Gov’t scholarships: Don’t be disheartened, Heama

‘Have the inner strength to carry on your struggle despite this setback. Persevere. The world out there is waiting for you to explore.’

High achiever’s PSD scholarship dreams dashed

Pemerhati: The Sun reported Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz as saying that of the 300 scholarships that were given based on merit, 14 percent were given to bumiputeras while 86 percent were given to the non-bumiputeras.

This indicates that if Malaysia has a meritocractic system, there would be only about 20 percent bumiputeras in the various fields that require strong academic ability.

Countries with enlightened administrations realise the importance of having the best and brightest people in all fields and hence go all out to find and retain such people, whatever their ethnicity.

Unfortunately, the racist mindset of the ruling Umnoputras and their civil servants results in policies that produce a lot of bumiputera professionals of very low quality and these racists are happy with the exodus of the brilliant non-bumiputeras.

The Umnoputras and the royalty know of the low quality professionals and hence shun our local education and medical institutions. Such institutions are for the ‘benefit’ of the rakyat.

Terminator: The problem is it is difficult to change government agencies such as the PSD (Public Service Department). It will take a change of goverment and another 10 years at least to see positive changes in our country.

For Heamanthaa Padmanaban, please do not be de-spirited as I was also in the same shoes almost 25 years ago. I also attended the PSD interview and was not chosen for a scholarship in UK, despite having 5As in SPM. I knew it would be miracle for a non-bumiputera to get it.

I accepted an offer from a local university and did my studies with own expenses (no loan or scholarship). In the end, what is important is your hard work. Today I compete internationally and outwit a lot of Europeans in my field overseas and earn a healthy income.

Bao Zheng: Hemanthaa, you should remain strong and not deterred by such sinister intention to deprive you of what you deserve. Look for options to reinforce your position. Truth prevails and it is crystal clear that our government offers empty talk and does not deliver.

Singapore, UK, Australia would receive you with open arms and help you achieve your ambition of becoming a doctor. The brain drain began since independence. Only mediocre candidates remain. Just look at our higher institutions, they are such a letdown. The country has long gone to the dogs.

Do well in your A levels and things will go your way. Good luck.

Phoenix Star 88: Haema, please accept the private scholarship you have received to cover the tuition fees. They are hard to come by. You can get a small loan to cover the living expenses.

Don’t let this rejection from PSD spoil your self-esteem as it is clearly not your fault. It’s no the end of the world. And to all good Malaysians, ask yourselves how denying opportunities to the our best and brightest would benefit the country?

Anonymous: Heamanthaa, I believe your determination and dream will come true. While you still believed in the government, I already feel sick and tired of this government.

I have a son and I don’t depend on the government to provide either the study loan or scholarship. It is for me to work hard to improve the life of my family. Believe in yourself, not the government.

SickNegara: After reading this story, I could only shake my head in disbelief. The whole process is wrong – from the way the scholarships are awarded to the way courses are chosen and offered to the students.

When will these low-grade leaders ever get anything right? What a 1Malaysia with 0Brain leaders?

JBGUY: There must be transparency in the award of government scholarships. Every year we hear of bright students being turned away and mediocre students of a particular race being given these scholarships. This clearly infringes the PM’s promise to reward students solely based on meritocracy.

It is time the PSD stops interviewing the candidates as this is being used to favour one race. Candidates should be gauged on their academic performance, their extra-curricular activities and a standard test akin to the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) in the US.

This test should be set by a multi-racial team of education specialists from the public and private sector. The panel who make the final decision must be made up of a multi-racial committee who are answerable for any discrepancy in the awards. The successful students will then have their names and scores published in the PSD website.

Malaysian Born: I feel sorry for our country as we seem to be on the road to running discounted quotas into oblivion. Instead of targeting excellence, we seem too comfortable holding on to mediocrity.

Government service needs to be the vocation of choice attracting the best and the brightest. By pushing away applicants of merit, we are doing serious long-term damage to the service at a very fundamental level.

Merit is not a bad thing. In Malaysia, for some reason, it has become a dirty word. Mention it in front of the Perkasa types and they hit the panic button because they feel they will be left out. Well, they should. There are, and will be, more than enough performing Malays to fulfill the requirements if you make excellence non-optional.

The Ibrahim Alis will of course end up unable to qualify, but that is okay as they are not meant to – someone has to sit outside the toilet to collect the tokens. Let the meritorious Malays and non-Malays be the majority in the government service.

Clearwater: Forget the PSD and their scholarship and direct your energy to other alternatives. Getting 10As at SPM level is not a big deal nor is it life defining. It’s only a low-level local examination and not highly thought of at that.

Never ever think you are entitled to anything because you are smart or athletic or pretty or gifted or just born with favoured status. Don’t compare yourself to others, either favourably or unfavourably. No one owes you anything.

Have the inner strength to carry on your struggle despite this setback. Persevere. The world out there is waiting for you to explore.

Anonymous_40a7: Now we all know why Malaysia is going backwards – the high achievers are teaching English, while the lesser ones are running the country.