“Change the design or plan, no matter how hard. We should never take away the school field from the students and the people who trust us,” said Berapit assemblywoman Lydia Ong Kok Fooi in a Facebook post, the Star Online reported.

According to the Penang Transport Master Plan, the planned highway will take up what is believed to be a third of the school’s field.

Ong said Malaysians had worked hard to maintain Chinese and Tamil education and added, “There is a long history of the Chinese community protecting Chinese education.”

Ong had shared a similar post by party colleague and Pulau Tikus assemblywoman Yap Soo Huey on Sunday, who in a press release had aired her concerns over the possible acquisition of the nine metre-wide strip of the school field.

“I know engineers and planners are trying to avoid the need for the PCGHS land. Do not take land from the school unless you really must,” Yap said.

A Facebook page titled “Spare this land, Save our future” opposing the proposed project has garnered 14,000 likes while an online petition has chalked up 2,068 signatures so far.

The petition claims that the planned highway could affect land from PCGHS in Jalan Gottlieb, and SJK(C) Phor Thay, SJK(T) Azad and St Nicholas Home for the Blind along Jalan Bagan Jermal.

According to Yap, the proposed highway will link Jalan Gottlieb and Jalan Bagan Jermal to Paya Terubong and Relau, with another highway cutting east to Bayan Lepas.

This will ease the pressure off George Town and the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway.