THE naming of a new building of a Chinese primary school in Simpang, Perak, after Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Nga Kor Ming has raised a controversy.
According to Chinese press reports today, SJK (C) Sin Min’s decision to honour Nga for helping to secure a RM220,000 grant for the school, did not go down well with some netizens.
One of them, Cally Ting, post a video clip of the school building accompanied by three questions for Nga. She wants to know if Nga has donated money to the school, and if so, the amount.
She also wants to know if the school has named the new building after Nga in appreciation of what the Teluk Intan MP has done for the school.
On the 3D Chinese characters for Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Nga Kor Ming Building affixed on the new block, Ting wanted to know the cost and whether it involves funds from the government grant.
“I asked these questions because Nga Kor Ming has once reminded the school not to pay through the nose for substandard goods and not to abuse the education allocation, for which he said every single sen must be spent on the school’s pupil,“ Ting was quoted as saying.
According to Nanyang Siang Pau’s report, Nga declined to comment on the questions and said he would leave it to the school to answer them.
Chairman of the school’s board of director Lo Swee Yong explained that during the fundraising campaign, the school had made it a point to name the block after whoever could help obtain RM100,000 from the Education Ministry.
He said since Nga had help secured RM220,000 from the government, the school decided to name the building after Nga.
However, a director, Soo Ching Chuan, who is also a trustee of the school, said he was not aware of the decision.
Soo also questioned the decision, saying Datuk Tan Lian Hoe, a former deputy minister, also helped the school to obtain RM1 million grant under the Barisan Nasional administration but her name did not appear on the block.
