Mandarin mania explodes across Southeast Asia

FOR years, Chong Hwa, one of the best Chinese high schools in Malaysia, saw relatively low turnout of students during the annual admission season.

It was out of concern that its education system based on Chinese language was ineffective in churning out quality products able to compete in a world largely dominated by fairly good English-speaking people. So it was not unnatural for the school to see many parents, including those of Chinese origin, reaching out to other schools whenever it opened its doors for a new round of student intakes.

But things took a different turn this year. The independent school surprised everyone when it received a record 1,400 applications. Other Chinese high schools in Malaysia also saw new enrolments touching 13,500 this year. The more surprising news was that these schools had to reject 2,635 applicants, including 440 by Chong Hwa.

This is the first time the new enrolment in Chinese schools had crossed the 13,000 mark, and it is also the first time such a large number of applicants had been turned away, The Star reported. Chinese independent schools, for years, have remained schools of the last resort to many parents in Malaysia. Most of them arrived at these schools' doorsteps after facing rejection from other schools due to their kids' poor grades. If not, it used to be for sentimental reasons, like preserving the Chinese heritage by teaching their children some Mandarin.

But China's rise, economically and politically, has whipped up businessmen-like sentiment of "learn Mandarin if you want to succeed" among many parents, prompting even the skeptic ones to change their outlook toward these schools.

As a matter of fact, even the Malaysian government has been trying to change its reach toward China. Last year, Malaysia gave an exclusive permit to a Chinese commercial bank to start its operation in the country. Such permits have not been given to foreign banks in recent years.

In the same year, Prime Minister Najib Razak called upon the country's Malay population to learn Mandarin saying "the language is one of the many assets of the nation".

Although Malaysia's population is largely made up of Malays, it also has a significant number of people of Chinese origin who had migrated to the country more than 150 years ago.

At around the same time, teaching of Chinese language took a hit in other southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Viet Nam which had become home to fairly large number of Chinese migrants. The reason was the ongoing Maoist movement in China and fears that spread of the language would fan communist sentiment among people.

Indonesia's military ruler Suharto even banned teaching of the Chinese language in the country at that time.

But after the ban was lifted in 1999, more universities in Indonesia have started offering Chinese language courses and the number of students learning Mandarin has also gone up in the country.

Others in Asia are also jumping on the bandwagon of learning Mandarin to add colour to their resume and get an edge over others.

In Japan and South Korea, many people attending Chinese clients have started taking up Chinese language classes. In these countries, many tour companies and shopping complexes have made learning basic Chinese a requirement for staff so that they can better serve the nouveau riche from Asia's second largest economy.

It is the same in other Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and Cambodia — that are keen on bringing in more Chinese investment and enhancing trading relations with China. In these countries, there is a growing feeling that learning Mandarin is as important as learning English.

Take for instance Singapore, which last year launched the "Speak Mandarin Campaign", with the country's first premier Lee Kuan Yew urging Chinese community to speak Chinese language with their children rather than English.

"Don't worry about them learning English," Lee, who learnt Chinese language at the age of 32, had then said. "They will pick it up in schools, they will meet friends and take exams in English. They will master English. But if you want your children to master Mandarin, speak to them in Mandarin."

Asia News Network