Foreign students displacing locals in public universities: Zambry must explain

Murray Hunter


Foreign students displacing locals in public universities: Zambry must explain

P Ramasamy
Sep 16, 2025






The Kedah Exco for Education, Prof Dr Naim Hilman Abdullah, has revealed that five leading public universities in Malaysia have a foreign student enrolment of 21.3 percent—a figure that far exceeds the intake of Chinese and Indian students combined.

Chinese students constitute only 13.5 percent, while Indian students make up an even smaller percentage in these universities, namely Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

Prof Naim Hilman, the former vice-chancellor of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), further revealed that out of a total enrolment of 611,698 students across 20 public universities, 53,322 (8.72 percent) are foreign students.

In an interview, the Kedah Exco member argued that the intake of foreign students is unfair to local students. Every year, many high-achieving Malaysian students are denied places in public universities or are unable to secure the courses of their choice. Some are left with no option but to enrol in private universities, burdened with hefty tuition fees.

The so-called “alternative intake system,” which imposes tuition fees up to ten times higher than the subsidised UPU admissions route, offers little relief. While accepting foreign students is not wrong in principle, the current intake—more than 5,000 annually—is excessive and detrimental to locals.

Undoubtedly, the generous intake of foreign students has displaced Chinese and Indian students in particular. No other country in the world allows foreign nationals to edge out tax-paying citizens in their own universities.

Something is gravely wrong with Malaysia’s higher education system. Can the Minister of Higher Education, Zambry Abdul Kadir, explain this troubling phenomenon? Unless curbs are introduced, local students risk becoming the sacrificial lambs.

Already, the racially skewed admissions system in public universities disadvantages Chinese and Indian students. While affirmative action can be acceptable, it must be fairly applied to all communities. It is time to dismantle racism in the guise of affirmative action and replace it with genuine meritocracy.

To call the ossified racial system “merit-based” is not only misleading but also an insult to the intelligence of loyal Malaysian citizens.

The displacement of local students by foreigners is best illustrated by the Malay proverb:

“Kera di hutan disusui, tetapi anak di rumah kelaparan”

(The monkey in the jungle is nursed while the child at home starves).