and whether I had been a naughty boy or not.

That was about two decades ago, when I still observed Qing Ming.

Paper smartphones, computers and credit cards were not available or too expensive back then, but now you can even burn a range of paper luxury cars and bungalows.

I always find that aspect fascinating and look forward to seeing what creative items will be churned out each year by enterprising traders selling prayer paraphernalia.

I gradually stopped this annual pilgrimage due to the hassle and inconvenience.

Other than the crowds at columbaria and cemeteries, one would also have to contend with the sweltering heat and smoke from the burning of joss sticks and other items.

Excuses, some might say, but I have stopped observing the tradition.

Yet deep down, I am curious about the origins of these rituals and their significance.

Customary practices can sometimes change due to circumstances and modernity.

One may even wonder to what extent these rituals were practised by our ancestors.

To find out, I spoke to cemetery management committee members and historians about Qing Ming rituals.

While the main rituals do not differ much, offerings such as food can be unique to respective clan associations.

Each clan association prepares its own specialty foods for offerings on the altar, such as the Cantonese fatt gou (prosperity cake) Hakka hee pan (rice cake), Hainan yi bua (glutinous rice cake) and Teochew ang ku kueh (sticky cake).

I also learnt that most of the paper paraphernalia items that I looked forward to, are commercialised.

Historian Lee Eng Kew noted that gold and silver foil papers burned as offerings to ancestors were the only items that symbolised money.

“Hell banknotes and credit card paper paraphernalia are purely commercial,” he said.

Nowadays, families practise and conduct rituals within their means.

Attempts are being made to reduce wastage, such as bringing home edible offerings and minimising the burning of ceremonial items.

Though simplified, these rituals still have meaning if done sincerely.

While it is important to uphold tradition, we must also at the same time educate the younger generation on the significance of these rituals.

If they do not know the reasons for them, it may be difficult to ensure these traditions continue to be practised for years to come.

Tradition meets practicality for Qing Ming rituals | The Star

Qing Ming crowds arrive early to avoid hot sun

Paying respects: Lim (left) and her family members observing the Qing Ming festival by bringing prepared dishes and prayer paraphernalia for their dearly departed at the United Hokkien Cemeteries Teluk Bahang. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star

Monday, January 3, 2022

Journey to Rejuvenation

CNY in space: Three taikonauts will enter the Lunar New Year in China’s space station, which will continue orbital construction in the year. — AP

In 2012, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, visited the exhibition "The Road of Rejuvenation." He described it as a retrospective on the Chinese nation, a celebration of its present and a declaration on its future. #XiJinping

The things taking place in China these days would have been unimaginable a century ago. In 2022, Beijing, where invading imperialists wreaked havoc more than 100 years ago, will host the Olympic Games for a second time, a chance for the world to stand stronger and together in solidarity.

` In space, three Chinese taikonauts will enter the Lunar New Year in China’s space station, which will continue orbital construction in the year.

` China’s journey to national rejuvenation is one of Chinese Communists leading 1.4 billion Chinese people in an unyielding struggle against all obstacles and challenges.

` The Communist Party of China (CPC) in July last year celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding, and this year it will convene its 20th national congress.

` It is necessary to maintain a stable and healthy economic environment, a secure and safe social environment, and a clean and righteous political environment.

` Last year marks the critical juncture where the time-frame of China’s two centenary goals converge – to complete building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by the time the CPC celebrates its centenary, and to start building a great modern socialist country in all respects by the time the People’s Republic of China celebrates its centenary in 2049.

` On the new journey, Xi Jinping, general-secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, is undoubtedly the core figure in charting the course of history.

` “We must always keep a long-term perspective, remain mindful of potential risks, maintain strategic focus and determination, and ‘attend to the broad and great while addressing the delicate and minute’,” Xi said in his 2022 New Year address on Friday.

` Xi paid tributes to the Chinese people who have been hard at work and looked back at the extraordinary journey travelled by the CPC.

` “I sincerely hope all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation will join forces to create a brighter future for our nation,” he said.

` China is walking on a model of modernisation characterised by innovative, coordinated, green and open development path that is for everyone. It is a model leading socialist China out of a development trap reliant on extensive and inefficient growth at the cost of ecological damage, shifting the country to high-quality development, and avoiding situations where the rich become richer and the poor poorer.

` China’s economy is estimated by some international organisations to have grown 8% last year to reach 110 trillion yuan (RM72 trillion).

` How to “divide the pie” is a world challenge and also one that China is committed to tackling.

` Nationwide, measures have been taken to prevent runaway expansion of capital, maintain order in the market, galvanise market entities of all types, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises, and protect the rights and interests of workers and consumers.

` China’s “common prosperity” initiative “is meant to end monopolies, increase innovation and competition, and give fairer opportunities, so now is the best time to invest in China’s hinterland”, said Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of the China Market Research Group, a strategic market intelligence firm.

` Zhejiang province, an economic powerhouse in east China, has drawn up detailed plans to achieve common prosperity, including labour remuneration will account for more than 50% of its GDP by 2025, and the ratio of residents per capita disposable income to per capita GDP will continue to increase during the period.

` Modernisation also reaches less developed regions such as the southwestern province of Guizhou, which has become the front-runner of China’s big data industry since being approved to build the country’s first national big data comprehensive pilot zone in 2016.

` Tech giants including Apple and Microsoft have established their cloud computing and big data centres and their regional headquarters in the province.

` Leveraging its accommodating climate, clean air and geography, Guizhou is now one of the regions with the highest number of mega-data centres in the world.

` The rejuvenation spans more than just material goods such as high-speed trains or an emerging fleet of new energy cars. By 2035, China is set to basically achieve socialist modernisation.

` China is also aiming to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. A top-level design document has been released towards the ambitious goal.

` The Party has established Xi’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the Party as a whole and defined the guiding role of Xi’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

` This reflects the common will of the Party, the armed forces and Chinese people of all ethnic groups, and is of decisive significance for advancing the cause of the Party and the country in the new era.

` Today, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process, but it will not be easy, as Xi said on Friday: It will not happen overnight.

` China’s economic development is facing pressure from demand contraction, supply shocks and weakening expectations, and the external environment is becoming increasingly complicated and uncertain.

` China also faces an ageing population.

` In deepening reform and opening up, certain deep-seated institutional problems and impediments from vested interests became increasingly evident.

` China’s reform thus entered a critical phase fraught with tough challenges.

` Some elements in the world still deem themselves superior and always want to impose their own will on others: They throw out arbitrary rules and use human rights and other high-sounding excuses to smear China and many other developing countries.

` State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China must not compromise or back down.

` “Instead, we must face them head-on, and pull together with most countries to defend fairness and justice,” Wang said on Thursday.

` In its continued engagement with the world, China upholds and practises true multilateralism, urging countries to resolutely uphold the authority and standing of the United Nations, jointly oppose division and confrontation, stand together against zero-sum games and make constant efforts for greater democracy in international relations.

` As Xi said on Friday, “Only through unity, solidarity and cooperation can countries around the world write a new chapter in building a community with a shared future for mankind.” — Xinhua

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Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Chop off Dr. Mahathir's chopstick racist politics

Former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad had referred to the continued use of chopsticks by the Chinese community in Malaysia.PHOTO: ST FILE

The outdated worldview and narrow thinking expressed by former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad in his new book cannot be allowed to undermine the country's race relations, said Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) secretary-general Chong Sin Woon.

Datuk Chong urged all Malaysians not to be easily swayed by the words of the former premier.

"Instead, commit ourselves to be more open-minded, progressive and accepting of others' cultures so that we can build a more united Malaysia together.

"We do not want to see Malaysia's precious multiracial ties get strained because of his new book and his remarks, which propagate racial division and extremism," he said in a statement yesterday.

Mr Chong noted that Malaysians should discuss nation-building from a progressive and diverse perspective.

At a book launch on Sunday (Dec 12), Tun Dr Mahathir had referred to the continued use of chopsticks by the Chinese community in Malaysia.

"The Chinese eat with chopsticks, they don't eat with their hands. They have not adopted the Malaysian way of eating food.

"They retained the chopstick, which is an identity from China, not Malaysia, and many other things," he reportedly said.

Mr Chong said MCA has been expending all efforts to protect and preserve the cultural diversity and rights of each ethnicity, including the freedom to learn one's mother tongue as provisioned under the federal Constitution, as well as the prevailing principles of moderation, freedom and democracy.

As a former prime minister who led the country and achieved economic success during his tenure in the 1990s, Dr Mahathir had his fair share of contributions and failures, Mr Chong said.

"And yet, after so many years, he is still unable to break free from the extreme, racial mindset.

"At 96, one would expect Tun Mahathir to have a more seasoned outlook and come up with wiser approaches to current affairs.

"Regrettably, the nonagenarian remains unchanged in his old ways, still bitter and critical about the specifics of the ethnicity and cultures of others," he said.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

The CHINESE & the WORLD, Lesson In History: Ego or fear of retribution ?

https://youtu.be/6azpuOivSAI

*A Lesson In History.*

1. Which countries invaded and occupied Indonesia? *Netherlands for 350 years and Japan for 3.5 years*.

2. Which country was once the colony master of Malaya & India? *Britain*.

3. Which countries invaded and occupied Vietnam? *France 1857-1940 & 1946-1954, Japan 1940-1945 and USA (in Southern Vietnam) 1955-1975*.

4. Which countries were responsible for colonisation of the African continent? *Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy*.

5. Which 8 countries were responsible for the occupation of China in early 20th century? *Britain, US, Germany, France, Russia, Japan, Italy & Austria-Hungary*.

6. Which countries are responsible for colonising and almost annihilating the Red Indians in northern America? *France & Britain*.

7. Which country colonised and almost annihilated Aborigines in Australia and New Zealand? *Britain* .

8. Which are the member countries of G7? *United Kingdom/Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan & USA*.

And now the million dollar question...

9. Why are the G7 members see China as a threat even though China is the only major nation on earth that has never invaded or occupied another country?

*Ego or fear of retribution* ?

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Friday, March 26, 2021

Human right violators: USA,Canada, Autralia, UK, EU - Racism against Asians: Forever foreigner, alien or pendatang

People march in downtown Montreal, Canada during a demonstration against anti-Asian racism on March 21, 2021 [Andrej

Children attend a March 17 vigil at Clemente Park in Lowell, Massachusetts, for the victims of the shooting spree in Atlanta. Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

https://theconversation.com/racism-is-behind-anti-asian-american-violence-even-when-its-not-a-hate-crime-157487

STOP THE HATE ...

Why are they choosing to speak up for Asians？

反仇视亚裔浪潮席卷全美 “人权灯塔”为何常年灯下黑？20210330 |《今日关注》

Children attend a March 17 vigil at Clemente Park in Lowell, Massachusetts, for the victims of the shooting spree in Atlanta. Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

MY sister and her husband, both senior citizens, are very cautious about going out.

It’s not just because of Covid-19. It’s because they fear being victims of a hate crime in their country for simply being Chinese. The country? Australia.

Which is ironic because they made the difficult decision to leave Malaysia 30 years ago to give their children a better future in a nation they believed would play fair and recognise talent with no quota system based on race.

But anti-Asian sentiments are making headlines everywhere as the number of attacks on people who look “chinky” rise alarmingly in many Western countries.

A study on police records in 16 of the largest American cities showed hate crimes increased 150% against Asian people in 2020. The latest is the March 16 attack on three Atlanta spas that killed six Asian-American women.

In the UK, hate crimes toward Chinese, East and South-East Asians rose 300% in just the first quarter of 2020. In Vancouver, Canada, the number rose from a mere dozen in 2019 to 142 in 2020, a 717% increase.

And an Australian National University survey of more than 3,000 people found 85% of Asian Australians reported at least one instance of discrimination between January and October last year.

My sister and her husband live in Sydney and being sensible people, they wear their face masks whenever they venture out. That has earned them brushes with white idiots who come up to them and deliberately cough in their faces.

The pandemic, because of its assumed origins in China, has brought out latent, long-simmering resentment, prejudice, even jealousy towards Asians in Western countries.

Asian immigrants, notably the Chinese, because of their capacity for hard work and determination to succeed, created backlashes wherever they landed in droves.

The United States and Australia treated the Chinese badly. Brought in to work on building America’s railroads, they were accused of stealing jobs from the whites. Chinese gold miners in Australia faced the same accusation. Both countries enacted anti-Chinese immigration laws; the US Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the White Australia Policy of 1901 to 1911.

The second half of the 20th century was a better time for Asians in the West with the rise of human and minority rights but racism never completely went away.

Emboldened by former president Donald Trump’s four years of insane leadership, the racists in America wormed their way out of the woodwork to wreak havoc on the country’s race relations, particularly in the treatment of black Americans.

Covid-19 gave them the perfect ammunition to revive old hatred towards Chinese people and fuel resentment against China’s rise as a superpower. Since they can’t tell us apart, all East Asians are attacked.

The hate crimes spurred The Washington Post to look at past episodes of a similar nature. One was the 1900 outbreak of bubonic plague in San Francisco in which the Chinese community was made the scapegoat:

“It is likely that the outbreak began with a ship from Australia, but since the first stateside victim was a Chinese immigrant, the whole community was blamed for it. The episode was a prelude to the racism that has been aimed at Asian Americans during the coronavirus pandemic... Trump frequently called it ‘the China virus, ’ ‘the Wuhan virus, ’ and the ‘Kung Flu’.”

What hit me hard was what theconversation.com had to say:

“Research has found that most Americans assume a person of Asian descent is foreign-born, unless there is some aspect of their appearance that clearly marks them as American – such as being overweight.” (This is hilarious, I must say.)

“Asian Americans of all types experience this perception of being ‘forever foreigners’ in a wide range of ways. Regardless of whether some or all – or none – of these latest assaults on Asian Americans are proved to be hate crimes or not, race plays a historic role.”

“Forever foreigners”. Now doesn’t that make you think of how Malaysian Chinese (and Indians) are forever called pendatang? Indeed, race plays a huge role in our history too, and still does.

It was just last month that HRH Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar felt the need to say that where Johor is concerned, the Chinese are not pendatang but guests invited in by his forefathers dating back to the 16th century to help develop the state.

“They are the ‘Bangsa Johor’ – just like the Malays, Indians and others, who are all Malaysians, ” he was quoted as saying in the interview with Sunday Star (“’The Chinese are not pendatang’”, Feb 21; online at bit.ly/star_chinese).

That was a nice gesture but as Sabahan anthropologist Dr Vilashini Somiah writes in The Evolution of Pendatang on newnaratif.com, the word meaning immigrant, which was originally neutral and without political insinuations, has evolved since the late 1970s to become derogatory and disparaging.

She says the word has been weaponised and “Today, pendatang is used by Malaysian politicians as an exclusionary tool of identity politics” and as a divisive and exclusionary insult by members of the public.

As an example, Dr Somiah recounts the 2010 incident in which a school head called all non-Muslim students “pendatang” and told them to “balik” (return) to their “country”.

That same taunt to go back to China was thrown at Asians in Western countries since the start of the pandemic. We have had none of that in our part of the world.

I did not fear being spat at or coughed on by fellow non-Chinese Malaysians. For once, in a country that is obsessed with race and where every form requires us to state our ethnicity, that did not seem to matter in the fight against the coronavirus.

Malaysians have been fortunate that no major racial riots have taken place since May 13,1969, but the reality is, our race relations have been fraying for decades.

Time and time again, certain politicians have shamelessly alluded to the possibility of another May 13 whenever they felt the need to warn “immigrant” Malaysians not to be too demanding of their rights.

The anxiety my sister feels now in Australia will surely pass and hopefully they remain safe from harm. But this ugly period will not make them regret their decision to emigrate. After all, their sacrifices paid off as their children are doing very well in Sydney.

The most important thing is racism is no longer institutionalised or legitimised in that country.

Australia has laws that make it a crime to discriminate on the basis of age, disability, race and sex in certain areas of public life, including education and employment.

Even that is not seen to be enough after the spate of pandemic-induced racist attacks and there are calls now to “simplify and strengthen Australia’s racial discrimination and vilification processes... to properly protect victims”.

On the other hand, in Malaysia, where it has long been recognised that racial polarisation has increased while racial and religious tolerance has ebbed, the previous short-lived government did plan to table a Religious and Racial Hatred Act to curb the growing number of such cases, particularly on social media.

Back in 2018, the then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religion) Mujahid Yusof Rawa said the law was to “ensure that our multi-religious and multiracial society is protected from being insulted and belittled”.

But in August 2020, Perikatan Nasional’s National Unity Minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique told the Dewan Rakyat that there would be no new law as existing ones are able to look after interracial and religious harmony in the country.

I wish I could believe she’s right but as a born and bred Malaysian of Chinese descent who has no desire to call anywhere else home, I think more can be done.

For one, I would like to see calling someone like me a pendatang forever banished.

The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.

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