BY BOO SU-LYN
The Malay Mail Online
May 18, 2014
TELUK INTAN, May 18 — At Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) where fees for a first degree cost just RM5,000, some Malay students drove luxury cars like Jaguars and Mercedes Benzes, according to Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.
That made Dyana angry because non-Malay students from lower income families are kept out of the university simply because of their race.
Dyana is DAP’s choice for the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31, picked over more experienced candidates in a bid to boost the predominantly Chinese party’s multicultural credentials.
It is a role the 26 year old UiTM law graduate appears to have slipped into with ease as she looks to represent a constituency that is mainly Chinese.
“We should move on from race-based policies to needs-based policies, and at the same time, the Malays would still gain because the Malays are the majority who need it anyway,” she said in an interview with The Malay Mail Online.
Eliminating affirmative action policies favouring Bumiputeras would only be a problem for well-off Malays who unfairly benefit from race-based policies, she added. Continue reading “In Teluk Intan, DAP’s young Malay candidate hopes to build bridges”