The scheduled expansion of a road in Kuala Lumpur is threatening to further 'squeeze' an already constricted Chinese primary school.

Despite its unassuming structure and limited space, SRJK (C) Khai Chee is considered one of the most prestigious and oldest Chinese schools in Kuala Lumpur.

Located in Segambut, along Jalan Kuching, the 1.12 acre school has a student population of 2,300.

Due to limited space, students do not have a field and their annual sporting events are held at a nearby stadium.

There is only one basketball court for outdoor activities, but it may have to go.

Under the planned road upgrading project, 5,000 sq ft of the school's land is expected to be affected which includes the basketball court and a sound/retaining wall.

The school, inaugurated in 1949, suffered its first blow in 1968 when its four-acre plot of land was reduced to almost half to make way for the construction of Jalan Kuching.

School vows protest

The vice-chairperson of the school's board of directors, Hwang Chia Sing ( photo, below ), lamented that the upcoming road works will worsen the school's situation.

"We will do whatever we can to preserve the land, even a strong protest, although we really hope we do not have to do that.

"If you want to demolish an illegal settlement for development, you have to relocate the residents. This is a school, shouldn't there be a proper solution for it?" he asked when met at the school recently.

One solution would be to relocate the school, but previous cases indicated that the government had not be amenable to such requests.

"All of us know that the location in an industrial estate like this is not suitable for a school, but what can we do? We want to see what the authorities will offer us first," he added.

No formal notification

He said the school has yet to receive any formal notification from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) that its land will be affected.

"We were alerted by parents about the project. It's strange that DBKL did not inform us about the project at all," he added.

However, he said school officials were briefed on the project when they approached the City Hall.

"The engineers from DBKL informed us that the project is definitely on and part of our school land will be used too," he added

Hwang said school authorities have to take immediate action since the project is now open for tender.

"We cannot wait till DBKL formally informs us about the project. By then, it would be too late to take any action," he pointed out.

Another blow

Adding salt to the injury, the school was recently asked to return the 4,000-odd square-feet land which houses the canteen, classrooms and computer lab, to its owner, Tan Chong Motors.

Tan Chong had offered the use of its land when the school's compound was dramatically slashed after Jalan Kuching was built.

"That piece of land belongs to Tan Chong. But we built a canteen and classrooms on it as we thought there will be no problem since they (the owner) can't use it for any other purpose as there is no access roads at all," Hwang said.

However, he hopes the owner will allow them to continue using the land in order to develop Chinese education in this country.

Due to limited space, Hwang said the school was forced to turn away some 50-60 students from nearby residential areas.

"Khai Chee is the only Chinese school in the area. We had to play down the fact that our students' examination results topped the Kuala Lumpur schools list, as we can't accommodate too many students," he added.

Meeting sought

Hwang also expressed concerned for the safety of students when the road is upgraded.

"The traffic is already busy. Can you imagine how it will be when it is upgraded?" he said, adding that the school is also surrounded by three petrol stations.

According to Hwang, school authorities have approached Federal Territories Ministry parliamentary secretary Yew Teong Lock to look into the matter.

"Yew promised to come up with proper plans for Khai Chee. We also have written to the Kuala Lumpur mayor (Ruslin Hassan) and Federal Territories Minister Mohd Isa Samad and requested a meeting with them," he added.

The school is still waiting for an answer.