The Reform of Higher Education and Chinese Education in Malaysia : Its Relationship to China and Taiwan (<Special Feature> Education in the Countriesof Asia : Past and Present)

In Malaysia， the private New Era College， which was established in 1998with funding from the Chinese community， marked a big change in educational policy there， because the Malaysian government had formerly attached great importance to nationwide education as an important tool for national uni丘cation， and only national universities with the national language Malay as the medium of instruction had been in existence up uhtil that time． This article discusses the circumstances of the New Era College from the viewpoints of reform under national educational policies and the college’s relationship to China and Taiwan． The Malaysian government changed its higher educational policy during the 1990’s， adopting measures promoting privatization and diversi丘cation in response to the requirements of national economic development， given a limited budget and a serious“brain drain” problem． The New Era College was set up within this political situation， meaning that the deep－rooted educational needs of the Chinese community were finally recognized． China and Taiwan were both very interested in this College， because they hoped to establish political and economic ties with the Malaysian Chinese Community through the acceptance of graduates who wanted to get degrees． The Malaysian government， however， is still very sensitive about the Chinese community’s political situation， giving rise to some differences over political and economic strategy regarding the College