The air was so stuffy to a point that it was almost suffocating. With a heavy heart and a highly complex frame of mind, I drove down to Pontian from the capital city, my head stuffed with all sorts of emotions.

I was mentally, not so much physically, drained having driven 350 kilometres in a little over four hours, especially with my mind still overwhelmed with frustration over the politicisation of something which had taken place just a couple of days earlier.

Why on earth could an event that for the past three decades had been wholly dedicated to education and had helped shape countless of talented young Malaysians for the local Chinese community, be politicised and given a bad name? I really can’t fathom out why!

I attended the Tiger Beer Sin Chew Chinese Education Fund-raising Concert at a Chinese primary school in Pontian with my colleagues on July 20. The atmosphere soared to a boiling point with over a thousand participants filling up more than 160 tables for nothing but the future of Chinese language education in this country!

That evening’s event marked the last leg of a series of Tiger-Sin Chew charity shows for the year. The unfortunate politicisation of this event put fear in me that this could as well have been the very last leg of the 30-year fund-raiser by Tiger and Sin Chew!

As soon as I arrived at the school, I told my colleagues that we must go backstage to cheer the artistes up.

At the backstage, I told everyone: This thing will soon be behind us, and we mustn’t let ourselves be emotionally disturbed by it.

The artistes nodded in agreement: Don’t worry about us. We’ll give our best shot and will put up the best show for the guests.

I felt perturbed leaving the backstage: Was I trying to comfort them, or just myself?

For the first time in 30 years, the backdrop on the stage was changed from Tiger Sin Chew Chinese Education Charity Concert to simply Sin Chew Daily Chinese Education Charity Concert, the Tiger Beer logo dropped for the first time!

That was also the first time the artistes did not put on the Tiger T-shirts they usually did, but a black colour one in its place…

Tiger’s representative was not seen on the stage to deliver a speech, nor strike the gong, nor receive a hamper as a token of appreciation from the organisers, nor join the rest on the stage for the family photo session…

When we were cheering on the stage for hitting our fund-raising target, Tiger’s representative had to just sit quietly down there, almost unnoticed. I was yelling deep inside me: No, this is not fair to you, Tiger!

Normally after a show, the organisers would arrange supper for the artistes, who would usually take only very light meal before the show for optimal stage performance, and would make up later with a proper one after the show.

My colleagues and I went back to the hotel, took down our suits and changed to more casual black colour T-shirts to join the artistes for supper. That was to show that we were one with them and were on the same boat!

During the supper, an artiste softly told my colleagues: My eyes were almost blurred by tears thinking about this thing on the stage.

She said: Our goal is very simple and straightforward. All that we’ve wanted is to do something for Chinese education in this country!

I understand how these people feel. They are doing all this for Chinese education, and they only charge a very low nominal fee for the show.

It was almost midnight after the hasty supper, and these people still had to take the 350 km overnight journey back to KL!

Another artiste told me it was hard to sleep during the bumpy bus ride, but I think this is perfectly normal for artistes who at times may have to rush to the next show or back to the city for the following day’s work.

I was curious whether those who take joy in making life difficult for other people actually know the hardships these artistes have to go through.

Will it eventually become a sad reality that we can afford a small step forward only after being forced back by two steps?

For the past 30 years, Tiger has helped raise more than RM400 million for over 500 Chinese primary schools across the country, and for that it deserves some sincere accolades.

I was thinking how many students would have to attend their classes in dilapidated classrooms as funds for their reconstruction were unavailable, were it not for the Tiger charity concerts.

Those students might have to wade through murky floodwaters to access their classrooms after every downpour; they might have to attend their weekly assemblies in stuffy, cramped, run-down school halls, while their teachers might have to work at very primitive spaces.

I remember when Taiwanese singer Bobby Chen was at a Chinese primary school in Karak, Pahang, for a Tiger charity concert back in 2011, he was looking around the little town, and discovered that there were quite a number of luxury sedans parked there. He was puzzled, but later came to know that many of the school’s alumni had come back here from the city to show their support for the fund-raising event.

Bobby Chen was deeply moved that many Chinese Malaysians had gone an extra mile not just for the sake of their own alma mater but the education of the younger generation.

Although the school is only a rural micro establishment that houses not more than 150 students, a whopping RM1 million was raised in that particular evening’s event alone!

Chinese primary schools in the country typically need to raise funds to finance their annual operations, many having to wait for years before funds are actually made available to them.

Former Heineken Malaysia managing director Roland Bala, an ethnic Dayak from Sarawak, said he was deeply moved when attending a fund-raiser at a Kapar Chinese primary school in 2022, where more than RM6.5 million was raised by the local Chinese community for Chinese language education.

Back to his office, Roland immediately summoned his managers, telling them raising funds for Chinese schools was something they must support wholeheartedly, and he indeed instructed his managers to do the same.

Following that, we were reassured to see that even a Westerner was at one such event delivering his speech on the stage on behalf of Tiger Beer!

Roland Bala has told me on several occasions that he wanted schools in Sarawak to learn from the Chinese community on this side of the South China Sea, and that Tiger Beer would continue to do its part for the schools.

Roland, who has since been promoted and is out of the country at this moment, must have been tremendously devastated knowing what has happened here lately.

Indeed, such eventuality will send anyone in despair!

For over 30 years, I have over and again stressed that every single Chinese primary school in the country should be an icon of the local community’s development, as well as something the local residents can take a lot of pride in.

Chinese schools are not just for ethnic Chinese students; they have become the preferred educational option for many non-Chinese parents in this country, too.

I told the participants at the last concert: Luck has never been on the side of Malaysia’s Chinese education. We have been able to come this far because of the concerted efforts of the local Chinese community…

Adversaries of Malaysia’s Chinese language education are everywhere and aplenty – some outright and others implicit – but fear not, as we have never backed off and will continue to brave the storms which come our way.

Back to the shophouse hotel in Pontian in the wee hours of the morning, my heart was chilled…

It is inconceivable that a politically motivated antic could possibly wipe out three decades of hard work and dedication, a kind-intentioned fund-raising event for charity malignantly smeared. Are we this vulnerable that we would allow such despicable politicians to stop us with their evil designs?

How are we going to move on from here in the years to come? Fortunately, deputy education minister Wong Kah Woh and other conscientious organisations have stood up for us, but will it eventually become a sad reality that we can afford a small step forward only after being forced back by two steps?

Chinese education is never a smooth journey in the first place. Along the way, there are bound to be people who will walk with us through the wildest tempests. Whether the way forward is sunny or glum after the storms, it is my wish that we will carry on persistently.

I have stopped writing for years, but this incident has sent me picking up my pen again to speak up for Tiger and the artistes. They are championing a sacred cause, not doing something to defile the name of charity.

P/S: In addition to Tiger Beer, Sin Chew Daily has also worked with Hai-O Foundation and Econsave for similar events to raise funds for Chinese schools in Malaysia.

(Koo Cheng is Sin Chew Daily Chief Executive Officer.)