JOHOR BARU: Johor has approved the exemption of annual quit rent (cukai tanah) for two plots of land belonging to Foon Yew High School’s Kulai campus and a waiver of property tax arrears amounting to about RM510,000 owed by the school since 2022.
State investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resources committee chairman Lee Ting Han said the decision made by the state executive council meant that the school would be exempted from paying quit rent of RM85,050 and RM28,300 respectively for each of the plots.
“Apart from that, the state government had also agreed to change the land title of the Kulai campus to ‘non-profit education institution’ from the original ‘private school’ status, giving the school long-term legal and institutional protection.
“This means the Kulai campus will only need to pay a symbolic RM10 in annual rent in the future,” he said when interviewed.
Foon Yew High School, set up in 1913, is one of the oldest and biggest Chinese independent schools in Malaysia.
The main school is located in Stulang Laut and has a branch each in Kulai and Seri Alam.
Lee said he had handed over the official documents to Foon Yew High School chairman Tong Sing Chuan during the school’s 112th anniversary celebration dinner last Friday.
The state government, he said, had always shown concern towards education as reflected in its RM1mil allocation to reimburse the improvement service funds paid for the construction of Foon Yew High School’s Seri Alam campus in 2022.
“At the beginning of this year, Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi exempted the Seri Alam campus from over RM500,000 in accumulated quit rent and also waived its future tax obligations,” said Lee.
Since 2023 until now, he said the state government, through the Sultanah Fatimah Foundation, had channelled RM1.94mil in education aid to the school’s three campuses, benefitting 3,542 underprivileged students.
These measures reflect the state’s support for education, while also addressing concerns raised by the school board and alumni association, he said.
Lee noted that the Foon Yew alumni had made significant contributions to national development and social progress, proving that its education system was not a “threat” to national unity.
“On the contrary, it has nurtured multilingual and well-rounded citizens who contribute positively to the nation’s prosperity and stability,” he said.
