Cheah (left) presenting a souvenir to Dr Mah during the signing ceremony while Lee (right) looks on.
PUSING’S SJK (C) Gunong Hijau in Perak and Dongguan’s Youganbu Elementary School in Guangdong, China, are now sister schools.
A signing ceremony to establish the relationship between the two schools was conducted via video-conferencing.
The event in Malaysia was held at The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat in Tambun, Perak.
The agreement was signed by SJK (C) Gunong Hijau board of governors deputy chairman Datuk Lee Kon Yin and Youganbu Elementary School headmaster Liu Shaohuai.
Those present to witness the signing ceremony at the resort included Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon, SJK (C) Gunong Hijau board of governors chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, headmaster Seow Chee Yuan and Perak deputy education director Sabarina Jamaluddin.
In China, the ceremony was witnessed by Guangdong province’s overseas Chinese affairs office senior counsel Cai Weisheng and China Communist Party Dongguan standing committee member Chen Zhiwei.
At a press conference held later, Cheah, who is also Sunway Group chairman, said the sister school agreement was meant for both institutions to share knowledge and improve the quality of education.
He hoped there could be plenty of exchange visits or inter-school activities in the future when the situation with Covid-19 improved.
“Our hope is to educate children with values, for a prosperous and healthy world.
“Education is close to my heart and we will make sure we give our best to our future generation,” he added.
When asked why Youganbu Elementary School was selected, Cheah said the majority of the folk in Pusing has forefathers, including his, who came from Dongguan.
“The people there invited me to do a collaboration and to promote understanding.
“Looking back at our history, we felt that it was good to have this collaboration,” he said.
Dr Mah said the ministry encouraged schools in Malaysia to have bilateral ties with schools from other countries.
He said there were a number of schools in the country that had such ties, which would help improve the quality of education.
“I feel this is also a good way to have cross-cultural exchanges.
“We want our students to be well-rounded,” he added.
