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Last Updated: 4:11pm, Jun 27, 2014

PETALING JAYA (June 27): The appointment of Datuk Chua Tee Yong as deputy finance minister has raised some eyebrows as he is not seen as MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai’s cup of tea.

China Press says it learnt that Liow did not include Tee Yong in the candidate list he submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The son of former MCA president Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek made it through to the expanded cabinet with the help of an “honourable man” from another Barisan Nasional component party, the daily was told.

Citing a source, the report said the person recommended Tee Yong for the post because he was of the view that the post should be held by a professional with the relevant background.

Tee Yong, who is the MP for Labis and who had previously served as deputy agriculture and agro-based industry minister, is a trained accountant.

In the case of Datuk Lee Chee Leong - Chua Soi Lek’s team member during the MCA leadership tussle -   his selection as deputy international trade and industry minister is said to be due to the fact that his factional background has faded somewhat since he was elected party vice president.

Meanwhile, Oriental Daily News said Tee Yong’s appointment was seen as a positive turnabout that could reunite the different factions in the party.

While expressing surprise that Dr Hou Kok Chung – another MCA vice president who was recently made a senator - was not re-appointed as a deputy minister, the daily quoted some grassroots leaders as saying that Tee Yong’s appointment was both fair and reasonable because he was the sole MP among four MCA vice presidents.

“In previous general elections, the opposition had attacked MCA for making it to the cabinet through the back door (via senatorship) and argued on this ground that there wasn’t a need to vote for MCA.

“Hence, many grassroots members opine that whether or not a potential candidate is an elected MP should be the main consideration in cabinet appointments,” a grassroots leader said.

Education Ministry sticks to its plan

Sin Chew Daily reported that the Education Ministry has rejected Chinese educationists’ demand to drop its plan to post 51 Chinese language teachers - who were trained in Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris to teach in national and national-type secondary schools - to residential and vocational schools.

Citing United Chinese School Teachers Association (Jiao Zong), the newspaper said officers in Deputy Education Minister Datuk Mary Yap’s office had told them the government would stick to its plan as there it sees nothing wrong in the posting and that it is in line with the government’s objectives.

The officers also said that apart from the 51 graduates, another 106 graduates who were also trained to teach in national and national-type secondary schools would be posted to Chinese primary schools.

These trained teachers must report themselves at the schools on July 1, Jiao Zong was told.

Jiao Zong has in a media statement expressed its disappointment and dissatisfaction over the decision, saying the ministry appeared to be oblivious to the demands of the national and national-type secondary schools as well as the voices of the Chinese community.

Earlier, Jiao Zong said the arrangement was unreasonable and inappropriate because national and national-type secondary schools themselves were facing a shortage of teachers.

Pointing out that the Mandarin classes in the residential and vocational schools is at beginners level, the education group opined that it was unfair to the trained teachers as well as a waste of resources to post teachers trained to teach in national and national-type secondary schools to those schools.


For more stories, go to www.fz.com, the website for freedom of expression and fairness in articulation.


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