The Cabinet meeting yesterday was a double disappointment on university education particularly to the young generation of Malaysians which must be rectified in a special Cabinet meeting on university intake as well as PSD scholarships for SPM students with 12As.
I am very disappointed that my call for a colour-blind JPA scholarship system has not been heeded by the Cabinet. Clearly, the Cabinet Ministers themselves have yet to fully understand the meaning of 1Malaysia which the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has adopted as the slogan of his administration.
Furthermore, my specific proposal to resolve this year’s public ruckus over the unfair and discriminatory award of JPA selection of foreign degree scholarships has also not been acted upon.
I had proposed that all students with SPM 9A1s and above should be awarded PSD scholarships – which would mean an increased allocation of RM300 million for JPA scholarships budget from RM700 million to RM1 billion this year.
I had said that Pakatan Rakyat MPs are prepared to vote in support of a special supplementary estimate of RM300 million for 2009 when Parliament reconvenes on June 15 to ensure that all students with 9A1s and above in SPM would be given PSD scholarships.
How could the Cabinet Ministers or Barisan Nasional MPs conceivably oppose the allocation of RM300 million for the development of the best and brightest talents among the new generation of Malaysians especially when the country is in the throes of the greatest financial scandal in the nation’s history – the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal?
The open letter of a Bentong mother, Madam Yap Chwee Lian, 44, to the MCA Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong (Sin Chew) expressing her despair at her son’s failure to get a PSD scholarship despite appeal as he got 12A1s in SPM is heart-rending and should be compulsory reading for every Cabinet Minister.
As she said rightly, the wish of every parent is for “son to become dragon”.
Is Wee prepared to ensure that every Cabinet Minister gets a copy of Yap’s open letter, properly translated into Bahasa Malaysia, so that a special Cabinet meeting could be held to do justice to Madam Yap and her son, as well as to similar cases?
Madam Yap rightly asked in her open letter why her son, Leong Choon Lin could not get a PSD foreign scholarship for engineering when the government had announced that 20% or 400 of the PSD overseas scholarships would be allocated according to meritocracy.
In last year’s SPM results, three students scored 16 1A’s, two scored 15 1A’s, six 14 1A’s, 41 of them scored 13 1A’s while 229 scored 12 1A’s.
Why was Madam Yap’s son left out?
It is pathetic that Cabinet Ministers, whether from MCA, Gerakan, MIC or the other component BN parties, could not check and end injustices like the case of Madam Yap’s son with 12A1s or to ensure that the PSD make public the full list of the successful applicants as well as the criteria of selection so that there is transparency to satisfy all concerned that there is no hanky-panky concerned.
The Cabinet handling of the Universiti Sains Malaysia Apex University student intake ruckus is most scandalous.
Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin merely said the Cabinet received a report from the Higher Education Ministry on the “confusion” that arose out of a technical glitch in USM’s student intake for the 2009/2010 academic session – when 8,173 pre-qualified students were put up on the website as successful when actually the number should have only been 3,599.
Apart from stating that “while accepting the reasons for the technical glitch, he sympathised with the predicament faced by the affected students”, Muhyiddin held out no glimmer of hope whatsoever that all the 4,574 victims of the USM foul-up would be given places in the other public universities.
The Cabinet meeting yesterday appeared to be a total waste of time for the 4,574 students and their parents.
When Najib returns from his China trip, he should convene a special Cabinet meeting to urgent address these two issues, viz:
Firstly, do justice to Madam Yap, her son and all in their shoes and approve a special supplementary estimate of RM300 million for 2009 to ensure that all students with 9A1s and above in SPM would be given PSD scholarships this year. Pakatan Rakyat MPs assure Najib full support for such a supplementary vote in the June meeting of Parliament.
Secondly, adopt a solution for the USM Apex University fiasco that not a single one of the 4,574 would be denied places in the other public universities, without prejudicing the chances of other eligible students. This can be done through a two-step process, viz:
- University Admission Unit (UPU) selection of the placement of 40,366 places for the public universities from the 61,027 applications through its normal “meritocracy” selection system; and
- those from the 4,574 student-victims of the USM Apex University fiasco who failed to get UPU offers for the 40,366 university places should all be given places in the public universities, through an expansion of public universities places from 40,366 to include this group.
As the 4,574 students were “pre-qualified” by USM from over 22,000 students who applied, I will be surprised if there is even five per cent or more than 250 students (which works out to only one per cent of the total public university intake this year) from this group who are not offered places by UPU.
I do not believe that it is beyond the capability of the Malaysian public university system to increase university intake by one per cent of its target intake of 40,366 students for the new academic year when such a tiny increase in university places will see that justice is done and that not a single one of the 4,574 students nurse a life-long grievance against an unfair university selection system.
Is the Cabinet capable of making these two decisions in a special meeting to give real meaning to the Najib motto of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”?
It is very clear that umno has not learned anything from its defeat in 5 out of 6 by-elections held since the 12th GE. Hand them yet another one in Manik Urai
the supp of 300millions will go to terengganu to build a new stadium. the sum of money is just enough for that.
1Malaysia only means 1UMNO. The fact speaks itself.
UMNO still lives in the past. They think that we are still in the sixties, seventies, eighties or nineties! Come on, wake up! This is the 21st century where things have undergone complete METAMORPHOSIS and the rakyat has awaken from their slumber! You get to cheat some of the people some of the time but you can’t cheat all the people all the time!
1 MALAYSIA is just another empty slogan like WAWASAN 2020!!!
It’s expected that Umno/Bn will never listen to the opposition especially the Dap.Umno/Bn always think they are the smartest and what they think is good for the rakyat is final.This’s the arrogance of umno/BN top leaders.Most of their statements about people’s social and economic development are just rhetoric.The fact of the matter is these Umno/Bn leaders and their cronies are using the rakyat’s interest for their ill gains.Look at all the reported projects/scandals committed by these hypocrites.Every scandal tells a fairy tale ending story.One like scandal attracts another like one.All those like umno/Bn leaders draw to like them.All of them are greedy of material gains and like avarice knows no bounds.
sorry out of topic…
1987 – bathe keris with chinese blood.
2009 – sign MOUs with chinese to strenghten bilateral ties???
Extra $300 million or much more must be reserved for the Stadium rebuilding and many more to-be-collapsed buildings.
Uncle Lim just tell Madam Yap there is many ways to become a dragon. Just take yourself as an example, you never set a foot in any foreign higher institutions, yet your dragonness is least at 10 times more fierceful than those overseas graduates.
No choice, we really got to stop this public overseas scholarship nonsense, it is becoming source of envy, disappointment and unrealistic entitlement for young achievers. Trust me it is just matter of time JPA would be like Mara, just run of funds to continue this not-value-for-money stupid practice. Come to this point of time, can a 16As scorer screams loudly it is unfair because previous years 16As students automatically awarded with overseas scholarships, now he gets nothing.
Honestly; in my pea brain, your proposal to automatically awarding of overseas scholarships to those with 9A1 and above is just not realistic. The number of students who score A1, fees and living expenses are ever increasing, shrinking exchange rate will make this policy unbearable. Unless the overseas education we are talking about is to Indonesia, Pakistan, Crimea…. Maybe now Madam Yap will prefer her son to become a dragon by not crying for overseas scholarship. MU, UTM is just fine.
The Malaysian Exam Council must make a SPM A1 equivalent to 95/100 and above in order to drastically reduce the nonsensical number of A1s every year. And to score an A2, one must get at least 90/100. This is what Singapore is doing, and the result is that the best student there could only get 8 A1s.
Kindergarten question:
Why was Madam Yap’s son left out?
A. He is a pendatang
B. His parents are not in umno
C. All non-bumis are as rich as Robert Kuok
D. All of the above
Pakatan Rakyat should established scholarship scheme why not?
How could the Cabinet Ministers or Barisan Nasional MPs conceivably oppose the allocation of RM300 million for the development of the best and brightest talents among the new generation of Malaysians especially when the country is in the throes of the greatest financial scandal in the nation’s history – the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal?” – Kit
Corruption! No other reasons but corruption! The only reason I can think of is corruption! BN is all about corruption!
“Pakatan Rakyat should established scholarship scheme why not?” – Chengho
You don’t care about the plights of these students, you are here to satisfy your own ego.
chengho,
Ask your political master to dissolve the Dewan Rakyat and pave the way for the 13th GE. Or advise them to amend the Federal Constitution so that the tax and revenue collected from PR states go directly to the coffers of PR controlled states. Don’t talk nonsense.
Madam Yap should appeal to Razak Baginda
for financial support
since ARAB pocketed RM500 million commission
Robert Kuok is worth US$9 billion. Ananda Krishnan US$7 billion. And don’t for get Al Bukhari. Maybe they would like to spare some petty cash for a few scholarships?
How about Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman offering him a full scholarship? Even some local colleges offering overseas degrees give full scholarships if you get more than 10 A1s or something like that.
Why also not try to get a scholarship from the Republic of the Red Dot? They give ASEAN scholarships.
The problem is everyone wants an overseas scholarship based on SPM results. I don’t think you can get admitted into a University based solely on SPM results. You need at least an “A” level equivalent whether this be STPM, HSC or matriculation equivalent. So why not get the STPM first?
Also talking about grades, how many marks for a 1A? 2A? etc? Is SPM still equivalent to an “O” level (or whatever they call it now)?
Imagine. PKFZ currently escalated to RM 7.5 billion. That’s equivalent to at least 20,000 overseas scholarships!!!!
“I had proposed that all students with SPM 9A1s and above should be awarded PSD scholarships – which would mean an increased allocation of RM300 million for JPA scholarships budget from RM700 million to RM1 billion this year.”
Lim Kit Siang
Brother Lim, as much as I admire your political struggles against the Najib’s tyranny, your suggestion of awarding scholarships to all students with 9A1 is short-sighted; merely a quick-solve reflex to a problem that must be tackled at its roots.
#First of all, we have to ask ourselves; are all SPM high achievers academically sound to begin with?#
No. The SPM grading system is simply too inflated; there is absolutely no way to discern ‘good’ high-achievers from ‘excellent’ high-achievers.
#Does 9A1 necessarily equate to good Pre-University results?#
No. Many top scorers with strings of A1s perform miserably in quality-controlled assessments such as A-levels, IB, SATs and Year 12. Don’t believe me? Just browse through the countless blogs kept by JPA scholars and you will be surprised that quite a number of these A-laden students are struggling to live up to their expectations.
#Academic results do not accurately reflect a person’s true calibre.#
Admittedly, quite a number of Malaysian students are pathetic. And no, getting 235280550832450 A1s for SPM does not guarantee your exit from my Pathetic list. Really, some of these ‘top-scorers’ have pathetic intrapersonal skills, pathetic mastery of English, pathetic mentality, pathetic maturity, pathetic communication skills, pathetic creativity; heck there’s no limit to the list.
#Getting good results is one thing; getting into a good university is another.#
JPA can only provide the student with financial support. Everything else is up to the individual. Evidently, not everyone is good enough to be admitted into top-notch universities/critical courses. We must remember that entry into good universities will involve stiff international competition. Even at the present stage, many scholars have failed to secure places at their designated universities, swamping JPA with the problem of relocating these individuals. Increasing the number of scholarships will only further aggravate this problem.
#Only the most deserving should get the scholarship.#
Brother Kit Siang, if your suggestion does go through, getting a scholarship will be so easy that it will breed a twisted mentality that scholarships are a right, not a privilege. Eventually, there will be so much drama that the entire SPM-leaver population will scream for scholarships; not the best scenario by any means.
#The solution?#
Scrap the entire system of awarding full scholarships based on SPM. Instead, shove all promising students into STPM and only award the scholarships to individuals who gain entry into top-notch universities/critical courses. This move solves all the problems; it saves money and it ensures that only the best will be sponsored.
To complement this solution, academic consultants who are well-versed in foreign university application processes should be made readily available so that every student will know what to expect and what procedures have to be done. This gives everyone an equal footing in the rat race.
Personally, this solution has been glaringly obvious from day 1. I simply cannot understand why politicians are bickering over JPA scholarships and SPM top scorers being denied places. They aren’t trying to solve the problem; they’re perpetuating it.
unreasonable number of A is just made up, made up by boleh. the standard can be changed by reducing the number of A given out
En Sheriff,
The main culprit here is envy and superiority of overseas graduate in our society, not the problem of UTAR or STPM. If someone with 12A1 or less gets overseas scholarship, then why not me. Afterall everyone is talking about knowledge and brain economy, here a 12 A1 brain, I am definitely entitled to this award.
Hence next year they decide to lower down the common bar for everyone to 10A1’s. Just to shut us up when this happens again next year.
Does Najib think we are (that) stupid?
Young Says:
Yesterday at 18: 04.57
>#First of all, we have to ask ourselves; are all SPM high achievers >academically sound to begin with?#
>No. The SPM grading system is simply too inflated; there is >absolutely no way to discern ‘good’ high-achievers >from ‘excellent’ high-achievers.
This may be true but until the system is changed, it is the only objective indicator available.
>#Does 9A1 necessarily equate to good Pre-University results?#
>No. Many top scorers with strings of A1s perform miserably in >quality-controlled assessments such as A-levels, IB, SATs and >Year 12. Don’t believe me? Just browse through the countless >blogs kept by JPA scholars and you will be surprised that quite a >number of these A-laden students are struggling to live up to >their expectations.
It may not be perfectly positively correlated but surely there must be a positive correlation between the SPM top scorers and those that do well at A-levels etc.
>#Academic results do not accurately reflect a person’s true >calibre.#
>Admittedly, quite a number of Malaysian students are pathetic. >And no, getting 235280550832450 A1s for SPM does not >guarantee your exit from my Pathetic list. Really, some of >these ‘top-scorers’ have pathetic intrapersonal skills, pathetic >mastery of English, pathetic mentality, pathetic maturity, >pathetic communication skills, pathetic creativity; heck there’s no l>limit to the list.
What’s your point? Students are in yours pathetic list should not be given a scholarship? How does one objectively measure “pathetic-ness”? Do you have a test that can objectively measure this?
>#Only the most deserving should get the scholarship.#
>Brother Kit Siang, if your suggestion does go through, getting a >scholarship will be so easy that it will breed a twisted mentality >that scholarships are a right, not a privilege.
While I would agree that getting 9A1 and more is easier these days, I would be hesistant to make an unqualified remark that it is “so easy”. I am quite sure that the students did work hard even though it is easier to do well grade-wise these days.
>#The solution?#
>Scrap the entire system of awarding full scholarships based on >SPM. Instead, shove all promising students into STPM and only >award the scholarships to individuals who gain entry into top->notch universities/critical courses. This move solves all the >problems; ……
How long do you think that it will take to implement your system, even assuming that it is the right one? In the meantime, what are you going to tell those that have done well? Too bad, just wait?
Ideally, I think we all like to have a good and fair system. However, I would settle for system that is fair for now.
Education policy has been cast on stone a long time ago, and the only way to change it is to use a powerful explosive to blow everything up first and then rewrite and cast on diamond steel, with the word ‘MERITOCRACY’ prominently carved deep onto the steel-plate.