Malay Mail, Tuesday, March 12, 2013

INVARIABLY, the appeal for Lim Lian Geok’s citizenship reinstatement would be on the wish list of major Chinese based NGOs’ memorandums. Teacher Lian Geok’s predicament was the focus of this column last April titled On Acceptance and Tolerance. This revisit is necessitated owing to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s decision to attend the recent Dong Zong CNY Open House. This critical decision is already setting the stage for a major thaw in government-Chinese education engagement. There is anxious anticipation from both sides.

In political struggles the hero or villain roles are interchangeable. That’s when the common assertion about history being written by victors come to play. For context, let’s look at these personages. Dr M.K. Rajakumar of Labour Party was considered a “trouble maker” and ISA’d from 1966 to 1969. To many other Malaysians, he was a selfless man whose quest for social government policies, perhaps till today. Rajakumar was also famed for habitually not charging consultation fees from those he knew could not aff ordit. He passed away in 2008 never openly acknowledged by government leaders though much admired in private, by all.

Lim Hock Siew, former PAP politician and Said Zahari, former editor-in-chief Utusan Malaysia were ISA’d in 1963 under Operation Cold Storage for 20 years and 17 years respectively. They were regarded a threat to national security, though never formally charged. Arguably, the top celebrity in the ISA Gallery is Chia Thye Poh. He was ISA’d in 1966 (at 25 years old) and released in 1989 to be placed under house arrest in Sentosa Island till 1998. He refused repeated off ers to be released on the condition that he disavow affi liation with the Communist Party of Malaya and renounce violence. Chia’s conscience wouldn’t allow it as accommodating the authorities’ requests was akin to an admission. He said he wouldn’t fi nd peace. Chia could only accept freedom the righteous way. Talking about principles, one can only imagine the extreme frustration of his keepers and I must think, his kin too. Theirs was in an era where political ideologies formed the backdrop in everyday lives. Folks were routinely labelled rightists or leftists, and being the latter was perilous. I suppose the Cold War forced positions into either a “with us or with them”.

Teacher Lian Geok first came here in 1927 and taught around South East Asia until 1935. The same year he decided to make Malaya his home and taught in the Confucian Middle School. On Aug 12, 1961 he was served the notice of intention to retract his citizenship. One week later his teaching permit was revoked. His fi ght to retain his citizenship commenced on Sept 12 and by Feb 27, 1964, his case was dismissed by the Privy Council, London and his citizenship offi cially revoked on Oct 23 the same year. One of his counsels was Tan Sri P.G. Lim.

And to convince the constituents he had planted his roots, he sought citizenship in the Federation of Malaya, and was granted in September 1951. His wasn’t a result of any “social contract” in the run-up to the pre-Merdeka negotiations. Malayan self-rule was a mere concept at that point.

Sixty of such schools which resolutely refused have remained until today and are known as Independent Schools. They conduct their A-levels known as the Unifi ed Examination Certificate (UEC). The UEC is accepted as an entrance qualifi cation by top universities worldwide, however it is still not recognised by our public universities. Teacher Lian Geok passed away in 1985, aged 84. The funeral procession was reported to be five kilometres long. He was a co-founder of the United Chinese School Teachers’ Association better known as Jiao Zong, which took care of the welfare of the lowly paid teachers then. The SJKCs now number about 1,300 of the nearly 8,000 primary schools and they routinely take in 20 odd per cent of total primary school enrolments.

Many students from the system became leaders in commerce, industry, politics and government. His “guilt” was being steadfast with his point of view. His was an era where the authorities believed their view was the only correct view and dissenters faced the whip. Yet, Teacher Lian Geok was relentless. There was no commercial or career gain and he was already 60 years of age. Could he be just like the authorities, were “fi ghting for the same cause”?

Upon being notified by the Registrar-General of Citizens after a three year battle, he told reporters he had no regret sacrificing for a noble cause. There is no time like the present to re-instate Teacher Lian Geok’s citizenship. Symbolic it may be but still a gesture of critical fence-mending. The PM has set the tone with Dong Zong, now he can engage Jiao Zong.

YEW MENG is the media and marketing adviser to the Redberry Group CEO