The first Chinese School in Denpasar, open to all children

By Susi Andrini

DENPASAR (JP): Qi li (Stand up), chingle (give respect). The shrill voices of children of between two-and-a-half to four years of age were heard saying in unison, Lao shi zao (Good morning, teacher). Tong xue men zao (Good morning, pupils), said the teacher in reply, adding ching chuo (please sit down), when she asked the pupils to sit down.

These Chinese phrases were said in a classroom in Indonesia, not somewhere in China, Hong Kong or Singapore or another Chinese-speaking region. This is a classroom in a school in Bali, the island of the gods whose fame as a tourist haven has spread far and wide the world over.

This island province, where dharma is upheld and the Hindu deities are worshiped, now, in the midst of the high tide of the reform, can boast of having a Chinese school. The school oriented toward Chinese culture stands in an imposing position on Jalan Hayam Wuruk in Denpasar.

The uniquely Chinese image of the school is manifested by red lanterns hung under the eaves of the school building.

The school, inaugurated in September last year and named Cahaya Harapan Indonesia Sejahtera (Light of Hope for a Prosperous Indonesia/CHIS), has only 15 pupils in its play group class. In the new 2001/2002 school term, it will receive pupils for its kindergarten classes. Many are curious why this school has been established in Bali and not in Jakarta or other major cities in the country. "Because I'm a Balinese," said Putu Parwata, a real estate developer who initiated the establishment of this school. "I want to see Balinese clever."

Putu and his three friends set up CHIS not only because of business considerations but, rather, because of a lofty ambition to give Bali, in particular, and the nation, in general, the best education possible.

Another factor which motivated them to initiate the establishment of a school with Chinese as the language of instruction is that a mastery of Chinese will be a great advantage in the present era of globalization, especially considering the position of Bali as a major tourist destination which must keep up with the world trend toward market liberalization.

A working knowledge of Chinese would be important for future business dealings with Chinese-speaking businessmen, he said, adding that a lot of Chinese motorcycles are now sold in Indonesia.

Fong Sadikin, operational manager of CHIS, meanwhile said that as Chinese is now the second language in the world in terms of the number of its speakers, children should be introduced to this language very early in their lives so that they could be proficient in the language. "Children usually pick up a foreign language more easily than adults," he said.

In the present reform era, it is not so difficult to start a school with Chinese as the medium of instruction. There is a lot of freedom now to learn the Chinese language, unlike conditions under the New Order era when anything of Chinese culture and language was banned and the Chinese language was learnt only within the family or in university.

Today you can set up a school with Chinese as the medium of instruction and students need not be confined to ethnic Chinese only. This school is open to all Indonesian children as the most important thing is that it applies the national curriculum.

To ensure that the school will be satisfactory for the pupils, the founders visited Singapore several times in search of the best teaching system and materials. After a survey of some eight months, they finally decided to forge cooperation with Singapore's San Yu Adventist School, to which CHIS is now affiliated.

This means that when a student completes his studies at CHIS, he can pursue higher studies in Singapore. CHIS has a long term plan to establish an elementary school, a junior high school, a senior high school and, if possible, a university.

To realize this plan, the founders need a huge amount of funds. They have spent around Rp 2 billion on the setting up of the play group and kindergarten. Naturally, the school fees are not low. Naturally, high fees also means good facilities. The play equipment for the pupils, for example, is all from Singapore.

Pupils are introduced to colors, shapes and numbers with the help of a computer. There are also extracurricular activities, like dancing, for example. Apart from Chinese, languages used in the classroom are Indonesian and English. It is quite common in this country for an superior quality school to charge high fees.

In view of the high fees, only children of well-off people can afford to attend the school. This is not always the case, though. Putu said that if parents could show a certificate of poverty from the village administration, also confirmed by the sub- district head and the district head, the parents could send their child to the school free of charge.

Putu expressed the hope that CHIS could survive as this would indicate the public's acceptance of the school. For him, the most important thing is that the teaching and educational objectives of the school can be achieved, namely providing a good basis for the children to develop themselves, their attitude, their knowledge and their creativity so that they can adapt themselves with their surroundings.

Curriculum

CHIS adopts a curriculum based on a combination of a Chinese/Singaporean curriculum and the one prevailing in Indonesia. Take, the kindergarten. Just like in any normal Indonesian kindergarten, the pupils will be introduced to letters, numbers, colors, names of fruits and names of vegetables.

These words will also be introduced to them in Chinese and English. School starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 11 a.m.

The lao shi, Lyn-lee has 20 years of teaching experience to her credit. She has taught in many places like Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Macao. Though she is already 61 years old, she keeps good spirits while teaching. Her voice is loud and firm. She teaches her pupils how to maintain good discipline. Once in the classroom, a pupil, for example, is not allowed to urinate. Therefore, before they enter the classroom together to study for one hour and then during breaks, she would always ask pupils to xiao bian first (go to the toilet).

Although she looks as if she were just playing with her pupils, closer observation will reveal that she is actually teaching and educating the young children. She has taught these children to sing English and Chinese songs. On one occasion, for example, she introduced to her pupils Chinese verses containing anecdotal wisdom and translated them into Indonesian.

Some of these verses were: pai-pai zuo, chi quo quo (sitting in a row, eating fruit), or mei-mei shui, llu yi qe (younger sister is now asleep, leave one for her). By reciting these verses, the children learn to love their siblings and avoid greediness, for example.

The children learn and sing, over and over again so it is not surprising that within three days to a week, many of them can memorize the verses in Chinese. In many cases, many of them are better than their parents in speaking Chinese.

Another thing worth mentioning about Ms Lee's teaching system is that she always gives lesson notes to the pupils once a week. These notes are written in the children's books and are taken home so that their parents can keep tabs on their children's progress and can also teach their children the materials at home. At CHIS children receive sufficient attention from the teacher and can study well because each classroom, which is air- conditioned, has only 15 pupils.

Ms Lee also introduces her pupils to the environment around them by asking them to grow plants in small pots at home. Every day they must water their plants. When the plants grow, the children show great surprise and express their pride. Then they can proudly take home their plants and look after them at home.

"When we teach, we must understand what is going on in the childrens' minds. Some require a gentle approach while others will not listen to you unless you act firmly. We cannot be too soft or lenient. A teacher must be firm," she said of her teaching method. Once, for example, a pupil disturbed his friend beyond a tolerable level. She reprimanded him and he burst into tears. So, she asked him to leave the class and would not let him in the classroom again until he had stopped crying.

On another occasion, a pupil, known to be very sensitive and not receptive to anybody's advice, was sitting in the school park during a break. She was alone and moody. Suddenly she let out a loud cry. Ms Lee approached her and tried to calm her down but to no avail. So, she had to say loudly and firmly: "Listen to me, first," then, while continuing in the same firm tone, she took the child by the hand and walked around the park.

Finally, the child stopped crying and began to ask questions. Naturally, the teacher then spoke softly when answering her questions.

Being a teacher is not easy. You must be patient -- really patient. Children learn a lot not only through good teaching methods and excellent curricula but also through the teachers' rich experience and deep love for the children and their work.

Understandably, CHIS still cannot find enough teachers to meet these requirements. The school needs teachers who not only can speak English and Chinese well but are also creative, patient and firm. This is especially important in view of the school's motto of developing the creativity, language, thought and physical health of the pupils.

Nowadays many foreign schools advertise themselves in our country to lure our children to study there. It is preferable to set up schools which provide education of the same quality as the education offered abroad.

These domestic schools can cooperate with foreign schools. It is in this context that CHIS has been set up as Indonesia's first school with Chinese as the medium of instruction in the post-New Order era. Apart from formal schooling, CHIS also offers Chinese courses for the public. These courses began last year.

Will schools like CHIS also be established in other major cities in Indonesia? Only time will tell whether there will be enough demand for such schools in the country. Will CHIS survive the test of time? Again, it all depends on public demand although the protracted economic crisis in Indonesia is also a determining factor in this regard.