S Thayaparan
Published: Sep 15, 2025 8:22 AM
Updated: 10:29 AM
“If I wanted to satisfy you and say ‘scrap the quota system’, we will lose all elections and you will suffer more in this country run by PAS and Bersatu.”
COMMENT | The Higher Education Ministry said that admissions to public universities are fully based on meritocracy.
If that is the case, is it going against what Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said to that young woman when he lectured her on the “social contract”?
Furthermore, the prime minister pointed out in that exchange that” …. to advocate for the system’s abolishment would “ignite turmoil in this country”.
So, there you have it. If there were no quota system, there would be turmoil and PAS and Bersatu would win and the non-Malays would suffer more.
So, no matter how emissaries from Madani attempt to gaslight the non-Malays about the merit-based foundations of university admissions, the reality is that this is a political strategy to win elections. I am not saying this - the prime minister is.
Published: Sep 15, 2025 8:22 AM
Updated: 10:29 AM
“If I wanted to satisfy you and say ‘scrap the quota system’, we will lose all elections and you will suffer more in this country run by PAS and Bersatu.”
– Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
COMMENT | The Higher Education Ministry said that admissions to public universities are fully based on meritocracy.
If that is the case, is it going against what Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said to that young woman when he lectured her on the “social contract”?
Furthermore, the prime minister pointed out in that exchange that” …. to advocate for the system’s abolishment would “ignite turmoil in this country”.
So, there you have it. If there were no quota system, there would be turmoil and PAS and Bersatu would win and the non-Malays would suffer more.
So, no matter how emissaries from Madani attempt to gaslight the non-Malays about the merit-based foundations of university admissions, the reality is that this is a political strategy to win elections. I am not saying this - the prime minister is.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
And this is nothing new. In 2017, then-Klang MP Charles Santiago, responding to then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s Diwali gift to 745 Indian students, wrote- “If I may ask, why weren't they given a spot in the first place?
“Why do politicians and the prime minister have to interfere, if the system offered places based on meritocracy and not other considerations, such as race and religion? Vulnerable students from all communities should be given priority and not offered places as an afterthought.”
Lowering tensions?
In 2017, that was a strategy by Umno to appease a minority community. Similarly, last year, when Anwar announced the lifting of barriers for top-scoring non-Malay students to matriculation programmes was to “…lower tensions the Education Ministry faces every year.
“Sometimes, in such matters, the controversy heightens political temperature and causes social and racial tensions. Hopefully, the announcement can help,” he added.
This was also a strategy to appease minority communities. However, the greater strategy, the one aimed at the majority community, was not to be ditched.
And here is the thing. When Anwar talks about the quota system, he frames it as a class issue, as if all Malays are disenfranchised, as reported in the press.
And this is nothing new. In 2017, then-Klang MP Charles Santiago, responding to then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s Diwali gift to 745 Indian students, wrote- “If I may ask, why weren't they given a spot in the first place?
“Why do politicians and the prime minister have to interfere, if the system offered places based on meritocracy and not other considerations, such as race and religion? Vulnerable students from all communities should be given priority and not offered places as an afterthought.”
Lowering tensions?
In 2017, that was a strategy by Umno to appease a minority community. Similarly, last year, when Anwar announced the lifting of barriers for top-scoring non-Malay students to matriculation programmes was to “…lower tensions the Education Ministry faces every year.
“Sometimes, in such matters, the controversy heightens political temperature and causes social and racial tensions. Hopefully, the announcement can help,” he added.
This was also a strategy to appease minority communities. However, the greater strategy, the one aimed at the majority community, was not to be ditched.
And here is the thing. When Anwar talks about the quota system, he frames it as a class issue, as if all Malays are disenfranchised, as reported in the press.
Anwar stressed that the decision would not compromise bumiputera privileges as per Article 153 of the Federal Constitution. He noted concerns about minority rights and bumiputera guarantees, especially for those in poverty.
This is why advocates of the quota system and matriculation system attempt to frame the discourse as one of class instead of race, which is gaslighting on a whole new obscene level. And this quota system for matriculation is a political tool.
In 2019, then-education minister Mazlee Malik told Universiti Sains Malaysia students during a question-and-answer session - "If we want to change, if we say in 'Malaysia Baru' there is no need for a quota system and so on, then we must also make sure job opportunities are not denied to bumiputera just because they don't know Mandarin," he said to a round of applause.
"We should not look at such issues in isolation – we harp on (the quota system in) matriculation without considering that people are being denied jobs because they don't know Mandarin, for instance.
"If we can make do without all that, if we can give equal and business opportunities, then we can talk about being fair to all."
Resentment among youths
The quota system for public universities has created a generation of young people who are resentful of each other because one side benefits from a tax ringgit-funded education, while the other has to scrimp and save to receive tertiary education in the private sector - reflecting grievances against public education.
This is about disenfranchising a certain section of society merely to demonstrate that the larger segment has rights which are denied to others.
So, it is not a question of why the government does not do more for underprivileged non-Malays when it comes to education but rather the point of the quota system is to demonstrate racial and religious superiority as defined by the social contract.
There must be some sort of disparity if special rights mean something. Otherwise, it would not be special.
Perhaps, the system was originally not designed to marginalise the non-Malays, but it evolved into a system where the main purpose is to see to the “uplifting” of the Malay community at the expense of the non-Malay community.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left) and Lim Guan Eng
After all, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was prime minister, said that more tax ringgit was used for the Malay community, but he couldn’t say anything because the non-Malay community would get angry.
And remember, Lim Guan Eng was the finance minister then. He said: "We still have to give them, but what we gave to them was very small (compared to what the Malays got). But we could not say it then, because then the Chinese would be angry".
Keep in mind, policies slanted towards the Malays were accepted by DAP and what is the quota system if not a policy slanted towards Malays? Mind you, these policies have not served the people they are intended for.
‘Apathy, lack of interest’
According to Free Malaysia Today, last year’s Bumiputera Economic Congress secretariat surprisingly pointed to the dysfunction of Malay uber alles policies of successive governments.
Collating data from 8,600 respondents on issues faced by the majority community when it comes to education, the secretariat found that apathy, lack of interest in Maths and Science, and lack of family support led to the majority community or at least a large segment of it, being left behind.
Respondents who made it overseas were very clear in what they thought of as traits which made them successful, and of course, the need for a rethink when it came to education and yes, life:
It stated: “They all agreed that for Malays to progress, they need to get rid of such apathy and study hard… They said Malays should not depend on assistance but should take the initiative.”
This is not about democracy but rather majoritarianism. This is how an ethno-state exists but what it always attempts to do is hide this reality behind terms like social contract and gaslight people into believing that the system is just and fair to all tax-paying citizens.
Do not fall for the okey-doke. (an African American slang in the 1930s for trick, deception, or to mislead someone)
S THAYAPARAN is commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
After all, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was prime minister, said that more tax ringgit was used for the Malay community, but he couldn’t say anything because the non-Malay community would get angry.
And remember, Lim Guan Eng was the finance minister then. He said: "We still have to give them, but what we gave to them was very small (compared to what the Malays got). But we could not say it then, because then the Chinese would be angry".
Keep in mind, policies slanted towards the Malays were accepted by DAP and what is the quota system if not a policy slanted towards Malays? Mind you, these policies have not served the people they are intended for.
‘Apathy, lack of interest’
According to Free Malaysia Today, last year’s Bumiputera Economic Congress secretariat surprisingly pointed to the dysfunction of Malay uber alles policies of successive governments.
Collating data from 8,600 respondents on issues faced by the majority community when it comes to education, the secretariat found that apathy, lack of interest in Maths and Science, and lack of family support led to the majority community or at least a large segment of it, being left behind.
Respondents who made it overseas were very clear in what they thought of as traits which made them successful, and of course, the need for a rethink when it came to education and yes, life:
It stated: “They all agreed that for Malays to progress, they need to get rid of such apathy and study hard… They said Malays should not depend on assistance but should take the initiative.”
This is not about democracy but rather majoritarianism. This is how an ethno-state exists but what it always attempts to do is hide this reality behind terms like social contract and gaslight people into believing that the system is just and fair to all tax-paying citizens.
Do not fall for the okey-doke. (an African American slang in the 1930s for trick, deception, or to mislead someone)
S THAYAPARAN is commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
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