High-flying Malay student at Penang Chinese school becomes education sensation

Malaysians have commended a Malay pupil for his stellar academic performance at a Chinese institution, a rare example of a non-Chinese student securing the top spot in the country’s hyper-competitive Chinese school syllabus.

The achievements of Ahmad Khidir Ahmad Nazri, 17, emerged on Sunday after his sister shared a TikTok video of him receiving five top awards including for Top Student and Best in Year from SMJK Heng Ee school in Penang.

The video, which garnered 1.7 million views and more than 200,000 likes, was widely circulated by local media as Malaysians flooded social media with positive messages and posts congratulating him for his achievements.

“Congratulations Ahmad Khidir. I will use this name for my son. May he be successful like you,” read a comment by one Farah on TikTok.

Ahmad Khidir’s accomplishments stand out as non-Chinese students remain the minority in Malaysian Chinese medium schools, which are widely seen as having higher academic standards among public schools with the added difficulty of using Mandarin as the medium of instruction.

Those sentiments were echoed by many on Malaysian social media, who shared their struggles navigating the strict syllabus at Chinese schools.

“It is not easy for a Malay to survive in [Chinese schools] … it is hard to find those who excel,” read one comment on X.