Bolehkah UM jelaskan sistem kedua kemasukan ke universiti?

Murray Hunter


Bolehkah UM jelaskan sistem kedua kemasukan ke universiti?

P Ramasamy
Jun 28, 2025





Most public and private institutions of higher learning in the country have multiple entry points based on different kinds of pre-university qualifications such based on STPM, matriculation and others.

Gone are the days when entry into public universities was based on STPM or “A” Level pre-university qualifications.

Recently, University Malaya, the oldest university in the country has come up with an additional admission system.

The earlier one based on STPM and matriculation is still intact based on UPU system.

The second or complementary entry point is caters for students who can pay for their studies in the university whereas the UPU is heavily subsidised by the government.

Mind you, public universities are set up and managed by funds from the taxpayers.

Admissions through the UPU system is based on combination of merit and affirmative action principle, the latter primarily catering for Malay/Bumiputra students.

It is not correct to say that merit is the sole consideration for admission under the traditional UPU system.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the second system of admission or Satu, a lot of questions remain unanswered.

Recently, the MCA has raised some uncomfortable questions in regard to the second system of entry called SATU.

First, why is the need for the second system of entry when the original system is working well.

Second, the University Malaya administration has defended the system as based on merit. If this is the case, how can system based on merit only allows students of good financial standing to be admitted into the university especially for professional programmes such as medicine, dentistry, computer science and others.

Third, what about poor students having excellent pre-university qualifications but denied admission because they lack the necessary financial standing?

Unfortunately, University Malaya has not given detailed explanations on the questions posed by the MCA or others.

The university continues to defend the SATU on the grounds of meritocracy. It is not that public universities cannot improve their admissions system to bolster their financial capacities.

However, since they are funded and managed by taxpayers contributions, the institution of different admission systems must not be seen to displace students coming from poor backgrounds.

Perhaps the time has come for University Malaya to explain in detail as how and in what ways the second system of admission or SATU is grounded in meritocracy without accentuating class differences in the society.