Thursday March 8 D’sara school now in containers Zakiah Koya and Ng Boon Hooi 10:51am, Thu: School is in session - in containers - on the grounds of a Chinese temple. For children of the controversy-engulfed SJK (C) Damansara, today is the first day they are studying in these air-conditioned containers, which they consider heaven-sent. The children have been studying in makeshift classes, separated by plastic sheets and surrounded by ‘Save Our School’ banners, on the temple grounds for the past two months ever since the authorities decided to seal off the 70-year-old SJK (C) Damansara at the Damansara New Village. Sources say that the Chinese education movement, Dong Jiao Zhong, donated the containers, fully furnished with chairs and desks, for the students’ benefit last week. Early this year, students from the school were directed by the Education Ministry to temporarily transfer to SJK (C) Puay Chai (II) - a few kilometres away - while awaiting the completion of a new school in Tropicana. The majority of the students have since moved to Puay Chai (II) but 67 have stayed put, and continued their classes at the neighbourhood temple. The children, all hailing from the Damansara New Village itself, have become very confident and if asked about the issue, are capable of giving a speech on the reasons why they are still attending school on the temple grounds. This is because the children do not spend only their school hours at the temple and around the old school. Even during weekends, there are many programmes held on the temple grounds. During these events, speeches are given by personalities and community leaders calling on the authorities to listen to the plea of the villagers to re-open the old school. Volunteer teachers Lee Hui Qian and 66 other children who have refused to move to Puay Chai (II) until the new school in Tropicana is completed, understand what the fuss is all about. “It has to do with the relocation,” says nine-year-old Lee, very confidently, while her bespectacled friend Chiew Kim Lai shakes her head in agreement. Lee says that she loves studying in the new containers as it has air-conditioning, a feature which even the old school did not have. “I love this school (the temporary one on the temple grounds) better than the old one,” says Lee, pointing to the much fought-for school across the temple. Chiew adds shyly that the volunteer teachers are also “very nice”. “They (the volunteer teachers) are less strict,” said Chiew. A dozen volunteer teachers are teaching the children as all the government teachers have moved to Puay Chai (II) on orders of the Education Ministry. Monsoon drain danger Chin Hong Wei, though only eight years old, is fully aware of what happened to his old school. He had spent his first year there. "Our school is closed, that is why we have to come to school in the temple," says Chin. Chin said that he does not want to move to Puay Chai (II) as ordered by the authorities. He then lists down the problems at Puay Chai (II), stating that he had visited Puay Chai (II) at Bandar Utama once. Chin's classmate Wong Chee Foong says they do not want to move to another school as their homes are here. "Puay Chai (II) (the new site) has another school and it is very noisy. We don't like to move into it," says Wong, as he digs in to eat his instant noodles snack. "There is also a huge longkang (drain) in front of the school," says Wong. "What happens if we fall in?" Chin asks with concern. The parents of those who moved to Puay Chai (II) have highlighted the fact that the big monsoon drain alongside the side gate is not covered and poses a danger to the children. As the side gate to the school is right beside the main road, school buses prefer to drop and pick up the children at the side gate rather than at the main gate. Weather factor Wong, who admits that although the new containers have made the environment more conducive for studying, says that the original school was cooler and that it was very warm at Puay Chai (II) due to the lack of trees. "We love the teachers here, because the teachers do not give us a lot of homework," Chin interjected his friend’s serious explanation of the weather at Puay Chai (II). Chin said that he prefers the volunteer teachers as they only punish them with ketuk-ketampi (stand-ups) if they get zeros in their spelling. “In the old school, the teachers used to cane us twice!” he said cheekily. All in all, it is quite obvious that even if the parents were now to agree to transfer their children to Puay Chai (II) or any other Chinese school for that matter, the biggest opposition would be from the very children who have stayed put.

Wednesday March 21 Police stop TAR students from petitioning for D’sara school Ajinder Kaur 6:11pm, Wed: Police today ordered a group of Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) College students to stop a signature campaign in support of the controversial SJK (C) Damansara school. Spokesperson for student group TAR College Progressive Movement, Ng Chong Soon, told malaysiakini that three police officers questioned group members for almost 20 minutes and told those who had gathered to sign the memorandum to disperse from the area. Ng said that the students launched the campaign this morning at a restaurant in Taman Bunga Raya, Setapak, near TAR college. “An hour later, at about 12.10pm, three policemen came and questioned us. They asked us for our identity cards and ordered the rest of the students to leave,” he said. He said that the police also asked them whether they have a permit for the gathering. “After recording our names, they tried to confiscate our identity cards without any valid reason,” Ng said, adding however that they managed to recover their identity cards. He added that the police continuously threatened them for organising an “illegal assembly”. “We regret the police’s action as it is a restriction of an individual’s right to organise activities that are not against the law,” Ng said. “We hoped to raise awareness that the right to mother-tongue education should be respected and we wanted to gather support from other college students,” Ng said. The campaign, which began at 11am this morning, managed to garner 200 signatures before it ended abruptly after the police arrived. Staying put Students of the Damansara school were supposed to have moved to Puay Chai II in January while awaiting the completion of the new school building in Tropicana. However, an initial 67 students, later joined by seven others, and their parents, rebelled against the decision as they were dissatisfied with the authorities’ rationale for the relocation as well as the lack of information on the future of the 70-year-old school once it is abandoned. They are presently continuing their schooling at a neighbourhood temple.