Wee: Matriculation top scorer denied law, pushed into accountancy

Wee: Matriculation top scorer denied law, pushed into accountancy


Published: Sep 16, 2025 4:16 PM
Updated: 6:16 PM


Summary

• MCA president Wee Ka Siong has highlighted the case of “Lee”, a matriculation top scorer with a 4.0 CGPA and 100 merit points, who was purportedly denied entry into her preferred law programme.

• The 19-year-old was allegedly assigned to accountancy through the UPU system, with no right of appeal.

• The case is similar to STPM high achiever Edward Wong, who was denied entry into the accountancy programme.

A top scorer from the matriculation programme is allegedly facing the same dilemma as STPM high achiever Edward Wong, whose hopes of pursuing accountancy were denied.

According to MCA president Wee Ka Siong, the 19-year-old, who achieved a 4.0 CGPA alongside 100 merit points in co-curricular activities, is now experiencing a similar setback.

The student who was referred to only as “Lee” in Wee’s Facebook post yesterday was allegedly denied a place in a law programme.

Instead, the UPU (centralised public university admissions system) system assigned her to her fourth choice, accounting.

Wee said he met the student on Sept 13 in Malacca, accompanied by MCA vice-president Lim Ban Hong and state executive councillor Ngwe Hee Sem, and was told by the teenager that she had been shortlisted for interviews with her top three choices: Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM).

Lee reportedly said that only UM, UKM and UUM admit non-bumiputera students to their law degree programmes.

However, according to Wee, her world came crashing down when the UPU results were released, as the system selected her fourth choice and gave her a seat at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), with no option to appeal.

Lee, whom Wee described as "the best of the best” by every standard, had purportedly listed accounting as only her fourth choice, simply to meet the requirement of filling 12 options in the UPU application.

Giving up

Wee said that Lee, who comes from an economically disadvantaged background, did not want to burden her family and was considering resigning herself to her fate by giving up on law.

“Her story is not just about one girl’s shattered dream. It is about fairness, about justice, about the promise we owe our young people.

“When even a perfect scorer is denied the chance to pursue her calling, what message are we sending to the next generation?

“Education must be a fair playing field in this country. If our system is broken, then it must be fixed,” Wee said in the post.

Lee’s story, Wee said, was not hers alone but belongs to every hardworking student in Malaysia who dares to dream.

“In the coming days, will UM, UKM and UUM allow Lee to pursue her dream of studying law through their direct intake channels?" Wee asked, appearing to sarcastically allude to when Wong was allegedly offered entrance into UM, via a similar route.

Edward Wong


“The catch is, while it's still admission into the same programme, the tuition fees through direct intake amount to RM90,000 - 10 times higher than through UPU!

“Lee has obtained perfect results. However, not only did she not get her preferred course in law, but she was also not allowed to make any appeal since the Higher Education Ministry offered her fourth choice, which is accounting. Looks like she can only wait for a miracle to happen," Wee said.

Similar predicament

On Sept 8, Wee held a press conference with Wong, who scored a 4.0 CGPA in STPM but was rejected by six universities, including UM, from pursuing Accountancy. Instead, Wong was only offered a place in Management Studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia.

On Sept 9, the Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) expressed solidarity with Wong and urged both UM and the government to explain why he had been denied entry into the accounting programme via UPU.

READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | What is the UPU system and is it fair?

Umany alleged that Wong was offered admission into the university, but only through its controversial direct intake system “Satu”, which costs “up to 10 times higher.”

Amid criticism after Wong failed to receive a course of his choice, the Higher Education Ministry stressed that the admission process for students to public universities is based on the principles of meritocracy.

Its director-general, Azlinda Azman, also rejected allegations of loopholes in the UPUOnline system.

Following heightened controversy, Umany urged the government to abolish the matriculation system and use STPM results as the sole benchmark for entry into public universities.

The call, however, received brickbats from Bersatu and Umno, leading to Umany apologising for the proposal.

In a statement today, the police’s federal Criminal Investigation Department chief, M Kumar, said five police reports have been lodged against the students’ union over the remark, and that investigations are being done under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

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It's the frigging same every year - I'm sick of it.

Thus, non-Malays in M'sia should not expect to be evaluated on merit, ever.