INDEPENDENT Chinese schools in Malaysia saw the largest enrolment in history as children born in 2012, which was a Year of the Dragon, begin their secondary school education, China Press reported.
Based on data collected by the daily, some 40 Independent Chinese schools accepted 13,569 students, 1,034 higher compared to last year.
United Chinese School Committees Association (Dong Zong) CEO Leong Seng Yee said there would generally be a spike in enrolment whenever “dragon babies” begin secondary school.
However, he said this was not the sole reason why enrolment was at a historic high.
He said there had been an upward trend in the past two decades, which was a sign of growing confidence in Independent Chinese schools.
Another reason, Leong said, was a rise in students from China.
When Malaysia re-opened its borders after the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of students from China rose from 309 in 2022 to 351 in 2023 and 551 last year.
Leong attributed this to the deepening bilateral relationship between Malaysia and China.
> Scammers have apparently gone for Chinese New Year break as Hongkongers find they hardly get scam calls during this festive period, China Press reported.
“Is everyone at KK Park on leave for Chinese New Year? I did not receive even one scam call today,” said a member of a Facebook group called Internet Fraud Victims Alliance.
(KK Park refers to a notorious scam centre in Myanmar.)
Many other Internet users commented that they noticed a reduction of calls as well.
“I would get eight to 10 scam calls everyday. There isn’t even one today!” one netizen wrote.
Others said their phones began to go quiet on Jan 28, which was Chinese New Year’s eve.
“It’s so peaceful. So rare,” one Internet user wrote.
● The above article is 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 this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
