Beyond the Politics of University Placements & The Futility of Flogging a Dead Horse

Beyond the Politics of University Placements & The Futility of Flogging a Dead Horse


19 Sep 2025 • 2:00 PM MYT


Vincent Lim
Vincent’s early career covered journalism, marketing and public affairs

Image credit: Malay Mail


Of all people, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong should know better. After all, he has been part of the cabinet for ages.


I hope he is contented that he has attained his political mileage from the recent university entrance issue. To take the matter any further will only risk creating more discord.


I am also sure he knows very well that he is flogging a dead horse if he is trying to change the country’s education policies.


The discrepancies surrounding the placement of students in universities have been around for decades.


I know because I was one of those affected. And it was not even for a place in university — it was just for a place in a government school to do my A Levels, 49 years ago.


Although my case was a far cry from that of today’s top scorers, I was still a Grade 1 holder of the Malaysia Certificate of Education (MCE), which was later replaced by the SPM.


In those days, one had to score an aggregate of less than 24 in the best six subjects to be granted a Grade 1, provided there was a pass in both English and Bahasa Malaysia, written and oral.


I scored an aggregate of 19 and was awarded a Grade 1.


As for my co-curricular activities , I was the school’s vice captain, the school’s magazine editor, Chairman of the Welfare Club, President of the Science Society and Secretary of the English Language Club.


Yet, for reasons never explained, I was not given a place in a government school to continue with my A Levels. Meanwhile, many of my Malay schoolmates, who only achieved Grade 2 or even Grade 3, were offered places.


My only alternative then was Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) College. In my short stint of one year there, I met many students with similar stories of disappointment and frustration.


Yet, despite those early setbacks, many of them went on to become doctors, accountants, lawyers, engineers and architects. One even rose to become a professor and Group CEO of a highly acclaimed private education group in Malaysia.


This shows one thing clearly: not being given what you wanted at one stage of life does not necessarily determine your future.


To expect education opportunities in Malaysia to be strictly based on merit is, realistically, next to impossible. If ever that were to happen, the Malays would feel marginalised, and the social and political consequences would be highly undesirable.


Just as the law requires property developers to provide bumiputras with a 5–10 percent discount when purchasing property, we have to accept that preferential treatment is also accorded to them in higher education.


Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating surrender, nor am I suggesting we abandon the struggle for fairness.


But experience has taught me that blind courage seldom gets us anywhere. If we must fight, we must choose battles that give us a realistic chance of winning. Otherwise, it is simply a waste of time and resources.


This brings me back to the case of the student Edward and recently another new case whose stories are being used as political fodder.


My message to him and all those with similar fate is this: not getting the course you wanted is not the end of the world.


For a top scorer, you must possess a certain level of intelligence — something that can serve you in every phase of life, not just in the pursuit of a single academic path.


As long as you adopt the right attitude, your intelligence will carry you to where you want to be. Many before you, who were denied opportunities on paper, still forged their own paths to success.


So take off the blinkers. Do not let this one setback define your journey. Look further, think bigger, and forge ahead.