When a country has a differential system, whether it’s on fuel pricing, price of housing or a college education system leading to university admission, corruption and abuse are inevitable.
In the first case, that of fuel, we know and have heard of subsidized fuel being illegally “siphoned off” for profiteering. We are aware that housing discount for bumiputras have not benefited the official targets, the needy bumiputras, but only the big-timers who have been kindly “subsidized” by relatively poor non-bumiputra purchasers.
As for admittance into preferred university courses, well, yesterday I posted the views of a Malaysiakini reader in University Admission Figures - One Big Lie! Well, here's another.
Like other Malaysian annual events, the annual controversy over admissions to the country’s public higher education institutions (PHEI) has arrived, when dissatisfied unsuccessful candidates feel they aren’t Malaysians afterall.
DAP Youth has expressed its contempt for the currently-used "meritocracy" system, saying that it is not transparent enough since it is applied for two different examination systems. The higher education minister has been told to stop applying double standards in selecting the students.
Dap Youth’s deputy chief Fong Po Kuan (otherwise known as ‘thunder-voice’) said: “One better system should be implemented; either matriculation or STPM and the other one should be abolished.”
Sh*t! She's far too logical. Maybe that's why she's in the opposition.
Her discontent has to do with the fact that most bumiputera students qualify through the matriculation system while the bulk of non-bumis attempt to gain varsity admission through the STPM route.
Fong asked why the higher education ministry has been so reluctant to have a single syllabus under which all students could be graded by same examinations and compete for PHEI admission on an equal platform.
Why? She's damn bloody sneaky, 'cause she knows why!
She chewed the ministry for non-transparency over its course-matching criteria which has given rise to much dissatisfaction and disappointment among the students. That's known as the 'X' factor - you work out what 'X' stands for.
She declared (futilely, if I may add):
“The ministry should stop giving reason that students are not only graded by examination results but also by co-curricular achievements. Students who were not selected do not know the reason for their failure in not getting admission.”
“They should announce the cut-off points to avoid the ministry blaming students for making a mistake by applying for the wrong course.”
Fong said the ministry should also reveal the selected students’ grade points to allow those not selected a comparison.
See what I mean by her embarking on a futile mission.
Fong lectured the government that unfair polices would force good students to accept scholarships form neighbouring countries. She concluded that the government's campaign to welcome back Malaysian professionals from foreign lands will be a total waste of money and time because those professionals were not offered the place here in the first instance.
I wouldn't agree with that because there's one born every minute.
But the most impossible and hurting words from her has been to remind the MCA to challenge the higher education ministry’s non-transparent polices and ‘stop pretending to be like a hero’ by assisting the rejected students.
Because when the MCA looks at Fong, they would silently curse her for showing that she has somehow been wearing not only their pants but their balls as well.
Related:
Malay Engineers, Chinese Accountants, Indian Doctors
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