Chinese comms grads not suited to be Mandarin teachers, says group

Compiled by RAHIMY RAHIM and JAROD LIM

GRADUATES of Mandarin communication courses from higher learning institutions in China should not be accepted as primary school Chinese language teachers, says United Chinese School Teachers Association chairman Cheah Lek Aee.

In a Sin Chew Daily report, the association said it felt that these teachers, who do not have SPM in Mandarin and not exposed to the language in primary or secondary school, would not be able to teach the language.

“In fact, they can only teach Mandarin communication courses or Chinese as second language.

“And because the graduates only studied Mandarin communication courses, they are not suitable to teach the language in schools.

“I will raise the matter with Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying,” said Cheah in his speech during a gathering attended by 140 members from 37 affiliated associations.

The association, said Cheah, also encouraged more people to apply to be primary school Mandarin teachers to address the shortage.

> China Press reported that a couple who took wedding photos at a concert by Taiwanese rock band Mayday in Beijing, China, had been targeted online by angry fans.

During the concert, the couple – dressed in their wedding outfits – rushed to have their photo taken when the band’s lead vocalist Ashin was speaking on stage at the Beijing National Stadium, disrupting the concert.

While some concert-goers cheered, others booed at them.

Angry Mayday fans then bombarded the couple’s social media account when they uploaded the wedding photos.

The couple issued an apology and deleted the photos.

However, some fans got even angrier when the couple commented: “We have already deleted the photo, are you happy now?”

• The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.