‘Be fair in allocating funds’

Compiled by C. ARUNO, CHARLES RAMENDRAN AND R. ARAVINTHAN

CHINESE educationist groups Dong Zong and Jiao Zong, collectively known as Dong Jiao Zong, are urging the government to be fair and transparent when allocating funds from Budget 2024 to various school types in Malaysia, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The group issued a statement on Tuesday saying that both government schools and government-aided schools should be treated equitably and be given funds for upgrades, repairs and relocation.

“On this, we urge the government to set up a committee made up of members from the Education Ministry and civil organisations to discuss how best to systematically allocate funds and related monitoring work,” it said.

The group said the committee should scrutinise the application for the funds, their disbursement, use, reporting, as well as related guidelines and procedures.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is expected to table Budget 2024 in Parliament on Oct 13.

> The daily also reported that fans have slammed Hong Kong actress Sit Yeng Yi for a lack of gratitude after she criticised her manager and told her to “drop dead”.

The 39-year-old was upset at manager Connie Lam who was believed to have told her not to get too close with one of her best friends whom she thought was a “bad influence”.

Sit chose to defend her friend and said she is a good person.

“I have repeated many times that I do not make bad friends. Huang Rong is not a bad influence on me and is not using me. She is a good person,” she said.

Instead, she chose to criticise Lam, saying that she has a bad temper and is of poor character.

“These people can go drop dead,” she wrote on Instagram, referring to Lam.

Many fans are upset at Sit, saying that her actions show a lack of gratitude towards the person who made her famous.

Lam, however, appeared unfazed by Sit’s accusations.

> Chinese actress Gao Yuanyuan has been praised for leading a simple life after she was seen cycling to pick up her daughter from school, China Press reported.

The 43-year-old was recently photographed dressed in a T-shirt while cycling on a busy road.

Sitting in the front child seat was her daughter whom she had picked up from school.

Many Internet users pointed out that Gao lives a simple life despite having 49 million fans on Weibo – a testament to her popularity in China.

Gao married Taiwanese actor Mark Chao in 2014 after they met on the set of Caught in the Web.

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.