M’sian Chinese Man Lets Tamil School Use His Land for Free as He Wants the Kids to Learn Their Mother Tongue

In our multicultural country, it is touching to see acts of kindness being shown by people of different races.

A local Tamil primary school has been able to run for the past three decades largely out of the kindness of a Chinese rubber trader in Sitiawan, Yek Dong Ping.

As reported by Sin Chew Daily, Yek purchased a piece of agricultural land in Ayer Tawar, Sitiawan thirty years ago but allowed the operations of the Tamil primary school, SKJT Ayer Tawar to continue on the site.

Not only did Yek not collect any rent from the school, but he even went as far as to pay quit rent for the school, as their building occupies half an acre of the land.

The school has been operating since 1938 and its legacy continues due to the generosity of this one man, who also supports Chinese schools.

“I want the Indian children to have the opportunity to learn their mother tongue”, the 78-year-old man said. The school’s two vice headmistresses have also praised him for his contributions.

Last year, several school representatives approached Yek to buy the land. They planned to refurbish dilapidated classrooms and expand the school. Although the school’s board of directors did not have the funds ready, they planned to start a fund-raising campaign and apply for government allocation.

Despite the estimated value of the land being approximately RM200,000 an acre, Yek agreed to sell almost three acres of land for RM400,000 for education purposes.

The school agreed to this price, and Yek said, “As the school is sourcing for funds, I expressed my intention to donate RM500,000. So, the price was capped at RM350,000.”

The building being refurbished

“A year later, the school representatives approached me again for donation as the school was unable to raise RM350,000. I finally agreed to donate another RM50,000 to sell the land at RM300,000,” said Yek.

On top of that, Yek also sponsored school activities and delivered mandarin oranges to the school during Chinese New Year. “I am not rich, but I can still pay the school’s quit rent,” he said.

Yek explained that he bought the land for investment but was supporting the Tamil school in return for the support he had received from Indian rubber tappers, whose children study there.

We truly applaud Yek’s actions and hope that there are more generous citizens like him!

Image source: Sin Chew Daily