AT a time when Malay parents are eagerly sending their children to National-Type Chinese School a.k.a. SJKC, a Chinese mother is feeling the heat as she is contemplating switching her daughter to a national primary school (SRK) given the child’s difficulty to cope with Mandarin writing and reading.
“I’m Chinese. My child, who is six years old will enter Primary 1 in 2027 at the age of seven,” penned the presumably Penangite Ishani (@cu_tgal) in a post on Threads which has garnered 7.8K likes, 980 comments, 257 re-posts and 96 shares at the time of writing.
I’ve already registered her with SJKC but she shows little interest in the Chinese language in terms of writing and can only read a few Chinese words although she has no problem speaking Mandarin.
“That’s when I’ve decided to switch to SK Convent Green Lane. However, many of my friends and relatives are querying why send my kid to SK because Chinese children don’t attend SK anymore in this new era.
What’s everyone’s opinion? I like to know what everyone else’s perspectives are.
Interestingly, a fellow Chinese mother consoled the poster that she also chose the SK path for her kid given she herself was a product of “SK and SMK (National Secondary School) when I was small”.
“I let my child study at SK, nothing wrong with that,” justified one Annie Fung (@fung5458).
This was when one supposedly teacher chipped in to second the opinion that “it’s not about sidelining Mandarin but we need to prioritise and be fluent in BM (Bahasa Malaysia) as citizens”.
“A wise choice, madam. I once invigilated SPM-level UBBM (Malay Language Speaking Test) and found put that Chinese pupils from SK have better BM command than those from SJKC,” she praised.
“Their choice of words, vocabulary and pronunciation are accurate and easy to understand.”
Balancing child’s interest with public perception
Another Chinese mother stressed the need to balance “the child’s interests” with public pressure.
“Don’t think too much of you’ve decided (to send child to SK). No harm for Chinese kids to study in SK. I’m also a Chinese, yeah,” counselled one @mamakopidulu.
My nephew excels in both SK and SMK and later obtain a scholarship. If a child can excel in his/her studies, any school is the same. Of course, we as Chinese want our children to know Chinese, right?
But we also need to look at the child’s interests. Remember, the child is yours, not someone else’s.
Delving further, a Malay SMK teacher gave her two sen worth based on the academic performance of her Chinese pupils “who’re all from SJKC”.
Honestly, it’s very pitiful to see them struggle … It can be said that most of them don’t understand BM at all and sadly, all subjects at secondary level use BM as the medium of instruction since we’re in Malaysia.
Because they don’t understand BM, they become weak academically, henceforth I strongly encourage you to send school your child at SK instead.
Moreover, as some parents pointed out, Mandarin language classes are now available in selected SKs as an elective/additional subject, usually for about two hours a week.
Well, some SK advocates did seize the moment to encourage the poster to school her daughter in SK so that “her life can be full of colours because she’s surrounded by many friends from different races ✌🏻”.
At the end of the day, a private tutor and educator advised the poster to send her daughter to SK given “your child is more inclined towards BM and English”.
“If you put him or her in Chinese School, she might not be able to cope due to language barrier. Don’t have to worry about others opinion, do what is best for your child. Your child comes first.” – Oct 29, 2026
