The Chinese Malaysian community has been left stunned by the resignations of five department heads of New Era College (NEC) yesterday - and more may follow suit.

memo to suhakam immigration ban 140907 kua kia soong This was a show of protest against the decision on Sunday by the United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) not to extend the service of dean Kua Kia Soong (left) when his contract expires in December.

The five who have quit are Chiam Yan Tuan (Academic Department); Diong Chi Tzuoh (Public Relations and Student Affairs Department); Leong Seng Yee (Student Enrolment); Chong Joon Kin (Education, also acting head of Media Studies), and Soon Choon Mee (Drama and Visuals).

In a joint statement, they stated their loss of confidence in Dong Zong President Yap Sian Tian’s leadership and disappointment with his refusal to heed the wishes of the community, lecturers and students.

Kua had expressed disappointment and anger yesterday in a statement, but said the Chinese community will eventually judge who was right or wrong in the matter.

new era college 220905 He sarcastically congratulated Yap for his “successful crusade” against him, noting that this has destroyed the management and reputation of NEC.

“What can I do when the boss has written to me to say I will not be re-hired? I will have to look at the response of the Chinese community, which is my (real) boss,” he added.

Diong told China Press that he believes a few other department heads will choose to leave NEC shortly.

He said that he expects Yap to remove all the current heads within the next two years for having backed Kua during a protracted battle for control of NEC.

Long-running spat

NEC, founded in 1998 by Dong Zong and other Chinese educational bodies, was seen as the first step toward realising the community dream of a Chinese-language university in Malaysia.

dong zong meeting 080408 yap sin tian Kua, a prominent educationalist and human rights activist, has been embroiled in a long-running spat with Yap ( left ) who is also the NEC council president .

This erupted into an open quarrel in June, when 14 department heads were allegedly 'evicted' from a council meeting by Yap, during a discussion on whether he or Kua has jurisdiction to appoint department heads.

Since then, Kua and department heads have frequently exchanged words with Yap and his supporters via the Chinese media.

The two are marked by different personality traits that have come to the fore in dealing with pressure from the government - Kua is said to be more confrontational, while Yap is inclined towards negotiation.

Yap's camp has accused its rivals of incompetence, violation of the college constitution and indiscipline.

Kua's camp, in turn, has thrown accusations of autarchy, false academic credentials, interference in academic freedom and violation of campus autonomy.

It has also alleged that there are moves to oust the radical faction in the Chinese education fraternity, in order to establish dictatorship under Yap.

It claims that Yap, who became Dong Zong president in 2005, started plotting towards this in August 2006, when he had refused to extend the appointment of Dong Zong former CEO Bock Tai Hee.

Failed attempts

In July, community elder Sim Mow Yu and others had tried to broker peace between the two camps, but failed.

Other parties – including scholars, NGOs and columnists - have since tried to secure Kua’s reappointment, but Yap has shown no inclination to heed their calls.

The NEC board of directors, said to be controlled by Yap, had placed an advertisement at the end of September to invite applications for a new dean.

Kua was also invited to apply, but he rejected the opportunity as a ‘personal insult’ to him.

dong zong egm new era college isu 021108 group.jpg Late last month, Dong Zong members from Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan called for an extraordinary general meeting, purportedly with Kua’s support, to decide on a motion to retain him as dean for at least a year. This would have also been a vote of no-confidence in Yap.

Held last Sunday, the meeting was a major disappointment for Kua and his supporters when 10 other states rejected the motion.

The community has fought for a Chinese-language tertiary-level education institution ever since the Merdeka University case was overruled by the Federal Court in 1982.

Several opportunities had opened up since the March 8 general election, but the community has been too preoccupied by the wrangling within NEC to take advantage of these.