Mission schools and government-aided Chinese schools in Sabah have a love-hate relationship with the government. On one hand, they found some of their policies repugnant but on the other hand, they are "consoled" occasionally by the hand-out from them. This applies to the Federal Government rather than the State Government because education is under the purview of the former.
The new wing of the Kindergarten run by Basel Church in Kota Belud would not have been built if not for grant given by the state government. In fact, it took seven years (1999 - 2006) to have the block fully completed because the initial grant was not sufficient to meet the full construction cost.
The Kindergarten celebrated its 20th Anniversary on 14 November 2014. I was invited for this occasion because we acted as the consulting engineers for the new block.
It was obvious the Kindergarden chose the right candidate to officiate this occasion, Ex-Chief Minister and current Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, Salleh Keruak. He spoke more like a national statesman rather than a local leader of a racist political party of which he is a member. He spoke of inclusiveness of all Malaysians irrespective of racial or religious affiliation rather than exclusivity for a specific race. He affirmed the policy of the Kindergarden in accepting and educating children from both non-Muslim and Muslim families.
He appeared to be the only lone voice in his racist party in "admonishing" the Ex-PM of Malaysia who unashamedly gave tacit support to one Muslim NGO who openly proposed the burning of Bibles which contain the word "Allah".
His speech provoked encouraging response from the audience and it was just short of a standing ovation. He seemed genuine in his support for the Kindergarden judging from his allocation of RM15,000 yearly to the Kindergarden from his YB fund.
In Malaysia, the problem is that most politicians do not say thing of what they believe is right and proper but rather what yields high ballot count. Their sole aim is to stay in power and the rest is secondary.
Hopefully, time will tell.
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