MORE than 25% of students at independent Chinese schools were unable to pay their school fees on time due to financial difficulties, reported China Press.

       According to the United Chinese School Committees’ Association (Dong Zong), many parents revealed that they were either unemployed or cash-strapped since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

       The situation had caused schools to dip into their savings so that operations could continue, said Dong Zong president Tan Tai Kim.

       Independent Chinese schools, he said, were non-profit organisations and had always practised the “leave-no-student-behind” approach when it comes to education.

       “Based on a survey by Dong Zong, there are 80,535 students at such schools in the country. The cost of educating each student is about RM4,859 a year, making the total operating cost around RM400mil every year.

       “Right now, there is a shortage of RM40mil,” Tan said after attending a ceremony where the Johor state government disbursed funds to private education institutions.

       Tan appealed to the public and the government for financial aid.

       Also present at the event was MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, who thanked the state government for helping in their time of need.

       He described the move as akin to “sending charcoal during a snowstorm”.

       > A man in China amazed Internet users after he was seen in a video swatting an approaching tiger, reported Sin Chew Daily.

       In the video, filmed at a hotel in Guangxi, the man was sitting on the ground as the tiger approached. The man nonchalantly swatted the tiger’s face and it stepped back.

       A hotel worker said the tiger grew up under the tamer’s care and was friendly with him.

       > A woman lost RM30,203 saved over five years to an online “Like and Share” scam, and is now warning others to be wary of opportunities which sound too good to be true, the same daily reported.

       According to the Wangsa Maju district police chief, the 21-year-old victim was rewarded with RM2,071 after completing the first two tasks, prompting her to transfer more money to the scammer.

       She completed seven tasks before realising she had been scammed.

       ● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.