SUCH IS the rebuttal from rightist UMNO Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh to DAP veteran Teresa Kok for seemingly championing formal education for some 41,745 children of Rohingya refugees in Malaysia to prevent them fron illiteracy which could be a major social ill poser to Malaysia.
Call that decent ridicule from the self-proclaimed defender of race and religion after the duo crossed swords over the halal accreditation brouhaha in September 2024 which resulted in an on-going RM25 mil legal suit by the six-term Seputeh MP over the “sexist, misogynistic Nyonya Tua (slang for elderly Chinese woman)” trigger.
Through a video uploaded on social media, Akmal claimed that the existing school facilities still face shortcomings, including over-populated classrooms of 35 to 40 pupils, damaged tables and chairs, and a shortage of teachers.
“The burden on teachers is already heavy. If facilities are inadequate even for Malaysian children, how can we open schools to refugee children?” justified the Merlimau state assemblyman.
“As a lawmaker, she ought to first understand the challenges facing the Education Ministry (MOE) and debate how to improve the situation rather than arguing for schools under MOE to be opened to refugee children.”
This is when Akmal ridiculed the former DAP vice-chairman: “Therefore, I propose to Teresa Kok that Chinese private schools – which I observe to be fully equipped with all necessary facilities – be opened to refugee children so they can study for free. Do you agree or not?”
Why not open up SJKCs instead?
Truth be told, the rightist fraternity, parents and concerned citizens have been up in arms over Kok’s schooling proposal for Rohingya children by mocking her to “propose Chinese schools as dumping grounds instead”.
“We’re full-fledge Malays … Don’t mess with the rights of Malaysians,” fumed Threader IKA MF (@ika.mf__ ).
“Let the children of the nation study in government schools safely. Remember, we’re Malaysians, not refugees.”
Another Threader pointed to official data from the MOE which shows that there are 1,303 Chinese National-Type Schools a.k.a. SJKCs nationwide.
“And if 41,000 refugees are evenly distributed among each of the 1,303 Chinese National-Type Schools (SJKC), each school could accommodate 30-31 pupils,” suggested the observant netizen.
“Coincidentally, this meets the requirement for the maximum number of quality teaching based on the views of education experts and global research findings. So I ideally agree to place them in SJKC.”
More broadly, one Malay mother called on the relevant authorities “to consider the fate of our children whereby one class already has to accommodate 40 pupils”.
“Imagine our six-year-olds will start enrolling in Year One from next year (2027) and now there’s a proposal to include non-citizens as well,” rued free mental math app Power Congak co-founder Farah Nadia Zainal Abidin.
“(Moreover), the bullying issue is not over yet, the issue of school murder is getting worse and this?????????? “
Even youth advocate Yeemin Chen felt that the call by the 61-year-old seasoned Kuala Lumpur-born politician is impractical.
“As a Chinese Malaysian, I feel betrayed by this statement,” chided the NGO Peninsular Youth deputy chairman to a huge applause as indicated by the 22.5K likes, 2.1K comments, 4K re-posts and 790 shares to his post at the time of writing.
“National schools are for MALAYSIANS who pay taxes and have blue ICs. Not for Rohingya refugees who come to Malaysia illegally.”
Ironically, a seemingly pri0-Madan netizen traced the “existence of the Rohingya refugees in Malaysia” to UMNO and PAS which went to the extent of organising the Himpunan Solidariti Ummah Rohingya during heydays of the Najib administration. – Oct 10, 2026
Main image credit: T6 (@tenangstudio_)/Threads
