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Showing posts with label Beijing Foreign Studies University. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beijing Foreign Studies University. Show all posts

Thursday 26 January 2012

Will China's rise shape Malaysian Chinese community?



Khoo Boo Hong of the Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi clan associations in Penang, Malaysia. Khoo Boo Hong says overseas Chinese are no longer seen as the rich ones
 
In Malaysia's northern state of Penang, a distinct shift is being felt in the immigrant Chinese community, as it rides the wave of China's economic rise.

The Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi, one of the richest clan associations, used to send money back to their ancestral home in Fujian province, China.

But that is changing as places like Sin Aun, a fishing village that the clan members' families hail from, are now bustling and have no need for money sent from overseas.

"In the past, overseas Chinese were seen as more wealthy but now the Chinese from China are even richer than us," says the clan association's Khoo Boo Hong.

Indeed, Chinese money is becoming more visible in Penang. A bridge that is currently under construction is being partly financed by a cheap loan from the Chinese government. The 4.5bn Malaysian ringgit (US$1.4bn) project is set to be the longest bridge in South East Asia, stretching 24km (15 miles).

The Chinese community in Malaysia acts as a bridge for business opportunities in China. The Chinese community in Malaysia acts as a bridge for business opportunities in China.
 
In 2010, Malaysia was one of China's biggest trading partners from South East Asia. Two-way trade hit 147bn Malaysian ringgit (US$46.3bn) last year, with a push to more than double that amount by 2015.

'Special relationship'
 
Much of the trade has been established by the Chinese Malaysian community, says Oh Ei Sun, the former political secretary on Chinese affairs to Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Malaysia was the first South East Asian country to form diplomatic ties with China in 1974.



China's diaspora

  • First major emigration in 14th-16thC by traders and seafarers
  • Colonial powers used Chinese as labourers in SE Asia and the Americas
  • But also have reputation for business success
  • There are about 30m overseas Chinese in total
  • Indonesia and Thailand have the biggest numbers - 7-9m each (estimates)
  • Singapore has the highest concentration - 3m, or 75% of its population
As a result the two countries have a special relationship, and the Chinese in Malaysia have tried to exploit this kinship by developing business ties with China, says Mr Oh.

The Chinese began arriving on Malaysian shores in the early 15th Century. Today, they make up 24% of a population of 28 million, and have always been more prosperous than other ethnic communities.

According to a 2011 Forbes magazine list, eight out of the top 10 richest Malaysians are ethnic Chinese.

This wealth imbalance has fuelled long-standing resentment among the Malay majority. It erupted into deadly race riots in 1969 - violence that two years later led the government to implement an affirmative action plan called the New Economic Policy.

This gave ethnic Malays and indigenous groups privileges over the Chinese and Indians, such as cheaper housing, priority in university scholarships and civil service jobs. The policy officially ended in 1990 but it has been succeeded by similar plans.

Businessman Lim Cheah Chooi hires Malaysian or Singaporean Chinese managers for his factories in China Lim Cheah Chooi hires Malaysian or Singaporean Chinese managers for his factories in China
 
"The quota system is still in place on so many levels," says Teo Nie Ching, a lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Action Party. This limits job prospects for Malaysian Chinese in certain businesses, including listed companies, she says.

"After so many generations [the Chinese] still feel that we are second class citizens," Ms Teo says.
Analysts say this sense of alienation has made many Malaysian Chinese look for opportunities elsewhere, including China.

Speaking the language
 
As the Chinese economy opens up, Malaysian Chinese act as a bridge because many are educated in the United States or Britain but they can also understand the Chinese language and culture, says Lim Cheah Chooi.

His engineering firm, Unimech Group Berhad, has production factories in China, but he employs Malaysian or Singaporean Chinese at the middle management level.

This is something you see even among local Chinese companies who export to the West, says Mr Lim.

"How many people can say they speak Mandarin, multiple Chinese dialects, Malay and English? Most Malaysian Chinese can," he says.

This advantage is maintained because of Malaysia's multilingual education system. Ethnic Chinese and Indians can choose to study at the primary level in their mother tongue.

With the rise of China, more and more people, including non-Chinese, want to learn Mandarin, says Yong Yeow Khoon, CEO of the Chinese-language newspaper Guang Ming Daily in Penang, who is also a board member at an independent Chinese school.

The number of non-Chinese in Chinese vernacular schools is estimated to have grown to over 60,000 over the last three decades.

Even the Malay prime minister has sent his son to learn Mandarin at the Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Optimists point to this as a sign of increasing acceptance of Chinese culture by the Malay community. But some say this is wishful thinking.

Attitude change?
 
Although the government has been pushing for national unity through the 1Malaysia slogan, analysts interviewed by the BBC do not believe that there is a fundamental change in attitude towards the Malaysian Chinese.

Economist Cheong Kee Cheok, who used to work for the World Bank, says some Malays do not distinguish between the Chinese from China and the ones from Malaysia.

"Malaysia in some ways is hostage to its own politics," says Mr Cheong.

He also says that Malaysia needs to be more aggressive in accessing the Chinese market. It may have had a head start in China, but "unfortunately...never used this advantage".

He believes much more can be done to facilitate relations between the two countries. At the moment most businesses who get into China are through the individual efforts of Malaysian Chinese businessmen, he says.
He says Malaysian leaders are not serious about China's rise.

The latest visit from Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in April could lend credence to this theory.

Malaysian blogs were filled with complaints about the grammatical mistakes on the welcome banner put up for Mr Wen in Chinese, suspected to be roughly translated from Malay.

Interpretations vary but the Chinese banner read: "Official welcoming ceremony, with him together his Excellency Wen Jiabao official interview Malaysia."

Many comments on Lowyat.net forum said that was shameful, given that ethnic Chinese people form the second-largest population in this multi-racial country.

"What do you expect? No Chinese working in government," wrote automan5891.

Related post:

Chinese, and truly Malaysian?

More on This Story

Wednesday 27 April 2011

China Wen:Serve the people well, aim for big accomplishments, not big titles!



Aim for big accomplishments, Chinese Premier tells students
By MAZWIN NIK ANIS and NG CHENG YEE  newsdesk@thestar.com.my  PETALING JAYA:

Premier Wen Jiabao kicked off his official visit to Malaysia with a dialogue with Universiti Malaya students, advising them to aim for big accomplishments rather than big titles.

No matter what job they undertake, they must serve the people well because when they do good for the people, they would always be remembered, he said.

“No matter how senior the position, he will eventually be rejected by the people if he does not serve their interest.

“I will always stay with my people. I will devote myself to develop my country and the happiness of my people.
Warm welcome: Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (second from right) inspecting the guard of honour upon arrival along with Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifa Aman at the VIP terminal of the KL International Airport Wednesday. -AFP
 
“That is my honest advice to you and encouragement to myself,” he told the audience, who responded with thunderous applause.

Wen spoke of how he switched from being a geologist to a politician, saying that he had worked in the mountainous Gobi Desert in northwest China for 14 years.

“At that time, I did not think about being a political leader or the Chinese premier,” he said, adding that the opportunity for him came from China's reform and opening up of programmes.

“I had the opportunity to move from the mountainous area to a senior leadership post in the government,” he said.

He said he was recounting his personal experience as he wanted young students to aim for big accomplishments and “not big titles”.

Wen is here on a two-day visit to reciprocate Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's visit to China in 2009.

Also present at the dialogue session were Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Khaled Nordin, Minister-in-Attendance Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and university vice-chancellor Prof Dr Ghauth Jasmon.

Wen also stressed on science and technology in national development, which he described as the key to bring about changes to the economy and society.

Wen said a Malay Studies Centre would be set up at the Beijing Foreign Studies University in a move to enhance educational co-operation between Malaysia and China.

Wen said he liked spending time and talking to young people to learn about their feelings and aspirations.
Bernama reports that Wen is accompanied by a 118-member delegation, including four ministers.

This is his second visit to Malaysia after attending the first East Asia Summit and the ninth Asean-China Summit and Asean Plus Three Summit in 2005.



UM students thrilled to hear ‘Grandpa Wen

By TAN EE LOO educate@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's humanitarian gestures and concern for his people have made him a popular leader and idol among Chinese students.

“When our country was grappled with the Szechuan earthquake, he visited the sites and gave words of encouragement to the victims and those affected by the natural disaster. This shows that he cares for his people. He is my idol,” said Chinese student Li Yang of Shanxi, when met during Wen's visit to Universiti Malaya.

The IT student, who has studied in Malaysia for three years, said Wen liked to establish close rapport with his people by having dialogues during the Spring Festival.

Popular leader: Students greeting Wen when he arrives at Universiti Malaya where he had a dialogue session with them in Petaling Jaya Wednesday. 
Also known as “Grandpa Wen,” the Chinese premier made UM his first stop during his two-day official visit to Malaysia.

UM students, especially the Chinese nationals, were thrilled to meet the Chinese leader as they waved the Chinese and Malaysian flags to welcome him and his delegation to the university.

Wang Jing of Hebei said she got very emotional the moment she heard Wen speak about how China managed to move forward with the help of science and technology.

“There are 1.3bil people in China. It's very rare to be given a chance to meet and hear him speak in person.”

Put people first, says Wen

2011/04/28 By Azura Abas news@nst.com.my

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (right) meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a welcome dinner on board a Cruise Tasik ship  at  Putrajaya Lake last night. Wen, who arrived yesterday, is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia. — Bernama picture
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (right) meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a welcome dinner on board a Cruise Tasik ship at Putrajaya Lake last night. Wen, who arrived yesterday, is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia. — Bernama picture

KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged university students to aim for big accomplishments and not big titles. He said no matter what one was doing, as long as one served the people, the people would always remember the deed.

"No matter what senior position one has, if he doesn't serve the people, he will eventually be rejected by the people," he told hundreds of students during a visit to Universiti Malaya (UM), which kick-started his visit to Malaysia yesterday.

Also present was Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
Wen said China's reform and opening-up programme had given him the opportunity to enter politics.

"When I was working as a geologist for 14 years at the mountainous Gobi Desert area, I had not thought about being a leader or the country's premier.

"The reform and opening-up programme allowed me to move from the mountainous area to the political stage."

Wen also spoke of the contributions of science and technology in driving China's progress.

To stimulate the science and technology sector, he had listed several measures, including encouraging players in the sector to innovate, to discover and to have independent thinking.

"Their successes should be celebrated and their failures should be well understood and tolerated."

He also stressed the importance of knowledge, saying it was the source of progress, happiness and strength and for that, he said education must be a top agenda of a nation.

At the university, he visited a photography exhibition on historical China-Malaysia friendship visits, interacted with students and staff, and presented books on China.

He also planted a friendship camphor tree with UM vice-chancellor Professor Dr Ghauth Jasmon.

The camphor tree, which had medicinal properties and used in Chinese traditional medicine, was chosen to signify UM's commitment to form a firm and steady friendship with the people of China.

Ghauth earlier said the university recognised the strong collaboration with a number of top academic institutions in China.

"There has also been a marked increase in the number of students from China in this university, especially in the fields of engineering, science, business administration and Malay studies.

"In order to further facilitate the needs of students in China who want to pursue their education in our university, we have set up an offshore office in Beijing that acts as a centre for information and recruitment."

There are 347 students from China in the university.

Earlier, Wen, who led a 118-member delegation for the two-day visit, was greeted at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang, by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.