Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak yesterday came to the rescue of MCA, reassuring the Chinese community that the recently approved Kuantan Chong Hwa school is a ‘genuine’ Chinese independent school in which its students can take the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) test.

During a dinner organised by the Pahang Federation of Chinese Associations in Kuantan last night, Najib affirmed that the school will adopt a ‘parallel tracks’ syllabus that allows its students to take both the SPM and UEC tests.

“If there are quarters who interpret that Kuantan high school cannot take the UEC, or even accuse that the Chinese community has been duped, all of them are not true,” he was quoted as saying by Sin Chew Daily today.

He stressed that the Kuantan Chong Hwa school is an independent school that is needed by the Chinese community.

Since the approval of the school was granted in July, the result of a struggle that spanned over 20 years, many Chinese education groups including the influential United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) have claimed that the approval letter from the Education Ministry is equivocal over the medium of language and the main qualification examination of the school.

Lim Yew Jin, vice-chairperson of the Kuala Lumpur Chung Hwa independent school’s board of governors, which is the applicant for the Kuantan Chung Hwa school, had also conceded that there were ‘discrepancies’ between the application put in for the school and what was actually approved.

MCA, which defends the approval, has been under fire for allegedly misleading and duping the Chinese community by giving them a ‘mutant’ independent school.

During his speech, Najib also exculpated MCA, giving credit to the Chinese-based party for playing a proactive and important role during the approval application.

“Who said MCA ministers did not do their job? That was not true!”

The premier announced that he has instructed a charity foundation to donate RM2 million for the construction of the new school.

The Kuantan Chong Hwa school, which will be the only Chinese independent school in Pahang, was approved by the government following a 5,000-strong protest led by Dong Zong.