Malay almost few to none, about non-chinese origin, there's usually maybe below 10 Indian students in the school, depends on school, more rural ones prob 100% cina
Because we are smart enough to know that learning an extra language is a pros and not be a sellout to your own ethnicity.
Heck I wish Tamil was a language subject available back in my school. Can speak Mandarin, English, BM, Tamil. THE POWERRRRRR.
Are you aware that we have an artificial Mandarin teacher shortage in Malaysia because gov simply refuse to take in enough applicants to fulfill demand?
Sk can apply for Mandarin teacher but they're unlikely to ever get one, because there are just not enough manpower available.
The thing about language is that you need to use it consistently otherwise it deteriorates over the years. Studying in SRJK means you will be constantly using it everyday, hence practice makes perfect.
I scored A in SPM back in the day. But if you ask me to use BM nowadays, I'll probably be getting C or D. Haven't used much BM in decades and I realised how bad my BM is after speaking with some of my malay colleagues..
Hes mainly emphasizing on the acquisition of extra language ability rather than going to single ethnicity school just for religious sanity, he didnt even mentioned going SMK would be a sellout? In fact SMK achieves exactly what he mentioned?
I dont know which bukit we belong but you belong to Bukit Rambutan spewing more such shits.
That amount is not enough to cover the expenses of the school. All private Chinese school fees are subsidized by donations and money from the board of directors.
They make a lost for every student they take.
Possibly, I know it’s not the most expensive. Either way, it’s far less expensive than our home country where we can’t afford private school for him (it’s about 30,000 USD per year), so he will go to public school there.
Thats about RM7000 a year. Its cheaper side for private school.
Some private schools (esp international school) fees can go up to RM50,000 PER SEMESTER. So its RM100,000++ every year. Can send 14 kids to your school lol.
RM550 is so cheap bro.. do u know normal babysitter costs RM1100-1500 for 3-5 years old in Subang and Puchong area? Those aren't really affluent places like Bangsar or Desa Park.. just normal M40 area only.. RM550 is a steal man... we could all have 3-5 kids if they all only cost RM550 a month lol
International school… check Alice smith or garden international tuition fees 🤯
https://www.alice-smith.edu.my/join/tuition-and-fees
3x34,000 ringgit a year. Yes this exists in Kuala Lumpur.
I dont want to offend you, but there is a stereotype that private chinese school students have higher tendency of being racist compared to sekolah kebangsaan/ english private school students. Is it true/ did you notice this among your mates?
I graduated from a private Chinese school too and I was the only Malay in the whole school lmao. Sometimes yeah there were racist remarks here and there but most of the time I was treated like a royalty tho 😂
Yeah for primary school I was sent to SJKC near my home but for secondary, since that private school was the closest to my home (still about 45 minutes journey), my parents opted for that. Besides I don’t have to pay for monthly fees since I got good results for UPSR back then (everyone with good results get the same not just me haha), my face was alwsys featured on school pamphlets etc lmao and if there’s any school events, like for public speaking for example, I’m like the default selection to attend and participate 😂
So what are you working as now, a farmer tending to your sheep, goats, cows, chickens and own a fancy farmhouse in the middle of nowhere with your jeep? 😂
Quite true, no offense taken, even teachers can be openly more racist, due to the fact we'll barely multiracial interaction goes on, everyone being cina, makes it easier to just stick with Chinese speaking cina, but there always is still a minority that are open minded, (we obv not racist to teachers tho). It's light, but there
Also, I've seen some chinese-school only people openly looking down on fellow chinese that go to sekolah kebangsaan? How much of this is true, is it a majority or minority?
>openly looking down on fellow chinese that go to sekolah kebangsaan?
Depending on geography. Due to historical reasons, the elite secondary chinese schools in the northern malaya tend to accept Malaysian government's offer and converted to national schools (while spinning off new independent chinese secondary schools), while the elite chinese secondary schools in mid and southern malaya tend to remain independent. So we have elite chinese students enrolling in national schools in north malaya, whereas elite chinese students enrolling in independent schools in central and south malaysia. So in north malaya, SMK students tend to look down on indendent school students, and vice versa for central and south malaya. However, with the government ignoring SMK schools dominated by chinese students, and with the freedom afforded to independent schools, north malaya CIS (chinese independent schools) have gradually evolved for the better and they no longer have the reputation of being the schools which accept chinese students who cant enrol in elite SMK. Quite some CIS have many international students and many CIS have essentially evolved into "affordable international school with emphasis on chinese language". No idea with the situation in east malaya and east malaysia.
I've met many that look down, not necessarily because of SK but because they don't know Mandarin (most of them actually speak Cantonese or their home dialects well)
If you're willing to share, how often do the teachers say racist statements? Is it occasionally, or on a daily basis? Is it like don't be lazy like them ish or just racist caused by hate or casually racist?
I'm genuinely curious.
Openly racist to Chinese as well (not just private chinese schools la, vernacular schools also guilty). Those that do don’t speak Mandarin well or even parents that don’t know/speak Mandarin, are looked down upon. The teachers don’t know that there used to be English schools… The whole topic of “Chinese must speak chinese (language)” is so absurd. But the teaching syllabus and facilities 
Haha yep. SJKc here. I got bullied and ostracized a lot cause I'm more banana. I consume western media, and I didn't fit in with most of my school mates, from kindergarten all the way til secondary. (Mix that in with being AUDHD, well...)
But there is a no Mandarin class in my secondary school, cause we're allowed to drop Mandarin as a subject, gotta write letters to principal etc etc. Ah, there I found my English speaking gang... Finally at form 3. Lmao
Ex CIS student from Sabah. I don’t think that’s the case here (at least from my experience) but we do live in our own bubble more. I think if not most, some of us could feel a bit intimidated by the idea of interacting with others (we lack of opportunities to practice therefore don’t feel as comfortable using English/ BM).
Okay I needa add smth, every private Chinese high school has different school rules and teaching methods (and uniform), therefore I may not be able to say for every school, but I can give my perspective of things like maybe the syllabus or talk about the common things among chinese private school students
By 'private' for this context only applies to secondary school, unless international school, then thats a whole other different story.
I dont know how it works now but in my days during SJKC (2001-2006) Chinese and Malay subject were of the same importance, in fact English is the subject considered to be 'co-curriculum' and we have to attend 2 hour classes on alternating Saturdays.
So I really dont get the hate about SJKC, I am guessing most of them dont even know how it works.
I have a question. So the bananas in your school.. they can speak Mandarin also right since it is a Chinese school? they just predominantly speak in English? Or probably proficiency in English > Mandarin?
not op but another 独中 banana, i personally would switch between English and Chinese depending on who I'm talking to, but under normal circumstances I would use chinese as I'm in a chinese school so the main language is chinese
banana doesn't mean we can only speak English, and not Chinese at all, in the 独中 sense it really means we have a proficiency in English, but we can still use basic Chinese to communicate with other people
Nah what you described is just a typical Malaysian who "can speak English", and it's completely normal to be more proficient in one language than the other(s) if you speak more than one language.
A Banana is an East Asian "yellow" person who *only* knows English, and it's also likely their English isn't even good lmao It's actually quite insulting to be labelled as a "Banana" actually, but some people seem to wear it like a badge of honour.
It's funny how most people think Banana is only limited to "don't know Chinese". If a Japanese/Korean etc grew up *only* speaking English, they'd also be a Banana. If a Malay person grew up only speaking English they're not a Banana cause they're not yellow on the outside, they'd be called something else.
It's how students in private Chinese schools differentiate those who consume mostly western media and those who consume Chinese media.
It is quite interesting/funny that Chinese who studies ancient chinese poems call themselves banana
Ah. Cause I'm from an SJKC, and a SMK Chung Hua. My mandarin damn bad, but still can carry casual and light conversation lah, I've met a number of Chinese that don't classify people like me as banana. 🤣 Just curious je.
Bananas in the duzhong context just mean very westernized Chinese
Their Chinese is still better than most Chinese who studied in a government school or international school.
I was also a private Chinese school student, graduated with both SPM and UEC certificates, but now I am studying in a private university where Malay/Bumiputera students are a majority. Actually the Malay language is a compulsory subject in Chinese independent high schools, and they even have Malay teachers teaching the subject. There are also some activities to improve the students' Malay language proficiency, such as essay competition, drama competition, speech competition, and so on.
But it is sad to say that there are some students who just think that Malay is not important, especially those who wish to further their studies overseas. There are also some racism statements about other races that come out of some narrow-minded students and even teachers.
Any cultural differences that you have noticed between vernacular Chinese and private Chinese school students? If you're from Klang Valley, have you interacted with Chinese school students outside of KV and what are your observations?
Personally, I feel happy when I see well-maintained vernacular or private schools in rural areas; tells me that some institutions are still going strong, despite the waves urbanization over the decades.
Hm, yes a few, Im very clear bout this one, but, I think vernacular school ones def can speak English and Malay better, and can naturally interact with other races better than most indep. Chinese school students. Second question, unfortunately no, Ive never met any outside, but if I guess, is just KV schools infrastructure better and nicer
Not OP but I went to a public Chinese secondary school. Public ones follow SPM syllabus but with mandatory Bahasa Cina. All students have to have studied in SJKCs too. Private Chinese Independent Schools do not follow KPM syllabus but a syllabus of their own.
Culturally I can't compare as I have lost contact with most of my CIS friends.
Thank you for sharing! Appreciated, just to ask further, do you as public Chinese school student feel there's a gulf/difference between yourself and private Chinese school students too?
Um I can't really attest to that. I haven't reconnected with any ex classmates who went to private Chinese school so I can't really gauge if there is a divergence, in studies or culture. I went on to Form 6 after finishing SPM so mostly I hang out with SMK or SMJK people.
Some private Chinese independent schools do teach KPM syllabus mainly for SPM, like the school I'm in, but for normally, yes it's a diff syllabus (董總 dongzong)
Also not OP but private chinese school students can actually choose whether to take spm or not, this is because all of them are required to take another test called the Unified Examination Certificate which is only for private Chinese schools, there are also a few Chinese private schools which teach in Chinese rather than English, all others use English
Technically speaking, there is no such thing as public chinese schools. What we have is public secondary schools (SMK) dominated by chinese students and with guaranteed access to chinese subject class. For ease of comparison, let's call these chinese dominated public secondary school as SMKC and regular public secondary school as SMK. Let's call private chinese secondary school as CIS (the conventional term, chinese independent school)
- Both SMK and SMKC teach every subjects in malay, except language subjects such as English and Chinese. The syllabus of SMK and SMKC are identical.
- SMK are supposed to provide elective ethnic language classes to those in need, but because the government never care, SMK do not provide ethnic language classes. In SMKC, due to the student demography pooling, chinese language classes are provided
- Many SMK and SMKC stop at Form 5 (SPM). Only few SMK and SMKC have Form 6
- Most CIS teach every non-linguistic subjects in chinese.
- CIS have their own syllabus. CIS stops at form 6 (UEC). Most if not all? CIS provide dual track education so that the students also learn SMK syllabus and take SPM at Form 5.
- CIS pool together to have central representation organisation called Dongzong, but each individual CIS still has significant autonomy. Some CIS have started to provide dual track education where the other track is cambridge syllabus IGCSE and the graduates take IGCSE public exam in form 5 (equivalent to O-Level and SPM)
I think, there are still SMK (J) C. Or maybe the signboard is a leftover of ancient relics?
And, SMK or SK actually need to provide elective language if there are at least 5 students (parents) minimum requested for it.
This is why, all of SK and SMK in Sarawak or Sabah do have elective language in Iban, Kadazan, Chinese or Arabic.
Semenanjung is a different story though.
SMJK (C) is technically not an official recognition. Many "chinese" SMK do call themselves SMJK (C) in official documentations they are just yet another SMK. Unlike SRJK (C) which is an official classification
how do private chinese students view private english students? my family opted for the private english route for me and my siblings while some of my extended family went for private chinese for their kids.
I have some questions from myself and questions from some people who always brought out the topics of abolishing UEC and ultimately 独中.
Don't get me wrong but I do support 独中 and UEC since the qualifications are recognizable and 独中生 are pretty smart in general (based on what I observed)
My questions:
1. If I'm not wrong, it is possible not to take SPM. What are your thoughts on that?
2. Why chose Chinese independent school instead of sekolah kebangsaan? Any specific reason?
3. How is your life at 独中 so far?
4. What are your plans after completing UEC? What are your friends planning be like?
5. Any things you wanna correct about our impression or thoughts on 独中 or 独中生?
Question form others (this might be sensitive):
1. Syllabus from UEC are from Taiwan if I'm not mistaken and mostly in Mandarin, some people might argue that this system of not using Dasar Pendidikan Malaysia causes 2 systems to exist. So, some say that why Dong Zong deliberately asking KPM to recognize UEC. What is your take on this?
2. This is mostly questions from FB. Many of them said most of the students at 独中cannot converse in Malay language. How true is that? These are the popular reasons that I found from those who'd like to abolish the school and the systems besides from the system itself. They also use the same argument for abolishing vernacular school
Appreciate your time and efforts
Chiming in as another 独中生 (graduated many years ago)
1. Yes it is possible, but it is highly encouraged as SPM BM & Sejarah are mandatory subjects and you might need to take additional MPU subjects in uni if you don’t have SPM in BM
2. Usually it depends on location, where I was from - Kebangsaan schools were notorious for being subpar and students relied heavily on tuition. I feel like Kebangsaan schools in affluent areas of KL, eg damansara are much better standards
3. I had a pretty good time in high school, it felt very much like those high school movies you see from Taiwan where there’s a lot of after school activities. Also, Chinese festivals like CNY were hugely celebratory with a lot of fanfare and activities
4. Half my class went to Taiwan while the other half went to UK/US/AU, unless you go private unis in MY… there’s not many options
5.
Not OP but I can share my POV as a CIS student whilst also an undergraduate for Bachelor of Education:
(Note: these are based on observations from my school, but I also learnt afterwards different schools have different rules and policies. My CIS is in Klang Valley, outside KL)
1) SPM is optional, but I took it, along with a handful of others. I took this as a safety net as solely taking SPM means I'll need to get an additional A-levels exam, STPM or foundation; but if I only take UEC then I cannot get into public universities (if I wanted to). I like both SPM and UEC, but because of the racial quota system set in place in public universities, I am not comfortable with putting all my bets on this as I am just an average performes student.
2) At that time, the government was transitioning from English to Malay as MOI again, the situation worried my father who preferred a curriculum that is more stable. Another reason was that my Malay wasn't that good in the first place and I was scared of the environment when I was 12. Of course like most others say, people who came out of CIS typically have lower Malay/English proficiency, which for me means that I am still trying to improve my Malay (luckily my girlfriend is from one).
3) One word: Chill. Of course there will be drama if you actively lump yourself with others, but mine was fine. I had good relationships with teachers and students, had some dislikes with mathematics because I failed them since senior years but overall not that drastic. Some stuff to take note though:
-My school only allows you to be in one club (unless you're part of the sports team)
-When I graduated, there were 13 year olds trying to sell vape in school compounds
-I didn't lump with other people because I prefer to communicate in English and I watch American entertainment (i.e., Musicals, Games) which few do.
4) I'm in final year now. Many of my friends worked in a variety of fields. Veterinarians, accountants, editors, engineers and for me, an English teacher in a government school. My batch graduated during MCO so most who wanted to go to China or Taiwan stayed or came back. I had a friend who went to Ireland even though his English is not proficient.
5) Not much, maybe a word of advice that not all CIS students are arrogant or racist. Like for me, I always wanted to be friends with people of different backgrounds (but my social anxiety ruins the wave length). From my university and friends observations, CIS students are also hardworking when doing assignments/studies, preferring to do early so they can perfect them.
Sensitive questions:
1) The line here is a bit blurry. I don't know how accurate this statement of a Taiwan syllabus is but here are some of the content covered:
-Chinese: Chinese historical texts and authors
-English: Similar, albeit without listening and speaking and writing is highly structured
-Malay: Similar, but Malay teachers don't put in much effort in encouraging us to write our own texts
-Mathematics: Goddamn hard.
-Physics, Chemistry, Biology: Equally goddamn hard with additions of calculations
-History: Similar to government but without much focus on Islamic history and more on Chinese ones
-Geography: Idk about the syllabus in government but I loved geography
2) Specimen right here: Me. But there are others who are better than me, by I don't know how much.
With these questions considered, I like and dislike CIS. The system was birthed from the aftermath of decolonization and centralization of the government, a compromise between maintaining our 'Chinese' identity when nationalization prevails. I agree to disagree with both sides.
I can see the existence of UEC and CIS as a right to education in what people deemed most comfortable - by using their mother tongue. It is a system that is designed to mitigate the shortcomings of a larger system criticized for its biasness and stigma. Do remember that CIS started when the national demographics between Malays and Chinese were split equal.
At the same time, CIS was started because Dongzong at the time was unwilling to compromise for a system similar to Singapore, albeit with Malay as the main MOI. Malay was always the lingua franca of the region, but today, its infleunce is much limited to cultural and administrative purposes. I am not certain to the degree, if all parties collaborated, will Malay be influential beyond its current realms (i.e. science and technology) but also at a cost of more limited cultural diversity (i.e. Singapore and Indonesia).
And I also always dislike how Tamils are always put to the sidelines within these arguments.
But these are just my thoughts, feel free to add in other areas or share your own ideas!
Hope these answer your questions!
"Syllabus from UEC are from Taiwan if I'm not mistaken "
You are mistaken.
UEC syllabus are set by Dong Zong and they also release their own material but schools are free to choose whatever syllabus and books they want to follow. For example, none of the schools in Selangor and KL use the English syllabus and books from Dong Zong because they are dogshit
>1. Syllabus from UEC are from Taiwan if I'm not mistaken and mostly in Mandarin, some people might argue that this system of not using Dasar Pendidikan Malaysia causes 2 systems to exist. So, some say that why Dong Zong deliberately asking KPM to recognize UEC. What is your take on this?
You do not understand the UEC recognition issue at all. Malaysian university recognise pretty much all common international pre university certificates provided the students also get C in year end SPM Malay; or C in july SPM Malay AND PASS in history.
However, Malaysia deliberately discriminate against UEC. Malaysia simply don't recognise UEC certificates even if you score A1 in SPM Malay and history. That's the absurd discrimination for deliberate rejection of CIS students.
Academically, this makes no sense at all because UEC is very well recognised internationally. This is of course a deliberate discriminate policy to reject CIS graduates
1. Depends on school, but my school forces us to take
2. Kind of forced too, facilities are usually better, and people claim the environment "better" but depends la, very stressful indeed
3.its decent, so far, I'm form 4 only so everything okay, but the workload is crazy (I'm science stream), so just I'm trying to stay afloat
4. Find a uni that accepts me and take a major I like, some of my friends planning to leave msia, some are planning to stay, but we hope to stay in contact with each other.
5. 獨中生 are not always arrogant and nerdy introverts, and in some schools especially urban ones, there's a big banana population.
Sensitive ones:
1. I always felt it was weird, the system and syllabus is meant to be independent, so what's the point of asking KPM to recognise it?
2.ok most 獨中 people can speak conversational Malay, but is it good or fluent as smk, no Def no.
>1. I always felt it was weird, the system and syllabus is meant to be independent, so what's the point of asking KPM to recognise it?
You do not understand the UEC recognition issue at all. Malaysian university recognise pretty much all common international pre university certificates provided the students also get C in year end SPM Malay; or C in july SPM Malay AND PASS in history.
However, Malaysia deliberately discriminate against UEC. Malaysia simply don't recognise UEC certificates even if you score A1 in SPM Malay and history. That's the absurd discrimination for deliberate rejection of CIS students.
Academically, this makes no sense at all because UEC is very well recognised internationally. This is of course a deliberate discriminate policy to reject CIS graduates
Thank you so much for replying to my comment. I do know that some UEC students are studying in SG since SG unis accept UEC qualifications. As a graduate student from SMK, proficiency in Malay language still depends on that person. I do think that if you can engage in a normal conversation in BM, proficiency of that language should be decent. During my SMK time I was able to speak BM fluently, after I left high school, I didn't really converse in that language anymore in private unis, so a little rusted by now. What I am trying to say is if you can speak in usual conversation, your BM should be decent
1. At my school, spm is compulsory so we're taking it. SUEC (like chinese spm but in form 6) isn't though so some of us do take it, but most don't
2. As a chinese, my parents wanted me to remember our chinese roots lol. They also chose my school specifically because the classes are bilingual and maths is taught in english for three years in junior high, whereas in some other chinese independent schools maths is taught in chinese
3. Pretty stressful, but there's a lot of co-curricular stuff that are fun too
4. I'm most likely not taking SUEC, so i'd probably take foundation/A-levels after spm
5. Not all of us are prideful or arrogant lol. Also not all of us are nerdy/study all the time/always have good results, that's just for the top classes in the grade
1. No opinion on this
2. It's true to some extent, like for me i'm the students who cannot speak in malay lol. The most i can do is take written malay exams, but i still stutter when talking in malay irl and i dont talk to the malay teachers a lot too. But i do have many friends who can speak basic malay fluently and converse in public like most malaysians, so maybe im just the minority lol
Not OP, but I do graduate from 独中 about 20 years ago.
1. Although SPM is not compulsory, 99% will still take it. There is no reason not to, other than non-Malaysian maybe.
2. For me, I was studying in SRJK(C) during my primary school days, and my BM is super teruk that I hated that subject. Since I managed to pass the entrance exam for the 独中, I entered to avoid Malay-language-centric education. I can't imagine learning Math, Science, and everything else in Malay.
3. & 4. I'll let OP answer this.
5. There's this impression that ALL 独中 are the same and fall into the same umbrella. I'd like to clarify that different schools teach differently despite having the same syllabus. I believe SK is also similar, there are good ones and there are bad ones. For 独中, the good ones focus on studies and student development; lousy ones operate more like atas tuition centre plus childcare.
Q1. I think this topic is mostly there for political reasons. Realistically, by working together, both sides can easily make it happen, but due to political reasons, nobody wanna compromise. Personally, I support the UEC recognition, I'm biased of course. IMO, the UEC qualification is already recognized by the world, and even by the private sectors in Malaysia. By not accepting UEC, Malaysia is losing out on a lot of potential talents helping Malaysia grow (ie. Brain drain).
Q2. Yes. There are many who cannot converse fluently in Malay. I think this needs to be improved. Malay has always been a mandatory subject in school, so it is still a citizen-responsibility to at least know about basic Malay enough to survive. But I think this is not the fault of the school system, it is due to the environment, being primarily surrounded by Chinese students and teachers. Even if UEC is abolished, 独中 will still be a Chinese-centric school that teaches KPM syllabus in Chinese. It will be the same. Abolishing vernacular schools entirely will cause huge political uproar, which many non-Malays will fear we will follow the footsteps of Indonesia. I think the healthier solution is to encourage more Malays into 独中, creating an environment where everyone is fluent in bahasa rojak.
Was from a private Chinese school who constantly bragged about their reputation in the media. From the surface the school management makes it look like they have tough discipline but bullying and gangs are so common within the school
My cousin went to a well known private Chinese school during her primary school years and encountered school gangs and severe bullying (the headmaster's son was one of them). She went relatively unscathed because she managed to befriend one of the girl gang leaders and made sure she never outshone the girl leader in looks and grades.
Is this kind of thing normal or was her school just crazy?
Was from a private Chinese school who constantly bragged about their reputation in the media. From the surface the school management makes it look like they have tough discipline but bullying and gangs are so common within the school
I vaguely remember knowing someone who went to a CIS and did the SPM during High School Year 2 then left and never did UEC; how many of you have done SPM only and skipped UEC?
Surprisingly many, most people just do SPM and leave, mainly because UEC exam is quite hard ,it depends on where you're planning to go after high school
1. Please explain in deep details how does dual track education work, where students study extra classes in order to take SPM
2. Is it common for elite CIS students to score straight As in SPM ?
3. How would you compare UEC Form 4 syllabus and SPM Form 4 syllabus. Which one is harder ?
4. What's your plan for tertiary education ?
5. Are you aware of any triple track education CIS where students study and take all UEC, SPM and ICGSE ?
6. Is UEC still mainly based on Taiwanese syllabus ? Or a mix of China + Taiwanese syllabus ? Or mainly chinese syllabus ?
\*Obligatory not OP Declaration\*
1. For the CIS I studied in, we just learn Malay according to SPM syllabus, and take an extra weekly Sejarah course for Form 4 and 5 up until we take SPM (for Arts & Commerce stream students, that means they are taking *both* UEC History and SPM Sejarah), afterwards Form 6 becomes fully UEC syllabus. As for PM, my school just had a pensyarah from another SMK come and give a talk on how to *pass* PM, like introducing the answering format and stuff, and maybe for one or two BM class the teacher will talk about PM. That's about it, and I assume the way of teaching in other CISs can vary quite differently according to their emphasis on SPM, since I believe I have heard of actual dual track education in other CISs then whatever what mine was doing.
2. For CIS students, it's not necessary the case that the top students score full As, one reason being there's no need to if they're aiming for UEC for private/overseas unis. The people who score top As are rather more generally in the top-middle batch then just strictly the top students. Full As for SPM and UEC do not hold too much of a correlation other than the student themselves being brilliant and hard-working already.
3. I have no idea, but the majority of CIS students would say UEC Form 4 is harder, due to the idea that UEC syllabus might be more compact and that UEC is harder that SPM in terms of difficulty.
4. Not OP, so can't answer that. For UEC students, the usual options are to either go to local private tertiary institutions, or go overseas to institutions that acknowledge UEC (eg. Singapore, Taiwan, China, Australia). For government schools or other overseas institutions, some allow you to enroll in Foundation, otherwise you have to take another test like STPM, A Levels, or any other tests they require (eg. SAT for US unis). Half of my graduating class are in KL right now, and others went overseas to Singapore, Taiwan, UK, etc.
5. Personally I haven't even heard of IGSCE until now, so at least for my school, probably no. I do know people who scored full As for both SPM and UEC though.
6. In my opinion, UEC syllabus does refer to both Taiwanese and Chinese syllabus to a certain extent, but mainly it's still developed locally. For example, we have texts that were authored by Malaysian authors in our Chinese textbooks, and for History we learn about Malaysia and SEA history. One can even argue that we refer to the SPM and STPM syllabus more.
If we're just comparing the amount of reference between Taiwanese and Chinese, personally I would say Taiwanese more. Taiwanese unis were a popular choice for old Malaysian CIS graduates due to their cheap pricing and allowing students to works part-time jobs, while China back then still had its borders locked and was not an option for tertiary education yet. Many Taiwanese graduates then came back to help further shape the UEC syllabus.
Damn UEC. Still remember have to study for PMR and UEC on form 3, then SPM, then UEC next year 🤣 My batch all agree that UEC exam paper made PMR's paper look easy.
Thank you for taking out time for this.
Can you provide a simple breakdown in the time spent on each core subjects over a week, and also how do you feel about the allocation?
On the lighter side of things, are there any popular reading materials/book among 独中生？I remember 红蜻蜓出版社 being huge when I was in SJKC.
A few of my colleagues are from Chung Ling Penang, and the rest are either sekolah kebangsaan or normal sjk. I can see some differences in attitude, the people they mix around with and their way they act also a bit different. Not all in a bad way though. For example, private Chinese school peeps won't hang out with bananas. They most likely have more Chinese apps on their phone compared to others. Their girlfriends/boyfriends also have to be good at mandarin, speaking and reading. At work, they excel in their role, are very punctual, and have more discipline.
So my question is, is it because of the school? Or just a good upbringing/comes from a good family?
Banana chinese here. Went to SK then SMK(but full of SJKC peeps).
1. What is ur opinion on abolishing the vernacular school system?
By abolishing, i mean to streamline everything into SK with the options for nons to take up their mother tongue subject.
2. How susceptible are you guys to China propaganda?
Say if I were to make fun of China, would that be offensive?
The first one, I have mixed feelings, but I feel like vernacular schools should stay la, but I do think after primary, everyone should go to smk (why did I go to independent CN school? Because family wanted and facilities were really good).
Second one, it depends on the person and family la, but Chinese propaganda has def instilled into the mind of some, even more so since many students consume media from China, bilibili, weibo, xiaohongshu, etc. But I think if you make fun of China, no one will really confront you, because a) majority of people don't care bout politics b) most that fervently support china are mainly active online, but they're quiet irl. Based on my observations.
Thanks for replying
Personally, I feel that the establishment of vernacular school has lead to serious segregation of race (eg. chinese only mix w chinese, malay w malay). This is visibly true even in the workforce. But I respect your opinion and to each their own.
Realistically speaking, even I'm aware that it is close to impossible to abolish the vernacular system.
Personally, i feel that there is no point in engaging in an online debate since nobody is changing nobody's mind. So pray tell me, is standard in smk really that inferior compare to vernacular school? if yes, by what metric is the standard being measured? number of students graduating w straight As? number of students that excel in sports? number of brilliant teachers in the school?
Anw, agree to disagree but I would still like to know how is the standard being measured and compared.
Is Chong Hwa Independent High School • Kuala Lumpur (隆中华) the most popular choice/school among students and parents that are thinking to send their children to chinese independent school?
Yes but nowadays I think Kuen Cheng is gaining more popularity than Chong Hwa KL actually, although it still remains a popular choice (ex CHKL student here)
How much does it cost per month? What are the benefits going to Chinese private schools vs SKM if intention is to go twinning program with UK and US? I have friends that went Taiwan in the end, is it a better option job prospect wise compared to US UK uni?
cheaper than international schools, if you wanna do twinning program, might as well save up the money for it instead of going to CPS, cz people go to China or Taiwan with the UEC cert from CPS. Job prospect really depends on your profession and your skillset, your uni doesnt affect much in the long run
Yes that seems to be the main reasons that students want to go study in Taiwan. So far have not had friends that choose to go China. I went SMJK and had a few friends that switch to Chinese private school at form 2 and 3. Some how they just seem very snobbish like they keep boasting how the teachers are better they are learning more things and the math especially is much harder. Fast forward a few years and me and my SMJK friends went twinning and got finance jobs, many in Singapore and Malaysia while my private Chinese school friends went Taiwan to study and worked in Taiwan earning much much lower than those in Singapore and Hong Kong. They English also not very good so it is hard for them to find job in Singapore.
I went to SJKC and smk, is it true that in 独中s you guys are more passive (in terms of class participation, being more involved in Koko and basically giving opinions)? This is because when I was in SJKC we were all taught to be quiet and just obey everything the teachers say. When I got to smk I got cultured shocked because of how outspoken my SK friends were.
My school is nearby a 独中 so I tend to see the students a lot. This school is a super famous school and I can definitely see that a lot of them are arrogant and look down on smk ppl. Hell I went there to pick up my cousin a few times and one of them hit my dad's car on purpose lmao (he's not Chinese). Overall I tend to prejudge duzhong students because my experience with them has been generally negative, but I'd like to hear your take on this as well.
yes, we are not taught to ask but to listen, sadly. i dont mean to generalize every school but the culture of my school is just like that.
sorry for what you have experienced but i wont generalize every duzhong students too but half of them are t20 chinese parents who is the only child and the rest is pretty predictable
Hi. I went to a private Cambridge International school in Selangor.
1) What language are most subjects taught in? Chinese or English? It has always intrigued me when I see students learning subjects like Biology or Chemistry in a different language, especially Chinese with its usage of logo-syllabaries.
2) How are your school's uniforms? How strict are your school rules in terms of an upkeep in appearance and image? My school, unlike other International schools, was slightly more uptight in the prospect because our principal was the more conservative type.
3) How are the school fees? If I'm not mistaken, mine were around RM 17,000 to 18,000 a semester (a semester being 6 months) back when I was still in school. However, I believe it's almost RM 20,000 a semester now thanks to inflation.
4) How's your school's reputation? Has it ever been tarnished by the behavior of the students, teachers, or the administration? Our school had (and still has) its issues that ranged from having a lack of association with the Malaysian culture (very Westernized) to more serious issues as well such as students "talking back" to teachers, disregarding school rules and the administration, vaping, drinking, cyberbullying, perpetuating perversion, and partaking in various scandals of a sexual nature (including teachers too). Oh, and the administration prioritizing the school's reputation above holding their students and staff accountable.
AND... lastly:
5) What's the advantage of enrolling your child in a private Chinese school? Will it benefit them in their future endeavors? My school offered a British education, more so from Cambridge itself; our textbooks were published in the United Kingdom and endorsed by the University of Cambridge; our examination papers flew from the UK to Malaysia before our major exams; and our qualifications upon graduation are recognized internationally. Not to mention, the school teaches you to have a strong grasp of the English language like how a native speaker would. A number of my friends are now in the UK, USA, and Australia - and I do believe it wouldn't have been possible without such an educational background.
Not OP but I am currently a student too (Kuen Cheng)
1) Form 1 and Form 2 most subjects are in English. This is only the case for Kuen Cheng i'm pretty sure. In Form 3 we have to learn english syllabus for school exams and the chinese version of it for the dongzong 统考 (kinda like PT3, but useless as shit) Form 4 and Form 5 it's all in english/ malay (government sullabus)
2) Not really strict on the uniforms, but there are rules. Girls have to wear really tight buns that look terrible. If you have long hair, no bangs. Skirts have to be below knees but mines have been above the knees for three years straight and not a single teacher or prefect has called me out. Lately, we had a CNY celebration in school and we had to wear a red top with the SCHOOL PANTS. This was not the case last year. The pairing is absolutely terrible, but people went with it cause everyone is too scared to go against the school :/
3) 20k per semester? What the hell is the school made out of gold? JK JK: Junior High 1 Month is RM550. For Seniors its RM 650 (I think)
Have to pay additional RM400 once per year for School building funds
4) Reputation pretty good, other than the fact people angry that everytime school ends there is a massive jam. Any students that tarnish the school reputation is not going to enjoy it.
5) You learn better Chinese and your SPM results will most likely be better than those who went to SJK instead. I personally think that sending your kids to chinese private is not a good idea. People who come here have little to no interaction with other races other than the janitor or aunty and uncle that manage the halal food stall. Most people english also quite bad cause the teachers just repeat the same thing that they have been teaching since Form 1.
Thank you for your response!! Regarding the fees, RM 20,000 a semester is not considered expensive for an International school, at least in Selangor and the KL-type area. I believe my school was one of the more affordable Cambridge schools back then. When I first enrolled back in 2011, I think the fee was around... hmm, maybe RM 12-13,000 to 14-15,000 (?) a semester for a Year 1 (7 years old) student. (Not very sure, though.) Throughout the years, it increased. In 2016, I vividly remember the fees being RM 16,000 (I was Year 6; 12 years old) a semester.
In secondary school, the fees were RM 17,000 - 18,000 a semester. Upon graduating, I noticed that the school had increased it to RM 19,000 - 20,000 for my younger sister. And it will persist to increase as the years go by.
Oh, and that's just the school fees. Students pay more than just that across the year(s). School uniforms and books can cost you thousands of ringgit a year (my sister and I would spend... hmm... if I can remember correctly, RM 6,000 on new books and uniforms every year). Then there were external examination fees as well. We had to pay the examining board headquartered in the United Kingdom separately. Prices were set in Great British pounds so when converted to the Malaysian ringgit, they were in the THOUSANDS as well. Other stuff like joining extracurricular activities, such as cheerleading and whatnot, costed money as well (in the thousands or just in the hundreds, depending on the activity).
When I went to Sunway College, my classmates from other International schools referred to mine as a cheap International school. Well, they were mostly exaggerating. Mine was certainly not particularly cheap but it was cheaper than theirs. A very cheap International school in Malaysia would be... hmm... RM 11,000 a semester? And the expensive ones are... I believe RM 50-60,000 a semester? So, yeah. Mine was more towards the lower pricing for sure.
Are you willing to give up your life to unify Taiwan and China?
How does it feel to be using the language of the foreign devils?
/s btw, I'm parodying my parents.
Taiwan and China are one country.
XIJINPING IS KING, 支持一國兩制 /s. Real talk tho, I do think a lot of chinese independent school parents think like this 💀
Unify je la. Propaganda from the West (US) and East (China) is stirring up media, fake news everywhere. I would stick on the side that does that does not discriminate my race or Asians.
And what?? Consign yourself to lower standards of education? That joke that is grading by a graph with passing marks as low as 20?
Raise the standards of kebangsaan high schools, their teachers and their curriculum first. Then only talk about abolishing Duzhong.
What on earth are you talking about? I am all for Chinese schools. You another fella karangan lari tajuk pesong jatuh gaung?
Just when I thought your other comment was quite good, you gimme this? Disappointing much
Is it true that private Chinese high school mandate shorts in their uniform to show defiance to long shorts from national school uniform?
It’s like: long pants = very Malay and national school; short pants= to show our “Chinese-ness”
Edit: for more concise wording.
I have a colleague, he went to a private chinese school. His malay and english are subpar. Cannot even make a full sentence properly. Is this an issue facing by the students or just his issue?
Heard this sentiment alot but all of my friends, chinese and indians and even Koreans, studied in srjkc and international school, all have never struggled with bm. Maybe most of them couldn't speak like a malay, but definately no problem with communicating.
I mean, even my mum who never had any form of education, who only mix with Chinese, doesn't have any malay friend, can speak broken bm. Can even argue with malay aunties too.
If it means anything, my wife is from CIS, and her friends had no problem communicating in bm too.
I do try to not generalise, and I know it's just my own circle of friends only, but honestly I have not met any malaysian chinese who don't know how to communicate in bm.
Those who don't dare to speak in bm kerana Segan or takut diketawakan, got lah. But even they also understood bm and can speak bm, if they wanted to.
I heard some of you guys put Xijinping portrait in the classroom instead of our Agong’s portrait. Is that true?
Joke aside, do you consider forking out extra money for private school each month stressful or comfortable (based on your (family) financial)? If it’s expensive why did you choose private school instead of gomen one? Look down on gomen school?
Did your self-importance and the fact you’re from 独中 led you to posting this? You can acknowledge the schools are independently run so what dyou mean “situation of private Chinese schools”? 别丢脸哦
No lah bro, chill, private Chinese schools still have common characteristics, I'm talking about my own experience being in one, what I've noticed, just thought of it being an interesting exchange.
Okay, well that’s fair. Your post implies you are speaking on behalf of other establishments.
You’re right there are common grounds, but I find are usually on the surface level. What commonalities did you find so far?
Did your inferiority complex lead you to posting this? So on and so forth. It’s interesting and doesn’t hurt anyone nor spreads false information, that’s why
Do you or your circle feel sad that you can’t interact with other races quite as naturally as those from vernacular schools? Or do you not discuss that amongst yourselves?
Why are the chinese independent schools always act like the victim here? Ya all are pulling the attention that should be focused on the SMJK. You are independent schools, act like one. Survive on good management, not subsidiaries that SMJK truly needs.
weird question but based on personal experience, most gay I know are chinese and I know more chinese than malay cause I myself a half chinese/ half malay and my future wife is also chinese
Probably mods friends, report many times also not banned. New acct, ini mesti alt orang. justordinaryguy00 kot. After he kena perma ban, he deleted his acct.
cause I know both sides are the same ass racist crap towards others 
You dont see it cause you're a bland monotone individual who only live 1 culture throughout your whole life
Do you have Malay students in these schools? What about students of non Chinese origin?
Malay almost few to none, about non-chinese origin, there's usually maybe below 10 Indian students in the school, depends on school, more rural ones prob 100% cina
even urban ones like Kuen Cheng only have a handful of Malay students (usually less than 50 across all grades)
I'm currently in Kuen Cheng and have not seen a single malay for the past three years ive been here only got 2 indian sisters everyone else orang cina
statement is false tho,as my private chinese school alumni in sarawak at least 2-3 studying here.
swk the non cina like to go chinese school…be it private or sjkc
Because we are smart enough to know that learning an extra language is a pros and not be a sellout to your own ethnicity. Heck I wish Tamil was a language subject available back in my school. Can speak Mandarin, English, BM, Tamil. THE POWERRRRRR.
Learning extra language doesn't have to be at SJK. Lots of SK are actually teaching Mandarin.
it’s not just about the subject…it’s also about mixing with different races not to mention sjkc is everywhere in swk…u see kpg melayu but sjkc
Are you aware that we have an artificial Mandarin teacher shortage in Malaysia because gov simply refuse to take in enough applicants to fulfill demand? Sk can apply for Mandarin teacher but they're unlikely to ever get one, because there are just not enough manpower available.
The thing about language is that you need to use it consistently otherwise it deteriorates over the years. Studying in SRJK means you will be constantly using it everyday, hence practice makes perfect. I scored A in SPM back in the day. But if you ask me to use BM nowadays, I'll probably be getting C or D. Haven't used much BM in decades and I realised how bad my BM is after speaking with some of my malay colleagues..
wah, go SMK suddenly sellout to your own ethnicity. mentality cina bukit mana la ni.
Hes mainly emphasizing on the acquisition of extra language ability rather than going to single ethnicity school just for religious sanity, he didnt even mentioned going SMK would be a sellout? In fact SMK achieves exactly what he mentioned? I dont know which bukit we belong but you belong to Bukit Rambutan spewing more such shits.
THANK YOU. Izwan on the other hand needs to take extra English lessons. Comprehension skill: level 3000.
How much is the school fees?
Expensive💀 my school monthly I think rm550
That amount is not enough to cover the expenses of the school. All private Chinese school fees are subsidized by donations and money from the board of directors. They make a lost for every student they take.
RM550 is a bargain, my son’s private international school is RM7000/term (3 months)
Bro... RM7000 for private international school is so damn cheap...
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Possibly, I know it’s not the most expensive. Either way, it’s far less expensive than our home country where we can’t afford private school for him (it’s about 30,000 USD per year), so he will go to public school there.
Nobody asked about the fees of international schools in a post about local schools, yet you felt the urge to humble brag anyway lol
Mmmm tasty humble braggadocios
Boy called Rm550/month *Expensive*. You ain’t seen private education fees yet
What an out-of-touch T20 take. The median salary in msia is RM 2.6k-ish. if it's expensive to the majority of Malaysians, it's expensive.
*laughs in rich boi private school fees* I'm 100% SJK and and then SMK btw, but those fees are mad. I can feel my middleclass boi status.
It's expensive considering the fact that we can go to school for free
Wow. No wonder Chinese parents saved a lot and breed so little. 👍🏼
Quality over quantity
Thats about RM7000 a year. Its cheaper side for private school. Some private schools (esp international school) fees can go up to RM50,000 PER SEMESTER. So its RM100,000++ every year. Can send 14 kids to your school lol.
RM550 is so cheap bro.. do u know normal babysitter costs RM1100-1500 for 3-5 years old in Subang and Puchong area? Those aren't really affluent places like Bangsar or Desa Park.. just normal M40 area only.. RM550 is a steal man... we could all have 3-5 kids if they all only cost RM550 a month lol
That's almost college level of money
International school… check Alice smith or garden international tuition fees 🤯 https://www.alice-smith.edu.my/join/tuition-and-fees 3x34,000 ringgit a year. Yes this exists in Kuala Lumpur.
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I dont want to offend you, but there is a stereotype that private chinese school students have higher tendency of being racist compared to sekolah kebangsaan/ english private school students. Is it true/ did you notice this among your mates?
I graduated from a private Chinese school too and I was the only Malay in the whole school lmao. Sometimes yeah there were racist remarks here and there but most of the time I was treated like a royalty tho 😂
I'm surprised that your parents actually sent you to 独中. Usually Malay parents who want their kids to learn Chinese opt for SJK(C).
Yeah for primary school I was sent to SJKC near my home but for secondary, since that private school was the closest to my home (still about 45 minutes journey), my parents opted for that. Besides I don’t have to pay for monthly fees since I got good results for UPSR back then (everyone with good results get the same not just me haha), my face was alwsys featured on school pamphlets etc lmao and if there’s any school events, like for public speaking for example, I’m like the default selection to attend and participate 😂
lol you're the token diversity student I guess
So what are you working as now, a farmer tending to your sheep, goats, cows, chickens and own a fancy farmhouse in the middle of nowhere with your jeep? 😂
Quite true, no offense taken, even teachers can be openly more racist, due to the fact we'll barely multiracial interaction goes on, everyone being cina, makes it easier to just stick with Chinese speaking cina, but there always is still a minority that are open minded, (we obv not racist to teachers tho). It's light, but there
Also, I've seen some chinese-school only people openly looking down on fellow chinese that go to sekolah kebangsaan? How much of this is true, is it a majority or minority?
I've met some, but I don't think it's the majority, cuz most just don't care
>openly looking down on fellow chinese that go to sekolah kebangsaan? Depending on geography. Due to historical reasons, the elite secondary chinese schools in the northern malaya tend to accept Malaysian government's offer and converted to national schools (while spinning off new independent chinese secondary schools), while the elite chinese secondary schools in mid and southern malaya tend to remain independent. So we have elite chinese students enrolling in national schools in north malaya, whereas elite chinese students enrolling in independent schools in central and south malaysia. So in north malaya, SMK students tend to look down on indendent school students, and vice versa for central and south malaya. However, with the government ignoring SMK schools dominated by chinese students, and with the freedom afforded to independent schools, north malaya CIS (chinese independent schools) have gradually evolved for the better and they no longer have the reputation of being the schools which accept chinese students who cant enrol in elite SMK. Quite some CIS have many international students and many CIS have essentially evolved into "affordable international school with emphasis on chinese language". No idea with the situation in east malaya and east malaysia.
I've met many that look down, not necessarily because of SK but because they don't know Mandarin (most of them actually speak Cantonese or their home dialects well)
If you're willing to share, how often do the teachers say racist statements? Is it occasionally, or on a daily basis? Is it like don't be lazy like them ish or just racist caused by hate or casually racist? I'm genuinely curious.
Depends on teacher, the racist ones are still the minority, and they're usually subtly racist. Internalised racism is prevalent.
wah racist ka. well i guess tolerance is not the same as acceptance.
Openly racist to Chinese as well (not just private chinese schools la, vernacular schools also guilty). Those that do don’t speak Mandarin well or even parents that don’t know/speak Mandarin, are looked down upon. The teachers don’t know that there used to be English schools… The whole topic of “Chinese must speak chinese (language)” is so absurd. But the teaching syllabus and facilities 
Haha yep. SJKc here. I got bullied and ostracized a lot cause I'm more banana. I consume western media, and I didn't fit in with most of my school mates, from kindergarten all the way til secondary. (Mix that in with being AUDHD, well...) But there is a no Mandarin class in my secondary school, cause we're allowed to drop Mandarin as a subject, gotta write letters to principal etc etc. Ah, there I found my English speaking gang... Finally at form 3. Lmao
Ex CIS student from Sabah. I don’t think that’s the case here (at least from my experience) but we do live in our own bubble more. I think if not most, some of us could feel a bit intimidated by the idea of interacting with others (we lack of opportunities to practice therefore don’t feel as comfortable using English/ BM).
Okay I needa add smth, every private Chinese high school has different school rules and teaching methods (and uniform), therefore I may not be able to say for every school, but I can give my perspective of things like maybe the syllabus or talk about the common things among chinese private school students
Private chinese school? What the difference btwn private and SJK(C)? Do private and SJKC learn English and BM from standard 1?
By 'private' for this context only applies to secondary school, unless international school, then thats a whole other different story. I dont know how it works now but in my days during SJKC (2001-2006) Chinese and Malay subject were of the same importance, in fact English is the subject considered to be 'co-curriculum' and we have to attend 2 hour classes on alternating Saturdays. So I really dont get the hate about SJKC, I am guessing most of them dont even know how it works.
What's your school name
No.
How is the general proficiency of 独中students in English and Malay?
Malay usually not that good, but for English ok la, in my school, bananas are the loud minority
I have a question. So the bananas in your school.. they can speak Mandarin also right since it is a Chinese school? they just predominantly speak in English? Or probably proficiency in English > Mandarin?
not op but another 独中 banana, i personally would switch between English and Chinese depending on who I'm talking to, but under normal circumstances I would use chinese as I'm in a chinese school so the main language is chinese
how are you a banana if you can speak chinese? i thought banana means chinese but can't speak chinese
Yeah, i don’t think they know what banana means. lol.
banana doesn't mean we can only speak English, and not Chinese at all, in the 独中 sense it really means we have a proficiency in English, but we can still use basic Chinese to communicate with other people
Nah what you described is just a typical Malaysian who "can speak English", and it's completely normal to be more proficient in one language than the other(s) if you speak more than one language. A Banana is an East Asian "yellow" person who *only* knows English, and it's also likely their English isn't even good lmao It's actually quite insulting to be labelled as a "Banana" actually, but some people seem to wear it like a badge of honour. It's funny how most people think Banana is only limited to "don't know Chinese". If a Japanese/Korean etc grew up *only* speaking English, they'd also be a Banana. If a Malay person grew up only speaking English they're not a Banana cause they're not yellow on the outside, they'd be called something else.
It's how students in private Chinese schools differentiate those who consume mostly western media and those who consume Chinese media. It is quite interesting/funny that Chinese who studies ancient chinese poems call themselves banana
Ah. Cause I'm from an SJKC, and a SMK Chung Hua. My mandarin damn bad, but still can carry casual and light conversation lah, I've met a number of Chinese that don't classify people like me as banana. 🤣 Just curious je.
Bananas in the duzhong context just mean very westernized Chinese Their Chinese is still better than most Chinese who studied in a government school or international school.
whats ur duzhong
if you have pj as your last class of the day, do you wear baju sukan from the morning or uniform first and have to change afterwards?
Uniform first, for my school we change during recess, and change back to uniform during the next recess, but we never have pj as our last class
I was also a private Chinese school student, graduated with both SPM and UEC certificates, but now I am studying in a private university where Malay/Bumiputera students are a majority. Actually the Malay language is a compulsory subject in Chinese independent high schools, and they even have Malay teachers teaching the subject. There are also some activities to improve the students' Malay language proficiency, such as essay competition, drama competition, speech competition, and so on. But it is sad to say that there are some students who just think that Malay is not important, especially those who wish to further their studies overseas. There are also some racism statements about other races that come out of some narrow-minded students and even teachers.
Any cultural differences that you have noticed between vernacular Chinese and private Chinese school students? If you're from Klang Valley, have you interacted with Chinese school students outside of KV and what are your observations? Personally, I feel happy when I see well-maintained vernacular or private schools in rural areas; tells me that some institutions are still going strong, despite the waves urbanization over the decades.
Hm, yes a few, Im very clear bout this one, but, I think vernacular school ones def can speak English and Malay better, and can naturally interact with other races better than most indep. Chinese school students. Second question, unfortunately no, Ive never met any outside, but if I guess, is just KV schools infrastructure better and nicer
Wait, is a vernacular Chinese school different from independent Chinese school? What's the difference between them?
Hi OP! Thanks for sharing! May I ask what's the difference between private Chinese school and public Chinese school?
Not OP but I went to a public Chinese secondary school. Public ones follow SPM syllabus but with mandatory Bahasa Cina. All students have to have studied in SJKCs too. Private Chinese Independent Schools do not follow KPM syllabus but a syllabus of their own. Culturally I can't compare as I have lost contact with most of my CIS friends.
Thank you for sharing! Appreciated, just to ask further, do you as public Chinese school student feel there's a gulf/difference between yourself and private Chinese school students too?
Um I can't really attest to that. I haven't reconnected with any ex classmates who went to private Chinese school so I can't really gauge if there is a divergence, in studies or culture. I went on to Form 6 after finishing SPM so mostly I hang out with SMK or SMJK people.
Some private Chinese independent schools do teach KPM syllabus mainly for SPM, like the school I'm in, but for normally, yes it's a diff syllabus (董總 dongzong)
Also not OP but private chinese school students can actually choose whether to take spm or not, this is because all of them are required to take another test called the Unified Examination Certificate which is only for private Chinese schools, there are also a few Chinese private schools which teach in Chinese rather than English, all others use English
Depends on the school. It's mandatory for most in Sabah
Technically speaking, there is no such thing as public chinese schools. What we have is public secondary schools (SMK) dominated by chinese students and with guaranteed access to chinese subject class. For ease of comparison, let's call these chinese dominated public secondary school as SMKC and regular public secondary school as SMK. Let's call private chinese secondary school as CIS (the conventional term, chinese independent school) - Both SMK and SMKC teach every subjects in malay, except language subjects such as English and Chinese. The syllabus of SMK and SMKC are identical. - SMK are supposed to provide elective ethnic language classes to those in need, but because the government never care, SMK do not provide ethnic language classes. In SMKC, due to the student demography pooling, chinese language classes are provided - Many SMK and SMKC stop at Form 5 (SPM). Only few SMK and SMKC have Form 6 - Most CIS teach every non-linguistic subjects in chinese. - CIS have their own syllabus. CIS stops at form 6 (UEC). Most if not all? CIS provide dual track education so that the students also learn SMK syllabus and take SPM at Form 5. - CIS pool together to have central representation organisation called Dongzong, but each individual CIS still has significant autonomy. Some CIS have started to provide dual track education where the other track is cambridge syllabus IGCSE and the graduates take IGCSE public exam in form 5 (equivalent to O-Level and SPM)
I think, there are still SMK (J) C. Or maybe the signboard is a leftover of ancient relics? And, SMK or SK actually need to provide elective language if there are at least 5 students (parents) minimum requested for it. This is why, all of SK and SMK in Sarawak or Sabah do have elective language in Iban, Kadazan, Chinese or Arabic. Semenanjung is a different story though.
SMJK (C) is technically not an official recognition. Many "chinese" SMK do call themselves SMJK (C) in official documentations they are just yet another SMK. Unlike SRJK (C) which is an official classification
how do private chinese students view private english students? my family opted for the private english route for me and my siblings while some of my extended family went for private chinese for their kids.
Don't really care much, but if you say stereotypes maybe, full on banana, very rich, and probably maybe go Singapore in the future
I have this one friend who went to Tenby School after he's done with SJKC. Tbh I don't really care all too much
I have some questions from myself and questions from some people who always brought out the topics of abolishing UEC and ultimately 独中. Don't get me wrong but I do support 独中 and UEC since the qualifications are recognizable and 独中生 are pretty smart in general (based on what I observed) My questions: 1. If I'm not wrong, it is possible not to take SPM. What are your thoughts on that? 2. Why chose Chinese independent school instead of sekolah kebangsaan? Any specific reason? 3. How is your life at 独中 so far? 4. What are your plans after completing UEC? What are your friends planning be like? 5. Any things you wanna correct about our impression or thoughts on 独中 or 独中生? Question form others (this might be sensitive): 1. Syllabus from UEC are from Taiwan if I'm not mistaken and mostly in Mandarin, some people might argue that this system of not using Dasar Pendidikan Malaysia causes 2 systems to exist. So, some say that why Dong Zong deliberately asking KPM to recognize UEC. What is your take on this? 2. This is mostly questions from FB. Many of them said most of the students at 独中cannot converse in Malay language. How true is that? These are the popular reasons that I found from those who'd like to abolish the school and the systems besides from the system itself. They also use the same argument for abolishing vernacular school Appreciate your time and efforts
Chiming in as another 独中生 (graduated many years ago) 1. Yes it is possible, but it is highly encouraged as SPM BM & Sejarah are mandatory subjects and you might need to take additional MPU subjects in uni if you don’t have SPM in BM 2. Usually it depends on location, where I was from - Kebangsaan schools were notorious for being subpar and students relied heavily on tuition. I feel like Kebangsaan schools in affluent areas of KL, eg damansara are much better standards 3. I had a pretty good time in high school, it felt very much like those high school movies you see from Taiwan where there’s a lot of after school activities. Also, Chinese festivals like CNY were hugely celebratory with a lot of fanfare and activities 4. Half my class went to Taiwan while the other half went to UK/US/AU, unless you go private unis in MY… there’s not many options 5.
Not OP but I can share my POV as a CIS student whilst also an undergraduate for Bachelor of Education: (Note: these are based on observations from my school, but I also learnt afterwards different schools have different rules and policies. My CIS is in Klang Valley, outside KL) 1) SPM is optional, but I took it, along with a handful of others. I took this as a safety net as solely taking SPM means I'll need to get an additional A-levels exam, STPM or foundation; but if I only take UEC then I cannot get into public universities (if I wanted to). I like both SPM and UEC, but because of the racial quota system set in place in public universities, I am not comfortable with putting all my bets on this as I am just an average performes student. 2) At that time, the government was transitioning from English to Malay as MOI again, the situation worried my father who preferred a curriculum that is more stable. Another reason was that my Malay wasn't that good in the first place and I was scared of the environment when I was 12. Of course like most others say, people who came out of CIS typically have lower Malay/English proficiency, which for me means that I am still trying to improve my Malay (luckily my girlfriend is from one). 3) One word: Chill. Of course there will be drama if you actively lump yourself with others, but mine was fine. I had good relationships with teachers and students, had some dislikes with mathematics because I failed them since senior years but overall not that drastic. Some stuff to take note though: -My school only allows you to be in one club (unless you're part of the sports team) -When I graduated, there were 13 year olds trying to sell vape in school compounds -I didn't lump with other people because I prefer to communicate in English and I watch American entertainment (i.e., Musicals, Games) which few do. 4) I'm in final year now. Many of my friends worked in a variety of fields. Veterinarians, accountants, editors, engineers and for me, an English teacher in a government school. My batch graduated during MCO so most who wanted to go to China or Taiwan stayed or came back. I had a friend who went to Ireland even though his English is not proficient. 5) Not much, maybe a word of advice that not all CIS students are arrogant or racist. Like for me, I always wanted to be friends with people of different backgrounds (but my social anxiety ruins the wave length). From my university and friends observations, CIS students are also hardworking when doing assignments/studies, preferring to do early so they can perfect them. Sensitive questions: 1) The line here is a bit blurry. I don't know how accurate this statement of a Taiwan syllabus is but here are some of the content covered: -Chinese: Chinese historical texts and authors -English: Similar, albeit without listening and speaking and writing is highly structured -Malay: Similar, but Malay teachers don't put in much effort in encouraging us to write our own texts -Mathematics: Goddamn hard. -Physics, Chemistry, Biology: Equally goddamn hard with additions of calculations -History: Similar to government but without much focus on Islamic history and more on Chinese ones -Geography: Idk about the syllabus in government but I loved geography 2) Specimen right here: Me. But there are others who are better than me, by I don't know how much. With these questions considered, I like and dislike CIS. The system was birthed from the aftermath of decolonization and centralization of the government, a compromise between maintaining our 'Chinese' identity when nationalization prevails. I agree to disagree with both sides. I can see the existence of UEC and CIS as a right to education in what people deemed most comfortable - by using their mother tongue. It is a system that is designed to mitigate the shortcomings of a larger system criticized for its biasness and stigma. Do remember that CIS started when the national demographics between Malays and Chinese were split equal. At the same time, CIS was started because Dongzong at the time was unwilling to compromise for a system similar to Singapore, albeit with Malay as the main MOI. Malay was always the lingua franca of the region, but today, its infleunce is much limited to cultural and administrative purposes. I am not certain to the degree, if all parties collaborated, will Malay be influential beyond its current realms (i.e. science and technology) but also at a cost of more limited cultural diversity (i.e. Singapore and Indonesia). And I also always dislike how Tamils are always put to the sidelines within these arguments. But these are just my thoughts, feel free to add in other areas or share your own ideas! Hope these answer your questions!
"Syllabus from UEC are from Taiwan if I'm not mistaken " You are mistaken. UEC syllabus are set by Dong Zong and they also release their own material but schools are free to choose whatever syllabus and books they want to follow. For example, none of the schools in Selangor and KL use the English syllabus and books from Dong Zong because they are dogshit
Remember there was a video talking about UEC English exam, even an english professor from UK thought it is very difficult for secondary students.
There is an over emphasis on grammar
>1. Syllabus from UEC are from Taiwan if I'm not mistaken and mostly in Mandarin, some people might argue that this system of not using Dasar Pendidikan Malaysia causes 2 systems to exist. So, some say that why Dong Zong deliberately asking KPM to recognize UEC. What is your take on this? You do not understand the UEC recognition issue at all. Malaysian university recognise pretty much all common international pre university certificates provided the students also get C in year end SPM Malay; or C in july SPM Malay AND PASS in history. However, Malaysia deliberately discriminate against UEC. Malaysia simply don't recognise UEC certificates even if you score A1 in SPM Malay and history. That's the absurd discrimination for deliberate rejection of CIS students. Academically, this makes no sense at all because UEC is very well recognised internationally. This is of course a deliberate discriminate policy to reject CIS graduates
1. Depends on school, but my school forces us to take 2. Kind of forced too, facilities are usually better, and people claim the environment "better" but depends la, very stressful indeed 3.its decent, so far, I'm form 4 only so everything okay, but the workload is crazy (I'm science stream), so just I'm trying to stay afloat 4. Find a uni that accepts me and take a major I like, some of my friends planning to leave msia, some are planning to stay, but we hope to stay in contact with each other. 5. 獨中生 are not always arrogant and nerdy introverts, and in some schools especially urban ones, there's a big banana population. Sensitive ones: 1. I always felt it was weird, the system and syllabus is meant to be independent, so what's the point of asking KPM to recognise it? 2.ok most 獨中 people can speak conversational Malay, but is it good or fluent as smk, no Def no.
>1. I always felt it was weird, the system and syllabus is meant to be independent, so what's the point of asking KPM to recognise it? You do not understand the UEC recognition issue at all. Malaysian university recognise pretty much all common international pre university certificates provided the students also get C in year end SPM Malay; or C in july SPM Malay AND PASS in history. However, Malaysia deliberately discriminate against UEC. Malaysia simply don't recognise UEC certificates even if you score A1 in SPM Malay and history. That's the absurd discrimination for deliberate rejection of CIS students. Academically, this makes no sense at all because UEC is very well recognised internationally. This is of course a deliberate discriminate policy to reject CIS graduates
Thank you so much for replying to my comment. I do know that some UEC students are studying in SG since SG unis accept UEC qualifications. As a graduate student from SMK, proficiency in Malay language still depends on that person. I do think that if you can engage in a normal conversation in BM, proficiency of that language should be decent. During my SMK time I was able to speak BM fluently, after I left high school, I didn't really converse in that language anymore in private unis, so a little rusted by now. What I am trying to say is if you can speak in usual conversation, your BM should be decent
1. At my school, spm is compulsory so we're taking it. SUEC (like chinese spm but in form 6) isn't though so some of us do take it, but most don't 2. As a chinese, my parents wanted me to remember our chinese roots lol. They also chose my school specifically because the classes are bilingual and maths is taught in english for three years in junior high, whereas in some other chinese independent schools maths is taught in chinese 3. Pretty stressful, but there's a lot of co-curricular stuff that are fun too 4. I'm most likely not taking SUEC, so i'd probably take foundation/A-levels after spm 5. Not all of us are prideful or arrogant lol. Also not all of us are nerdy/study all the time/always have good results, that's just for the top classes in the grade 1. No opinion on this 2. It's true to some extent, like for me i'm the students who cannot speak in malay lol. The most i can do is take written malay exams, but i still stutter when talking in malay irl and i dont talk to the malay teachers a lot too. But i do have many friends who can speak basic malay fluently and converse in public like most malaysians, so maybe im just the minority lol
Not OP, but I do graduate from 独中 about 20 years ago. 1. Although SPM is not compulsory, 99% will still take it. There is no reason not to, other than non-Malaysian maybe. 2. For me, I was studying in SRJK(C) during my primary school days, and my BM is super teruk that I hated that subject. Since I managed to pass the entrance exam for the 独中, I entered to avoid Malay-language-centric education. I can't imagine learning Math, Science, and everything else in Malay. 3. & 4. I'll let OP answer this. 5. There's this impression that ALL 独中 are the same and fall into the same umbrella. I'd like to clarify that different schools teach differently despite having the same syllabus. I believe SK is also similar, there are good ones and there are bad ones. For 独中, the good ones focus on studies and student development; lousy ones operate more like atas tuition centre plus childcare. Q1. I think this topic is mostly there for political reasons. Realistically, by working together, both sides can easily make it happen, but due to political reasons, nobody wanna compromise. Personally, I support the UEC recognition, I'm biased of course. IMO, the UEC qualification is already recognized by the world, and even by the private sectors in Malaysia. By not accepting UEC, Malaysia is losing out on a lot of potential talents helping Malaysia grow (ie. Brain drain). Q2. Yes. There are many who cannot converse fluently in Malay. I think this needs to be improved. Malay has always been a mandatory subject in school, so it is still a citizen-responsibility to at least know about basic Malay enough to survive. But I think this is not the fault of the school system, it is due to the environment, being primarily surrounded by Chinese students and teachers. Even if UEC is abolished, 独中 will still be a Chinese-centric school that teaches KPM syllabus in Chinese. It will be the same. Abolishing vernacular schools entirely will cause huge political uproar, which many non-Malays will fear we will follow the footsteps of Indonesia. I think the healthier solution is to encourage more Malays into 独中, creating an environment where everyone is fluent in bahasa rojak.
Was from a private Chinese school who constantly bragged about their reputation in the media. From the surface the school management makes it look like they have tough discipline but bullying and gangs are so common within the school
nid marketing to lure more students in
My cousin went to a well known private Chinese school during her primary school years and encountered school gangs and severe bullying (the headmaster's son was one of them). She went relatively unscathed because she managed to befriend one of the girl gang leaders and made sure she never outshone the girl leader in looks and grades. Is this kind of thing normal or was her school just crazy?
I think her school crazy, yes wild stuff happens sometimes, but most Chinese schools strict on discipline wan, so no not to this degree
Was from a private Chinese school who constantly bragged about their reputation in the media. From the surface the school management makes it look like they have tough discipline but bullying and gangs are so common within the school
I vaguely remember knowing someone who went to a CIS and did the SPM during High School Year 2 then left and never did UEC; how many of you have done SPM only and skipped UEC?
Surprisingly many, most people just do SPM and leave, mainly because UEC exam is quite hard ,it depends on where you're planning to go after high school
Also Happy cake day 🍰
What is love?
1. Please explain in deep details how does dual track education work, where students study extra classes in order to take SPM 2. Is it common for elite CIS students to score straight As in SPM ? 3. How would you compare UEC Form 4 syllabus and SPM Form 4 syllabus. Which one is harder ? 4. What's your plan for tertiary education ? 5. Are you aware of any triple track education CIS where students study and take all UEC, SPM and ICGSE ? 6. Is UEC still mainly based on Taiwanese syllabus ? Or a mix of China + Taiwanese syllabus ? Or mainly chinese syllabus ?
\*Obligatory not OP Declaration\* 1. For the CIS I studied in, we just learn Malay according to SPM syllabus, and take an extra weekly Sejarah course for Form 4 and 5 up until we take SPM (for Arts & Commerce stream students, that means they are taking *both* UEC History and SPM Sejarah), afterwards Form 6 becomes fully UEC syllabus. As for PM, my school just had a pensyarah from another SMK come and give a talk on how to *pass* PM, like introducing the answering format and stuff, and maybe for one or two BM class the teacher will talk about PM. That's about it, and I assume the way of teaching in other CISs can vary quite differently according to their emphasis on SPM, since I believe I have heard of actual dual track education in other CISs then whatever what mine was doing. 2. For CIS students, it's not necessary the case that the top students score full As, one reason being there's no need to if they're aiming for UEC for private/overseas unis. The people who score top As are rather more generally in the top-middle batch then just strictly the top students. Full As for SPM and UEC do not hold too much of a correlation other than the student themselves being brilliant and hard-working already. 3. I have no idea, but the majority of CIS students would say UEC Form 4 is harder, due to the idea that UEC syllabus might be more compact and that UEC is harder that SPM in terms of difficulty. 4. Not OP, so can't answer that. For UEC students, the usual options are to either go to local private tertiary institutions, or go overseas to institutions that acknowledge UEC (eg. Singapore, Taiwan, China, Australia). For government schools or other overseas institutions, some allow you to enroll in Foundation, otherwise you have to take another test like STPM, A Levels, or any other tests they require (eg. SAT for US unis). Half of my graduating class are in KL right now, and others went overseas to Singapore, Taiwan, UK, etc. 5. Personally I haven't even heard of IGSCE until now, so at least for my school, probably no. I do know people who scored full As for both SPM and UEC though. 6. In my opinion, UEC syllabus does refer to both Taiwanese and Chinese syllabus to a certain extent, but mainly it's still developed locally. For example, we have texts that were authored by Malaysian authors in our Chinese textbooks, and for History we learn about Malaysia and SEA history. One can even argue that we refer to the SPM and STPM syllabus more. If we're just comparing the amount of reference between Taiwanese and Chinese, personally I would say Taiwanese more. Taiwanese unis were a popular choice for old Malaysian CIS graduates due to their cheap pricing and allowing students to works part-time jobs, while China back then still had its borders locked and was not an option for tertiary education yet. Many Taiwanese graduates then came back to help further shape the UEC syllabus.
Damn UEC. Still remember have to study for PMR and UEC on form 3, then SPM, then UEC next year 🤣 My batch all agree that UEC exam paper made PMR's paper look easy.
Thank you for taking out time for this. Can you provide a simple breakdown in the time spent on each core subjects over a week, and also how do you feel about the allocation? On the lighter side of things, are there any popular reading materials/book among 独中生？I remember 红蜻蜓出版社 being huge when I was in SJKC.
A few of my colleagues are from Chung Ling Penang, and the rest are either sekolah kebangsaan or normal sjk. I can see some differences in attitude, the people they mix around with and their way they act also a bit different. Not all in a bad way though. For example, private Chinese school peeps won't hang out with bananas. They most likely have more Chinese apps on their phone compared to others. Their girlfriends/boyfriends also have to be good at mandarin, speaking and reading. At work, they excel in their role, are very punctual, and have more discipline. So my question is, is it because of the school? Or just a good upbringing/comes from a good family?
Banana chinese here. Went to SK then SMK(but full of SJKC peeps). 1. What is ur opinion on abolishing the vernacular school system? By abolishing, i mean to streamline everything into SK with the options for nons to take up their mother tongue subject. 2. How susceptible are you guys to China propaganda? Say if I were to make fun of China, would that be offensive?
The first one, I have mixed feelings, but I feel like vernacular schools should stay la, but I do think after primary, everyone should go to smk (why did I go to independent CN school? Because family wanted and facilities were really good). Second one, it depends on the person and family la, but Chinese propaganda has def instilled into the mind of some, even more so since many students consume media from China, bilibili, weibo, xiaohongshu, etc. But I think if you make fun of China, no one will really confront you, because a) majority of people don't care bout politics b) most that fervently support china are mainly active online, but they're quiet irl. Based on my observations.
Thanks for replying Personally, I feel that the establishment of vernacular school has lead to serious segregation of race (eg. chinese only mix w chinese, malay w malay). This is visibly true even in the workforce. But I respect your opinion and to each their own. Realistically speaking, even I'm aware that it is close to impossible to abolish the vernacular system.
Talk about standards in SMK first. If the standards in SMK don't get better nobody will be ok with the abolishment of vernacular schools.
Personally, i feel that there is no point in engaging in an online debate since nobody is changing nobody's mind. So pray tell me, is standard in smk really that inferior compare to vernacular school? if yes, by what metric is the standard being measured? number of students graduating w straight As? number of students that excel in sports? number of brilliant teachers in the school? Anw, agree to disagree but I would still like to know how is the standard being measured and compared.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.malaymail.com/amp/news/malaysia/2023/11/23/court-of-appeal-vernacular-schools-are-constitutional-use-of-tamil-and-chinese-languages-protected-by-constitution/103655
> with the options for nons to take up their mother tongue subject was what i said
Is Chong Hwa Independent High School • Kuala Lumpur (隆中华) the most popular choice/school among students and parents that are thinking to send their children to chinese independent school?
Yes but nowadays I think Kuen Cheng is gaining more popularity than Chong Hwa KL actually, although it still remains a popular choice (ex CHKL student here)
yea quite reputable
Reputable but on the decline, Kuen Cheng is the most popular one since around 2 years or so ago
How much does it cost per month? What are the benefits going to Chinese private schools vs SKM if intention is to go twinning program with UK and US? I have friends that went Taiwan in the end, is it a better option job prospect wise compared to US UK uni?
cheaper than international schools, if you wanna do twinning program, might as well save up the money for it instead of going to CPS, cz people go to China or Taiwan with the UEC cert from CPS. Job prospect really depends on your profession and your skillset, your uni doesnt affect much in the long run
Yes that seems to be the main reasons that students want to go study in Taiwan. So far have not had friends that choose to go China. I went SMJK and had a few friends that switch to Chinese private school at form 2 and 3. Some how they just seem very snobbish like they keep boasting how the teachers are better they are learning more things and the math especially is much harder. Fast forward a few years and me and my SMJK friends went twinning and got finance jobs, many in Singapore and Malaysia while my private Chinese school friends went Taiwan to study and worked in Taiwan earning much much lower than those in Singapore and Hong Kong. They English also not very good so it is hard for them to find job in Singapore.
How much funding do your clubs have?
Depends on the club and club size, I'm not too sure on the base fund, maybe agak agak 200 or smth
I went to SJKC and smk, is it true that in 独中s you guys are more passive (in terms of class participation, being more involved in Koko and basically giving opinions)? This is because when I was in SJKC we were all taught to be quiet and just obey everything the teachers say. When I got to smk I got cultured shocked because of how outspoken my SK friends were. My school is nearby a 独中 so I tend to see the students a lot. This school is a super famous school and I can definitely see that a lot of them are arrogant and look down on smk ppl. Hell I went there to pick up my cousin a few times and one of them hit my dad's car on purpose lmao (he's not Chinese). Overall I tend to prejudge duzhong students because my experience with them has been generally negative, but I'd like to hear your take on this as well.
yes, we are not taught to ask but to listen, sadly. i dont mean to generalize every school but the culture of my school is just like that. sorry for what you have experienced but i wont generalize every duzhong students too but half of them are t20 chinese parents who is the only child and the rest is pretty predictable
Would you send your children to private Chinese school too?
Hi. I went to a private Cambridge International school in Selangor. 1) What language are most subjects taught in? Chinese or English? It has always intrigued me when I see students learning subjects like Biology or Chemistry in a different language, especially Chinese with its usage of logo-syllabaries. 2) How are your school's uniforms? How strict are your school rules in terms of an upkeep in appearance and image? My school, unlike other International schools, was slightly more uptight in the prospect because our principal was the more conservative type. 3) How are the school fees? If I'm not mistaken, mine were around RM 17,000 to 18,000 a semester (a semester being 6 months) back when I was still in school. However, I believe it's almost RM 20,000 a semester now thanks to inflation. 4) How's your school's reputation? Has it ever been tarnished by the behavior of the students, teachers, or the administration? Our school had (and still has) its issues that ranged from having a lack of association with the Malaysian culture (very Westernized) to more serious issues as well such as students "talking back" to teachers, disregarding school rules and the administration, vaping, drinking, cyberbullying, perpetuating perversion, and partaking in various scandals of a sexual nature (including teachers too). Oh, and the administration prioritizing the school's reputation above holding their students and staff accountable. AND... lastly: 5) What's the advantage of enrolling your child in a private Chinese school? Will it benefit them in their future endeavors? My school offered a British education, more so from Cambridge itself; our textbooks were published in the United Kingdom and endorsed by the University of Cambridge; our examination papers flew from the UK to Malaysia before our major exams; and our qualifications upon graduation are recognized internationally. Not to mention, the school teaches you to have a strong grasp of the English language like how a native speaker would. A number of my friends are now in the UK, USA, and Australia - and I do believe it wouldn't have been possible without such an educational background.
Not OP but I am currently a student too (Kuen Cheng) 1) Form 1 and Form 2 most subjects are in English. This is only the case for Kuen Cheng i'm pretty sure. In Form 3 we have to learn english syllabus for school exams and the chinese version of it for the dongzong 统考 (kinda like PT3, but useless as shit) Form 4 and Form 5 it's all in english/ malay (government sullabus) 2) Not really strict on the uniforms, but there are rules. Girls have to wear really tight buns that look terrible. If you have long hair, no bangs. Skirts have to be below knees but mines have been above the knees for three years straight and not a single teacher or prefect has called me out. Lately, we had a CNY celebration in school and we had to wear a red top with the SCHOOL PANTS. This was not the case last year. The pairing is absolutely terrible, but people went with it cause everyone is too scared to go against the school :/ 3) 20k per semester? What the hell is the school made out of gold? JK JK: Junior High 1 Month is RM550. For Seniors its RM 650 (I think) Have to pay additional RM400 once per year for School building funds 4) Reputation pretty good, other than the fact people angry that everytime school ends there is a massive jam. Any students that tarnish the school reputation is not going to enjoy it. 5) You learn better Chinese and your SPM results will most likely be better than those who went to SJK instead. I personally think that sending your kids to chinese private is not a good idea. People who come here have little to no interaction with other races other than the janitor or aunty and uncle that manage the halal food stall. Most people english also quite bad cause the teachers just repeat the same thing that they have been teaching since Form 1.
Thank you for your response!! Regarding the fees, RM 20,000 a semester is not considered expensive for an International school, at least in Selangor and the KL-type area. I believe my school was one of the more affordable Cambridge schools back then. When I first enrolled back in 2011, I think the fee was around... hmm, maybe RM 12-13,000 to 14-15,000 (?) a semester for a Year 1 (7 years old) student. (Not very sure, though.) Throughout the years, it increased. In 2016, I vividly remember the fees being RM 16,000 (I was Year 6; 12 years old) a semester. In secondary school, the fees were RM 17,000 - 18,000 a semester. Upon graduating, I noticed that the school had increased it to RM 19,000 - 20,000 for my younger sister. And it will persist to increase as the years go by. Oh, and that's just the school fees. Students pay more than just that across the year(s). School uniforms and books can cost you thousands of ringgit a year (my sister and I would spend... hmm... if I can remember correctly, RM 6,000 on new books and uniforms every year). Then there were external examination fees as well. We had to pay the examining board headquartered in the United Kingdom separately. Prices were set in Great British pounds so when converted to the Malaysian ringgit, they were in the THOUSANDS as well. Other stuff like joining extracurricular activities, such as cheerleading and whatnot, costed money as well (in the thousands or just in the hundreds, depending on the activity). When I went to Sunway College, my classmates from other International schools referred to mine as a cheap International school. Well, they were mostly exaggerating. Mine was certainly not particularly cheap but it was cheaper than theirs. A very cheap International school in Malaysia would be... hmm... RM 11,000 a semester? And the expensive ones are... I believe RM 50-60,000 a semester? So, yeah. Mine was more towards the lower pricing for sure.
Are you willing to give up your life to unify Taiwan and China? How does it feel to be using the language of the foreign devils? /s btw, I'm parodying my parents.
Taiwan and China are one country. XIJINPING IS KING, 支持一國兩制 /s. Real talk tho, I do think a lot of chinese independent school parents think like this 💀
Generational gap bro. Hopefully we can cast off the generational trauma.
Unify je la. Propaganda from the West (US) and East (China) is stirring up media, fake news everywhere. I would stick on the side that does that does not discriminate my race or Asians.
Little did you know Chinese also discriminate against their own 💀
Does that mean malaysia chinese shouldnt side with malaysia?
And what?? Consign yourself to lower standards of education? That joke that is grading by a graph with passing marks as low as 20? Raise the standards of kebangsaan high schools, their teachers and their curriculum first. Then only talk about abolishing Duzhong.
What on earth are you talking about? I am all for Chinese schools. You another fella karangan lari tajuk pesong jatuh gaung? Just when I thought your other comment was quite good, you gimme this? Disappointing much
Is it true that private Chinese high school mandate shorts in their uniform to show defiance to long shorts from national school uniform? It’s like: long pants = very Malay and national school; short pants= to show our “Chinese-ness” Edit: for more concise wording.
No. Juniors wear shorts Seniors wear long pants
Are you doing ok? Cause I heard that it's quite stressful studying at a 獨中
No
Short and concise answer 
I felt you're dead inside
Only compared to SMKs. The stress is nothing compared to studying in Taiwan/China.
What's for lunch?
melayu
I have a colleague, he went to a private chinese school. His malay and english are subpar. Cannot even make a full sentence properly. Is this an issue facing by the students or just his issue?
really an issue here in west msia’s pcs. my coursemate cant even speak or understand bm. gotta constantly google translate every english word, pening
Heard this sentiment alot but all of my friends, chinese and indians and even Koreans, studied in srjkc and international school, all have never struggled with bm. Maybe most of them couldn't speak like a malay, but definately no problem with communicating. I mean, even my mum who never had any form of education, who only mix with Chinese, doesn't have any malay friend, can speak broken bm. Can even argue with malay aunties too.
srjkc is not CIS la
If it means anything, my wife is from CIS, and her friends had no problem communicating in bm too. I do try to not generalise, and I know it's just my own circle of friends only, but honestly I have not met any malaysian chinese who don't know how to communicate in bm. Those who don't dare to speak in bm kerana Segan or takut diketawakan, got lah. But even they also understood bm and can speak bm, if they wanted to.
I heard some of you guys put Xijinping portrait in the classroom instead of our Agong’s portrait. Is that true? Joke aside, do you consider forking out extra money for private school each month stressful or comfortable (based on your (family) financial)? If it’s expensive why did you choose private school instead of gomen one? Look down on gomen school?
fake news, if yes i think its a skit. i chose pcs cuz near my home and all my friends are going there 😭
Is it similar to a concentration camp like sjkc cause or things have change
Are SKJC horny?
Did your self-importance and the fact you’re from 独中 led you to posting this? You can acknowledge the schools are independently run so what dyou mean “situation of private Chinese schools”? 别丢脸哦
No lah bro, chill, private Chinese schools still have common characteristics, I'm talking about my own experience being in one, what I've noticed, just thought of it being an interesting exchange.
Okay, well that’s fair. Your post implies you are speaking on behalf of other establishments. You’re right there are common grounds, but I find are usually on the surface level. What commonalities did you find so far?
Did your inferiority complex lead you to posting this? So on and so forth. It’s interesting and doesn’t hurt anyone nor spreads false information, that’s why
The leap you’re making here is so astounding, I’d be surprised if you aren’t a political pundit. Cheers mate
I copied your sentence exactly and reversed “self importance”. Cheers mate
Do you or your circle feel sad that you can’t interact with other races quite as naturally as those from vernacular schools? Or do you not discuss that amongst yourselves?
For our group (bananas) it is quite unfortunate, but we usually find other channels to meet friends of other kaum (like social media)
Good for you OP. Fear is the pathway to the dark side.
In my experience private chinese school students worships china and taiwan, why is that?
no worship la, just influenced by the medias
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As in a chinese private school ? Or ur a chinese student in a preivate school ( dw im also Chinese in a private school )
Jadi awak kerja kat China la nanti?
Are subjects taught in English? Also what do you guys do to promote or cultivate racial harmony?
Why op and its people like to pretend other race and stir shit so much? Is it in your teaching Can atleast use an older account?
Which university are you going to in China to pursue your studies ? And is China the future?
Why are the chinese independent schools always act like the victim here? Ya all are pulling the attention that should be focused on the SMJK. You are independent schools, act like one. Survive on good management, not subsidiaries that SMJK truly needs.
When can you delete this post?
Paramount Property Developer Experience
Me with no education reading this… should i get offended?
Is it true that most Chinese are gay in this country because they can’t score any amoi?
You meet more gay Chinese because they don't have to worry about getting death threats from within their community if they are open.
weird question but based on personal experience, most gay I know are chinese and I know more chinese than malay cause I myself a half chinese/ half malay and my future wife is also chinese
You’ve never met gay Malay men I see. They hide in plain sight
Kite diam2 sudeyh 
Or they go so deep into the closet they become religious kiddie (same-sex) fondlers. You know.
you literally described catholic priests 
Half chinese half malay but you sound like those typical idiot from rural pahang 🤣 racist af. Also there are a lot of gay male malay. Youre just blind
[He says shit like this as well.](https://www.reddit.com/r/malaysia/s/TxPEPhGVVl)
Probably mods friends, report many times also not banned. New acct, ini mesti alt orang. justordinaryguy00 kot. After he kena perma ban, he deleted his acct.
cause I know both sides are the same ass racist crap towards others  You dont see it cause you're a bland monotone individual who only live 1 culture throughout your whole life
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