United through language: Nur Inas with her former classmates. — Sin Chew Daily/Media in ArmsThe Chong Hwa Kuantan graduate does not only speak Mandarin with a Chinese accent, but also scored an A- in Chinese for her SPM examination last year, in which she bagged 7As.
“I had thought of transferring to a national school many times. I couldn’t even speak Mandarin before Year Three in primary school, but luckily, I improved after Year Four,” she candidly shared, adding that her two younger brothers had opted to transfer out to a religious school and a national school respectively, because they couldn’t keep up with their studies in Mandarin.
According to statistics provided by the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia to Sin Chew Daily, the total number of non-Chinese students in independent schools nationwide is 1,636. Sabah has the highest number of non-Chinese students at Chinese high schools. The benefits of being multilingual are vast, concurred Prof Dr Juliana Othman, a professor of language education in the education faculty of Universiti Malaya.
Similarly, ASP Hamizan Ismail, 35, who completed his secondary school education at SMJK Nan Hwa in Sitiawan, Perak, said knowing Chinese has helped him in his career as a police officer, as the force needs officers who can speak several languages.