ALOR GAJAH: There are 55 students in Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Sin Min, Lubok Cina, here but only nine are Chinese while the majority are Malay.
For the 2019 school year, the school has 44 Malay and two Indian students. Of the 13 Year One students, 12 are Malay and one Chinese, a girl named Lee Mei Tze.
Headmaster of SJKC Sin Min, Goh Seng Hua, said the number of Chinese students started declining 10 years ago following the community’s migration from Lubok China to Masjid Tanah town and the city centre.
“A total of 11 teachers, including me, teach largely Malay students. Interestingly, there will be no Chinese student in Year Five next year.”
Ruszailina Rusly, 34, said she enrolled her eldest son, Aiman Hakim Abdul Hadi in the school to enable him to master the Mandarin language.
“My husband, Abdul Hadi Md Sufian, wants our son to be adept in Mandarin as he believes it will be advantageous to him in future.”
Fauziah Md Isa, 47, chose SJKC Sin Min for her youngest child, Mohd Hilman Iskandar Abu Kassim, as his older sister and brother were also in the school.
“Not a single one of my children enrolled in national schools. My husband and I want them to be able to talk Mandarin, and read and write Chinese characters, as well as be adept in Mathematics.”
She said her children would converse among themselves in Mandarin as they were very fluent in the language.
Siti Mursyidah Abdu Rahman, 36, wants her daughter, Qaireen Aqeel Norizwan to be fluent in Mandarin and be able to read and write in the language.
“China is an economic superpower and thus mastery of the language will be very crucial in future.”