Chinese School Halls Are Cradles Of Community Success

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While giving a reply in Parliament on Oct 23, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that alcohol must not be served in schools, including at events held after school hours. He added that the Education Ministry was reviewing its regulations on the matter.
But the next day, the Cabinet unanimously decided to exempt Chinese vernacular school halls from the ban on serving alcoholic beverages after several Chinese ministers objected, and several UMNO ministers acknowledged that renting out halls helped schools to raise funds.
My mother taught at the Pandamaran Chinese primary school from the early 1950s until her retirement. In 1957, there were 1,350 Chinese primary schools and 86 Chinese secondary schools in Malaya.
Today, their numbers are fewer for the whole of Malaysia, and Mandarin is only a subject in national type Chinese secondary schools.
Until 1962, my family lived in the treachers’ quarters behind the school. The school hall was located perpendicularly in between the classrooms and the quarters, and was often used for weddings on Sundays. Then, many people were poor, and large restaurants or ballrooms became popular only in recent decades.
Weddings were held on Sunday mornings, with the bride in her rented white western bridal gown, and groom in jacket and tie, walking together along a central passage with guests seated on both sides of the hall, similar to walking down the aisle of a church, but to a civil ceremony where they would end up bowing thrice to each other.
Guests would help themselves to cakes, groundnuts, and soft drinks such as carbonated F&N Orange Crush and Sarsaparilla in bigger bottles. Non-carbonated Green Spot, another orange coloured and flavoured drink in smaller bottles was also popular. The drinks were not refrigerated and consumed without adding ice.
Interestingly, the most prominent advertising sign in the country then was the Green Spot logo in neon lights on top of Chin Woo Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, which could be seen from miles away, as there were hardly any tall buildings in Kuala Lumpur at that time.
Now, back to the weddings held at the Pandamaran school until 1962. There were no lavish dinners or lunches, only ceremonies and receptions where villagers got to witness a couple had officially married, and few marriages were registered. However, birth registrations were taken seriously by Chinese parents.
Until March 1982, Chinese marriages were recognised by the government even without a public wedding or registration if tea ceremonies were performed at home and witnessed by family members and relatives. After independence in 1957 and formation of Malaysia in 1963, many citizens gradually climbed out of poverty.
We had a decade of boom from 1988 to 1997. Before that, it became customary for the groom to pick up the bride from her family home in a wedding car, which was no easy task.
The bridesmaids would set up challenges to test the groom’s commitment like eating unpleasant foods, answering personal questions, or performing dares.
In cities, lavish wedding dinners are held at posh restaurants, with  the high cost subsidised by ang pows collected from invited guests that turned up. In smaller towns, they could still be held in a Chinese school hall, which could also be used for cultural events and fundraising dinners.
In the past, clan associations provided crucial support to newly arrived Chinese settlers and continued to have an impact on them and their children. But most have passed away or are elderly.
Just as their influence was waning over the past decades, the desire to perpetuate Chinese schools in the country became the rallying call.
The thread that binds many local Chinese together is Chinese schools, not just the language and culture, but also the good education and strive for excellence based strictly on merit.
From Standard One to Form Five, I studied in English schools, but noticed that Chinese schools placed greater emphasis on civics and morals.
Many of those who studied in Chinese schools then may not secure office jobs that used English, but quite a number became successful businessmen. Not only that, they also contributed generously to funds for their neighbourhood or former schools, resulting in them better equipped than fully funded government schools.
The consumption of alcoholic drinks in school halls had no adverse effect on the students as they are smart enough to know that the community has to strive for success and could not rely on entitlements.
Small wonder many local Chinese school students went on to achieve great success within the country and abroad. 
YS Chan is the master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course. He is an Asean Tourism Master Trainer and also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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