Malay rights groups dispute recognition of UEC for tertiary study
Acknowledging Chinese-medium qualification for university entry akin to ‘betraying our grandchildren, ancestors, education system, country’s harmony’, says Pembela chairman
Malay rights coalition Pembela, headed by chairman Aminuddin Yahaya (centre), has been airing opposition on its social media platforms over the recognition of the UEC for university entry even though the government has not indicated interest to move forward with the issue. – The Vibes file pic, September 20, 2021
KUALA LUMPUR – In recent weeks, the opposition over the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) has reignited among Malay rights groups even though the current government has not indicated interest to move forward with the issue.
Malay rights umbrella group Pembela has been airing its opposition on its social media platforms, with its chairman Aminuddin Yahaya saying that giving the UEC recognition is akin to “a betrayal of our grandchildren, our ancestors, the education system and the country’s harmony”.
Some UEC opponents say this issue is a litmus test for newly minted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his administration.
For now, Education Minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin, who was retained from the previous Perikatan Nasional administration, has not brought up the UEC issue, besides clarifying last August that UEC holders have been accepted since 2011 for the Bachelor’s Degree in Teaching programme (PISMP) specialising in Chinese language at teachers’ training institutes.
Pembela and other Malay rights groups were most vocal in opposing recognition for the UEC when Pakatan Harapan (PH) released its 2018 general election manifesto. In the manifesto, PH promised to resolve the matter of recognition of the UEC – one of the country’s longest-standing education issues.
KUALA LUMPUR – In recent weeks, the opposition over the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) has reignited among Malay rights groups even though the current government has not indicated interest to move forward with the issue.
Malay rights umbrella group Pembela has been airing its opposition on its social media platforms, with its chairman Aminuddin Yahaya saying that giving the UEC recognition is akin to “a betrayal of our grandchildren, our ancestors, the education system and the country’s harmony”.
Some UEC opponents say this issue is a litmus test for newly minted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and his administration.
For now, Education Minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin, who was retained from the previous Perikatan Nasional administration, has not brought up the UEC issue, besides clarifying last August that UEC holders have been accepted since 2011 for the Bachelor’s Degree in Teaching programme (PISMP) specialising in Chinese language at teachers’ training institutes.
Pembela and other Malay rights groups were most vocal in opposing recognition for the UEC when Pakatan Harapan (PH) released its 2018 general election manifesto. In the manifesto, PH promised to resolve the matter of recognition of the UEC – one of the country’s longest-standing education issues.
Things appeared to have started off on the right foot, following the coalition’s election victory, when then education minister Maszlee Malik set up a special task force to study the issue.
kt note: a "Holistic" Study, mind you 😀😁😂
The Simpang Renggam MP however resigned as minister in January last year following fierce pressure stemming from other issues. The appointment of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as interim education minister all but threw a spanner in the works for the task force.
Not even a threat by PH component DAP to quit the ruling government if the UEC promise was not fulfilled was enough to push Dr Mahathir to move forward.
Just a few months later, infighting within the coalition led to the collapse of the government, and brought with it the hopes of many to get the certificate formally recognised.
For many younger Malaysians, the debate surrounding the UEC may be new, but it traces back to its introduction almost half a century ago – at the same time Malaysia witnessed a change of prime minister seven times, only reinforcing the intricacies of the matter at hand.
How it started
UEC, a standardised examination under the Malaysian Independent Chinese Secondary Schools system, was first introduced in 1975 in a bid to streamline examinations.
Prior to that, the schools had been hosting their own examinations after the government stopped providing standardised papers in the Chinese language to these institutions since the early 1960s as part of its push for a national education syllabus.
Since then, Dong Zhong (United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia) has been working to get the UEC recognised by the federal government.
Today, the certificate is recognised as a qualification for entry into a slew of tertiary education institutions globally, including those in the United Kingdom, the United States, Taiwan, China, Japan, Singapore, and Australia, to name a few. But, not without some fine print.
Locally, most private colleges accept the certificate, which is marketed as an equivalent to STPM and A-Levels, as an entry criterion to their institutions, but not public universities.
To proponents of the UEC, the decision to not recognise it is baffling, but to the government, the motivation is simple – it wants a single, national education system for all students.
Education Minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin, who was retained from the previous Perikatan Nasional administration, has not brought up the issue relating to the recognition of the UEC for university entry. – Bernama pic, September 20, 2021
Issue more than just education?
Critics have argued that the rationale not to accredit the certificate goes beyond education. Over the years, the issue has become politicised and racialised – now a contentious point when brought up.
By not recognising the UEC, there is a belief that the government can, to a certain extent, persuade more Chinese students to join public secondary schools, subsequently fostering national unity.
There is also the fear that the UEC will cause further racial segregation among the multiracial community of Malaysia, and that it will further devalue the national language.
For supporters of the UEC though, this sentiment is moot, as there has been no indication to prove that the recognition of the examination will lead to further division.
They also point out that some independent Chinese schools already teach the national secondary school curriculum in Bahasa Malaysia alongside their own curricula to prepare their students to sit the SPM, which they take as private candidates.
Dong Zong has also agreed with a requirement to mandate that its students pass BM with a credit in order to enter public universities.
But, some in the Chinese community are not in favour of recognising the UEC, proving that the issue is more nuanced.
One comment on social question-and-answer site Quora sums this sentiment up best: “Many Chinese millennials in my area are gradually losing touch with the fact that they are living in a multiracial country… Many only mingle among themselves mostly due to the language barrier that they created themselves.”
For UEC advocates, dreams for the examination to be given recognition may have been dashed by the unfulfilled promise of the former PH government, but perhaps they hold a sliver of hope now that Ismail Sabri is at the helm.
Issue more than just education?
Critics have argued that the rationale not to accredit the certificate goes beyond education. Over the years, the issue has become politicised and racialised – now a contentious point when brought up.
By not recognising the UEC, there is a belief that the government can, to a certain extent, persuade more Chinese students to join public secondary schools, subsequently fostering national unity.
There is also the fear that the UEC will cause further racial segregation among the multiracial community of Malaysia, and that it will further devalue the national language.
For supporters of the UEC though, this sentiment is moot, as there has been no indication to prove that the recognition of the examination will lead to further division.
They also point out that some independent Chinese schools already teach the national secondary school curriculum in Bahasa Malaysia alongside their own curricula to prepare their students to sit the SPM, which they take as private candidates.
Dong Zong has also agreed with a requirement to mandate that its students pass BM with a credit in order to enter public universities.
But, some in the Chinese community are not in favour of recognising the UEC, proving that the issue is more nuanced.
One comment on social question-and-answer site Quora sums this sentiment up best: “Many Chinese millennials in my area are gradually losing touch with the fact that they are living in a multiracial country… Many only mingle among themselves mostly due to the language barrier that they created themselves.”
For UEC advocates, dreams for the examination to be given recognition may have been dashed by the unfulfilled promise of the former PH government, but perhaps they hold a sliver of hope now that Ismail Sabri is at the helm.
Dei Nie Ching Podah
Already, the Umno vice-president has taken an unconventional approach to administering the country, by working with the opposition in implementing certain reforms.
Will he address this issue under the spirit of his Keluarga Malaysia concept? Or leave it to fester as lobby groups continue to push their narratives? – The Vibes, September 20, 2021
Will he address this issue under the spirit of his Keluarga Malaysia concept? Or leave it to fester as lobby groups continue to push their narratives? – The Vibes, September 20, 2021
This will still be a polemic in 2050.
ReplyDeleteFor Chinese > UEC
ReplyDeleteFor Malays > another UEC
For Indians > another UEC
For lain-lain > another UEC
Keep fighting and keep destroying…..
Soon this country will be gone….
And at that moment when nothing is left, would you cry or would you still fighting for that one piece of paper ?
Is it just a piece of paper?
DeleteOr is it a cast of inferiority complex on those ketuanan freaks?
There r many ways to reach a goal. Yet for these people there can ONLY be one way - the ketuanan way!
Very cleverly phrased
"Keep fighting and keep destroying…..
Soon this country will be gone….
And at that moment when nothing is left, would you cry or would you still fighting for that one piece of paper ?"
Mfer, who should be yr readers?
AGAIN, is it just a piece of paper?
Melayu already have their fully government-funded Melayu-only entry educational institutions.
DeleteAnd they are absolutely opposed to even the smallest opening up.
Exactly….no one should be superior.All races should go through the same system and process.
DeleteOnly one type of school.No religious school,no Chinese schools, no Tamil schools and no private schools.International schools only for foreigners.
All Malaysians must attend the same national school, and sit for the same exams, no exceptions!
True meritocracy is the only way forward to unite the people and to ensure this nation progress.
So cleverly-by-half to twist an established fact!
DeleteStandardization ONLY works within certain confinements of situation.
Such procedure helps to speed up work process & provide guided controls & checks. It's a prerequisite of a precise engineering work - a given!
Yet, when standardization is been twisted to justify societal norms then inconsistencies become only ultimate outcome.
There r NO single unique universal rule in national progress. Especially concerning unity.
Encompasses of all & sundry SHOULD be the rule of the game in current circumstances bcoz there r multitudes of diverseness in customs, religious believes/practices, clannish/tribal traditions & racial uniqueness.
No countries should emphasize just one set of rules to cater for all - especially when these rules r just centred on one single group!
Besides, how to determine which single group to be the dominant integrand - based on numbers, wealth component or political empowerment?
Education has always been played by the ketuanan freaks to justify their meme-ed inferiority complex.
Markah buta, preferential passes & enrolments (all civil fields) r a given in the disguised Mara giat tunas (mal)practices.
The ketuanan freaks like to quote national unity required homogeneity based on the dominant melayu narrative. They preened like an insufferable peacock about such gospel to conveniently ignore the benefits of diversified race heterogeneity in national building!
Homogeneity could work ONLY when there exists other NO other divergents. Such aim is unachievable in reality - multitude of diversions exist in the real Earth & it has worked for eons.
Similarly allover the world there r multiple exams to guide the standard of the students. Many fame universities accept scores from different exams for their enrolment w/o fail. Along the way produces brilliant engineers/scientists/scholars.
Until some over-enthusiastic inferiority infested supremists want to will their fart!
Single school form? Single exam?
Tell that to yr ketuanan pals, zealous zombies & hen-picked blur-sotongs.
Ooop… about unity in diversification - how about take a read from Switzerland or more recently Xinjiang/Tibet in China!
Democracy and meritocracy don't work like that. You still can have all your different type of schools but only Nasional Schools get the government funding. If the school is good, funding or no funding it will survive. In the 1970's and 1980's, most of the Chinese schools were dying because of no government funding, hundreds of Chinese schools were closed down. By a twist of event when it happened that the Nasional Schools were not up to standard, there were a revival of the Chinese schools, the rest is history.
Delete