I thank Dong Jiao Zong New Era College principal Dr Kua Kia Soong for his comment o­n my writing .

Let me first and foremost offer my sincere apologies for having relied purely o­n a front-page report in the Oriental Daily News, headlined 'Quek Suan Hiang's son 'in trouble' - failing to secure a job for lack of proficiency in Chinese' (my translation). And I did get o­n with writing my article without being bothered to verify the content of the report with the paper's editorial team. Nevertheless, I made it clear o­n the outset that Quek's 'parable' was meant to remind the Chinese Malaysian community of the importance of the Chinese language so as to encourage more Chinese Malaysians to not stop supporting vernacular education.

Secondly, I admit my use of "humbugs" to refer to certain leaders in Dong Jiao Zong was rather strong. Again, I will not withhold my deepest apologies if those in the movement, Kua included, have taken umbrage at my choice of word, which I did o­n purpose to express my personal anger.

Compared with the veterans in Dong Jiao Zong, my contribution to the Chinese education movement appears doubtlessly minimal and utterly insignificant. Be so as it may, my seven years of experience - including o­ne year's retention due to my failure to score the required mark in mathematics in order for me to move up - as a Chinese independent school student has left a deep mark in my life.

I shall relate two stories to elaborate my strong feelings about certain, not all, Dong Jiao Zong leaders not sending their children to Chinese schools, and why I have come to see their decision as hurtful to many.

As o­ne such student, I was required to do fundraising for the school at least o­nce a year, and my first taste of contributing to the Chinese education movement came when I was 13. I did it with delight. But as I grew older, reality began to bite.

On o­ne occasion, an elderly man, noticing our pure-white uniforms, came to me and my classmates, saying, ''Young people, why are you collecting money from us? For your school? Don't you know that your own school's director sent his children overseas even for primary education? Don't you know some Dong Jiao Zong leaders' children also do not speak Chinese? I used to give money to your school; I even sent my first two children there. But o­ne day they came back telling me that some of the school directors sent their sons and daughters to Singapore for quality education. I felt cheated. Now I don't give that much." Unable to answer, we simply walked away.

The second incident that triggered my distrust for certain Dong Jiao Zong leaders came when I visited a good friend of mine, whose father was a school bus driver and mother a laundress. The father told me the fact that he sent all his children to my school despite their meagre family income. "I am not complaining. I just don't understand why an ordinary person like me can choose Chinese education for myself and my children, but many of your schools' directors and our community leaders, who are far better off, cannot?" I was o­nly 17 years old then, but I left his house heavy-hearted.

Later in life, I continued to encounter similar remarks the moment people learnt of my educational background, reflecting that the disillusionment, resentment and anger felt by many grassroots Chinese Malaysians are not to be easily dismissed.

Kua, in his capacity as a Chinese educationist, has every right to rebuke my tirade against the leaders that he genuinely loves and respects, but I myself find it hard to accept the oft-repeated rough-condition argument. After all, many hawkers, street vendors, rickshaw riders, rubber tappers and so o­n, sent their young o­nes to Chinese schools while the Alliance government at that time was doing its best to lure them into the newly converted national-type schools. It is to these people that, I believe, those movement leaders owe a satisfactory explanation and apology.

I did take the Unified Examination Certificate mentioned by Kua, which later enabled me to pursue my A-level studies in the UK. However, whenever I come to think of this, I feel a great deal more thankful to the working-class Chinese, my parents included, who donated their hard-earned money to making my alma mater what it is today and Chinese education in Malaysia a legend, and less to the leaders who chose non-Chinese education for their own children.

Finally, I certainly do not question Kua's qualifications as a champion for Chinese education; in fact, I admire his determination to master the Chinese language despite his English-speaking background, as well as his fortitude in the face of the powers-that-be. Neither do I claim my schadenfreude over the controversy caused by CC Too justifiable; it was driven more by a home truth made public rather than a "primordial loathing" for the Chinese education movement.

Nowhere did I in my writing call for a ban o­n the movement; I merely wanted its leaders to be consistent in their words and deeds so that there would be o­ne less loophole for the ill-intentioned regime to launch a smear campaign in the future.