KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — Recently, there was a local political storm over Malaysia’s vernacular Chinese primary schools (called SJKCs for short) and their funding by a popular beer brand.

While the issue (it was primarily a money concern) has ended for now, there may be some aspects that you missed, or didn’t know about. Here’s Malay Mail’s short guide to understanding what it was all about.

The Education Ministry’s website lists a total of 1,303 SJKCs in Malaysia now, with an overall population of 490,607 students.

SJKCs are part of the national education system and as such, are entitled to receive allocations from the government.

However, how much depends on which of the two categories they fall under: government schools or government-aided schools.

Out of the 1,303 SJKCs, 417 are government schools, which means they are fully funded by the government; but the majority, 68 per cent (886) are government-aided schools, which means they get partial government funding.

So what does the government allocation cover?

Based on the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, the Education Ministry uses the same set of criteria to allocate the number of teachers in government schools and government-aided schools, and fully pays their salaries.

Based on a November 18, 2021 written parliamentary reply by the Education Ministry, here are other things government-aided schools get from the government:

Is that sufficient money to sustain these government-aided SJKCs?

Nope. That’s why they need to organise fundraisers.

According to a January 9, 2010 public statement by Dong Jiao Zong — the umbrella group for two Chinese-language education in Malaysia comprising the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) and the United Chinese School Teachers’ Association of Malaysia (Jiao Zong) — SJKCs have always faced difficulties in securing sufficient development funds.

This covers the repair and maintenance of existing schools, as well as constructing new ones.

So where do beer companies feature in all these?

The short answer is by indirect sponsorship, such as when these schools hold charity concerts. The companies do not give the schools money but cover the cost in kind.

Heineken Malaysia’s annual Tiger Sin Chew Chinese Education Charity Concert, running since 1994 (except 2020 due to Covid-19 and a virtual event in 2021), raised over RM407 million for 540 Chinese schools by 2023.

It partnered vernacular newspapers Sin Chew Daily and Guang Ming Daily for the charity concerts that are aimed at collecting funds for new buildings, classrooms, canteens, halls, computer labs, and smart classrooms, according to information from Heineken Malaysia’s website.

In the recent controversy over a charity concert for SJKC Tche Min in Selangor, Heineken clarified that it only provided local artistes to perform in the concerts and did not donate money made from its beer sales to the school.

Heineken also said it only communicates with the parent-teacher associations and school boards.

Teachers at SJKC Tche Min also reportedly donated RM200,000 towards a RM3 million goal for a school hall.

Separately, Carlsberg Malaysia’s Top Ten Charity Campaign, running since 1987, has raised RM568 million for 684 Chinese schools by 2023. The Top Ten campaign had previously earned two Malaysia Book of Records titles for the longest-running Chinese charity concert with highest funds raised.

Despite a three-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2023 campaign alone raised RM20.5 million to fund infrastructure upgrades for 10 schools.

In 2018, Carlsberg said it had spent RM90 million for the campaign (which had been carried out for decades). Carlsberg covers the production, operation, and promotion cost of the concerts.

Like Heineken, Carlsberg partnered other vernacular newspapers China Press and Nanyang Siang Pau for this fundraiser. Previously, the company ran charity campaigns at various food and drink establishments, donating 50 sen from each quart of beer sold to the Top Ten fund.

Do SJKCs get direct cash donations then?

Yes. They do this by selling tickets to concerts and sit-down dinners and asking the public for donations. At the concerts, attendees can also donate more than the ticket price.

In one such Top Ten charity dinner for an SJKC in Muar, Johor last year, Nanyang Siang Pau reported that each table price cost RM2,000, with donors also offered different number of VIP tickets depending on how much they donated (e.g. RM1,000 or more would get two VIP tickets; RM10,000 and above would get five VIP tickets, RM30,000 would get one VIP table).

What is the government’s view on such charity concerts?

On July 26, the Education Ministry said the Cabinet agreed to maintain existing guidelines, including not allowing the display and promotion of alcohol in school premises for fundraising activities for schools.

The Cabinet also allowed vernacular schools to continue receiving donations through their school administration boards and foundations as had been practised without dispute during past governments, but said activities involving alcohol brands cannot involve Muslim students.

In the 2013-2025 blueprint, the Education Ministry aimed to create "transparent and equitable” guidelines for funding government and government-aided schools, and planned to encourage the latter to voluntarily convert into government schools.

For example, it would encourage landowners of government-aided schools to give long-term leases to the ministry, or let the ministry hold the land on trust without transferring land ownership.

The ministry sought a unified support system for all public schools and proposed a new funding formula in its 2016 report on the blueprint, focusing on the specific needs of different schools rather than a standard per capita grant funding or based on the number of students.

The 2017 report highlighted the inequities of the existing funding method, and the 2018 edition called for revisions to improve financial aid distribution.