Tiger Beer's fundraiser concert for Chinese school in Malaysia raises opposition’s hackles, highlights state funding woes

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KUALA LUMPUR: As a board member of his alma mater, a Chinese vernacular school, lawyer Wong Kong Fatt knows how difficult it is to raise funds for new buildings, halls and classrooms.  

Receiving little government funding, the school has no choice but to raise funds from public sources and private entities.

Last year, it targeted RM5 million (US$1.07 million) in a fundraiser organised by beer brand Tiger and Chinese media company Sin Chew, and ended up exceeding the amount, said Mr Wong, who represents the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) and the United Chinese School Teachers’ Association (Jiao Zong).

“A lot of money is needed for repairs of old buildings as well as to modernise them,” he said. Funds are also needed for acquiring land.

Mr Wong declined to name his alma mater, given feverish debate brewing over Malaysia’s vernacular schools receiving help from alcohol companies to raise funds.

Earlier this month, the country’s deputy housing and local government minister Aiman Athirah Sabu was pictured with a mock cheque for over RM3 million at a concert fundraiser for Tche Min school, a vernacular primary school in the state of Selangor. The mock cheque bore the logo of Tiger Beer.

Opposition politician Mohamed Sukri Omar, Selangor Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) Youth chief, seized on the issue and asked if it was an attempt at normalising alcohol in schools. He claimed that the sanctity of Islam would be increasingly threatened by the liberal attitude.

Other politicians and the Education Ministry waded into the debate. Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said on Tuesday that all schools, including vernacular schools, are not to receive funds from tobacco or alcohol sponsors. 

Government guidelines since 2018 have prohibited schools from accepting donations generated from activities such as gambling and the sale of tobacco, drugs and alcohol.

But Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who is the Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) secretary-general, questioned why the matter was being made an issue now, given alcohol companies have been involved in fundraisers for Chinese schools for decades.

On Thursday, Tiger, a Singapore brand which is owned in Malaysia by Heineken Malaysia Bhd, broke its silence and said it does not make monetary contributions to schools.

Its Chinese Education Charity Concert (CECC) programme, a partnership with Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily, is a platform for local communities to help raise funds for upgrading Chinese school facilities, it said.

The brand’s role is “solely in presenting local performing artists for the concert that is organised for the donors”, it said, without elaborating if this involves paying the performers.

“Our communications and engagements are kept at the level of the school’s Parent-Teacher Associations (PIBG) and the Board Members that run the schools,” it said.

The CECC has existed for 30 years and raised more than RM413 million, Tiger said. 

The organisers “have always been mindful in ensuring that all programmes and activities organised are respectful of religious, cultural sensitivities and compliant with the local regulations”, it added.

In a statement on Friday (Jul 26) after the Malaysian Cabinet’s weekly meeting, the Education Ministry said the government had agreed to maintain existing guidelines, which include barring the display and promotion of liquor on school premises.

“At the same time, the Cabinet has also taken a stand to give consideration to vernacular schools to receive funds via their board of directors and foundations, as has been practised by several past administrations but had never been questioned by any party,” it said.

“However, the Cabinet has stressed that any activity involving alcohol brands cannot involve Muslim students,” it said.

VERNACULAR SCHOOLS “ALWAYS FACE FUNDING ISSUES”

The debate has raised questions on the level of government funding for vernacular schools, the acceptance of funds – directly or indirectly – from firms linked to goods deemed to cause social harm, and whether the opposition distorted the facts.

Malaysia’s primary schools are either national or vernacular – Chinese (SJK(C)- and Tamil-medium (SJK(T) – schools.

Vernacular schools have the same syllabus as national schools, barring the language subjects. They make up nearly one in four primary schools in Malaysia, according to 2020 data from the Ministry of Education.

Secondary schools are either national or independent schools. As of 2021, of the 2,444 secondary schools in Malaysia, 82 are Chinese government schools which are also known as SMJK, while 63 are independent Chinese high schools. There are no Tamil secondary schools in the country. 

The SMJKs were once Chinese-medium schools, but opted to use the Malay language and the national syllabus for government aid. They are considered vernacular schools as they allocate more time for Mandarin lessons. 

Although not all students at Chinese schools are ethnic Chinese – about 20 per cent of students in Chinese primary schools are non-Chinese, for example – these schools have drawn brickbats from certain quarters who argue that they hinder national unity, and want them shut.

Funding has been a longstanding issue for some vernacular schools in Malaysia, and these schools often have to raise the bulk of funds needed themselves.

Vernacular schools sited on government land receive full funding, while vernacular schools on land owned by the school board or trustees are only partially funded, explained Mr Arun Dorasamy of the Centre for Vernacular School Excellence.

“For the partially-funded schools, the government will only pay the salary of the teachers and basic allowance for students. All the overheads, maintenance of buildings and construction of new buildings are not paid by the government,” he said.

He added that about 85 per cent of Chinese schools and 67 per cent of Tamil schools were partially funded.  

“These schools always face funding issues. They have to rely on philanthropists, businesses, donations from parents and communities as well as fundraisers,” he said, adding that most of the donations for vernacular schools came from the public and small businesses. 

Tiger and another beer brand, Carlsberg, have been major fundraisers for Chinese vernacular schools for decades. Their efforts have contributed almost RM1 billion (US$214 million) to Malaysian vernacular schools in the last 30 years.

Last year, Tiger raised more than RM26 million for eight institutions, the highest amount recorded in a year since the inception of the CECC programme and more than double its initial target of RM12 million.  

Carlsberg, through its Top Ten Charity Campaign, has raised RM568 million over the past 37 years for 684 schools nationwide, according to a report by The Rakyat Post. 

For SJK(C) Tche Min school’s fundraising concert, teachers also chipped in.

According to news reports, 17 teachers donated at least half of their monthly salaries to support the construction of a new multi-purpose school hall.

The school’s deputy headmaster Teoh Lee Keng told The Rakyat Post that their collective effort raised over RM200,000, including donations collected from others.

“Since starting this fundraising initiative in April, our teachers have gone above and beyond, not only contributing their own money but also rallying support from the community,” the deputy headmaster was quoted as saying.

Funds raised with the help of companies are significant, Mr Wong told CNA, and they include not only alcohol brands but also gaming companies. 

Others that have contributed to Chinese schools include supermarket chain Econsave and conglomerate YTL.

In his view, such a mode of fundraising is no different from companies paying taxes to the government, which are then used for public services. 

“These companies pay tax which are also used to build public (infrastructure) such as roads and bridges,” he said.

What’s important, he said, is that Tiger is not placing its logo in schools and is not encouraging students to drink. 

While Tiger did not elaborate on what “presenting” performance artists for fundraising concerts entails, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur United Chinese School Committees’ Association secretary-general Low Chee Chong said in a Malaysiakini podcast that concert sponsors “primarily cover the costs of the performers, lighting, sound, and promotional materials”.

“What they are actually paying for are the costs, not giving donations directly,” he said.

MIXED VIEWS ON ROLE OF ALCOHOL COMPANIES

Tiger’s involvement in the fundraisers has incited a wide range of views, with some questioning if the same practice by tobacco firms is permissible.

Research in other countries has shown that alcohol advertising influences underage drinking, and may cause youths to view alcohol and drinking more positively. 

Some countries have restrictions on alcohol and tobacco marketing, particularly efforts directed at youths. In Malaysia, almost all forms of tobacco advertising and promotion are prohibited while alcohol promotions are allowed to be communicated over electronic-based media but not on broadcast media such as television, radio and public digital platforms.

Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia told CNA it is not a good idea for such companies to be involved in fundraising or donations.

“Personally, it gives the impression that if you donate big sums of money, you can buy your way in and endorse behaviours that are not encouraged,” the public health expert said. 

However, the sort of fundraising by Tiger may be acceptable to some people, based on their culture or background, she acknowledged.

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) expressed its “profound” concern and strong opposition to the acceptance of donations from brewery and tobacco companies by schools.

“By accepting donations from these industries, schools risk normalising substance use among students, undermining efforts to cultivate good habits and healthy lifestyles from an early age,” MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said in a statement on Jul 25. 

“Education should empower students, not expose them to behaviours that can lead to addiction and related health issues later in life,” she added. 

Mr Arun said alcohol and tobacco companies should not engage directly in corporate social responsibility efforts, and any charitable foundations they set up that help schools should bear “different names”.

“It is a form of soft marketing by having their names there,” he explained. “They should set up foundations with different names and help the community anonymously without their branding,” he said.

On the current saga, he said: “The only part that I would have done differently (is) not to have the Tiger logo displayed at the concert.”

Former Member of Parliament Kua Kia Soong, a proponent of vernacular education, said he has never approved of fundraising by breweries in schools as it goes against the values that schools try to promote. 

“Before the brewery promoters protest that they are not promoting alcohol drinking, can I follow up with the question of whether cigarette companies can do the same? 

“For example, can cigarette companies also raise funds for Chinese schools even if they also proclaim that they are not encouraging schoolchildren to smoke? The double standard is only too clear,” he wrote in a letter that was published on several news websites. 

Mr Kua added that Chinese politicians had responded with knee-jerk reactions by condemning PAS for its objections.

USED TO SCORE POLITICAL POINTS

Accusations have flown on both sides of the political aisle, with DAP politicians accusing PAS of distorting the facts.

Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said with the shift towards a more conservative and religiously oriented outlook in the country, some politicians have pounced on the issue to score brownie points among those they perceive to be their core support base. 

“There are also those who are more bigoted and tried to hijack this issue in order to deprive the Chinese schools of financial support, with the hope that these schools would thus wither, such that all Chinese students would go to national schools,” he told CNA.

Political scientist Dr Syaza Syukri of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) said that while the issue had been blown out of proportion by the opposition for political mileage, the school was irresponsible in allowing deputy minister Athirah, a politician from Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), to be on stage with the cheque.

“She is Muslim and from Amanah, an Islamist party. The optics are not good especially when we talk about the so-called sensitivities of the Muslims.

“It might seem harmless but in politics, perception is everything, so this is very avoidable in the first place,” she said, adding that it made the government an easy target.