Malaysia Chinese Association(MCA), the largest political party of Malaysian Chinese, has appealed to the government to allow for more Chinese schools to be built, particularly in densely populated areas.

The appeal was among the seven main thrusts contained in the party memorandum on the 9th Malaysia Plan, which was endorsed by the MCA Central Committee Thursday, MCA president Ong Ka Ting told reporters after chairing the three-hour committee meeting .

MCA is also the second largest component party of the 14-memberNational Front (BN) which has ruled the nation since Malaysia's independence.

"The memorandum would be submitted to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and other relevant government departments," he said.

Besides appealing to the government to build more Chinese schools, the 56-year-old political party also wanted the government to provide financial assistance to the Chinese schools.

"The shortage of teachers in Chinese schools was highlighted and steps to resolve it were also clearly stated in the memorandum," he said.

However, Ong refused to reveal the number of Chinese schools that MCA was asking for, saying that the "matter was reserved for internal discussion."

He also refused to reveal details of the financial assistance, required by the Chinese schools.

"Details would be discussed internally. The matter, which is yet to be resolved, would be discussed in the spirit of Barisan Nasional (National Front) and in a more constructive manner," he said.

On a related point in the memorandum, Ong said MCA had proposed that government increase the competitive advantage in the Malaysian economy in the context of global environment.

MCA also proposed to revitalize the agriculture sector, and to solve the issue related to the land ownership and labor shortage.

Other than adopting knowledge in information, communication and technology to improve national productivity, the party also proposed that the government should enhance the quality of human capital by focusing on a work-class education and training institutions, while at the same time, nurturing a caring society with high moral values.

Malaysia has a population of 25 million, of which 6 million are Malaysian Chinese. Currently there are about 1,200 Chinese primary schools and over 60 Chinese secondary schools in Malaysia.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2005)