FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WHAT MOTION?
By the time I finished reading THIS ARTICLE in Malaysiakini and the comments therein, I was fuming mad. It said that the famous Kinabatanan MP Bung Mokhtar filed a motion under Standing Order 26(1)(P) to investigate the pandemonium that erupted in the Senate Lounge in Parliament today.
According to the report, opposition MPs were hosting a round table discussion on the lack of government scholarships for non-bumiputera students when a heated argument broke out between opposition MPs and several BN MPs who entered the lounge, including Bung Mokhtar Radin.
Bung Mokhtar alleged that there were outsiders in the lounge and this could have jeopardised “the safety of MPs” whereas BN’s Tangga Batu MP Idris Harun said he entered the lounge because he had heard participants cursing Umno and BN, and wanted to tell them that this was not appropriate. Thereafter, he said that some of the participants started shouting, telling him to leave and pushed him. Subsequently, Idris said that he retreated quietly as he was outnumbered.
There are a few issues at stake here.
Firstly, it is obvious that opposition MPs were doing their job as elected representative of the rakyat by hosting a round table discussion about the lack of government scholarships for non-bumiputera students. This is a serious problem that has plagued the nation for decades!
We all know that education standards have dropped so much that it is very easy to score straight A’s in public examinations. Why can’t the Education Ministry RAISE the bar so that it is tougher to score distinctions? It is meaningless for students to be star students and yet be unable to compete favorably at the international level. The current scenario makes a mockery of examinations. To exacerbate the situation, instead of raising the bar, the MOE has introduced the ridiculous A* system.
With the ease in scoring, surely there are MORE non-bumiputera students who would work as diligently as they can in order to secure a scholarship. In sharp contrast, we all know that some Malaysians have an easier path to attain educational qualifications.
Is it too much to ask for the government to take serious steps to:
a) arrest the brain drain of our country by providing more scholarships to deserving non-bumiputera students who have excelled in public examinations? Such scholarships are investments in the human resources of the country which can ensure that the quality of labour is being upgraded for the future.
Yet, most pathetically, the authorities choose to turn a blind eye to the pleas and it is almost as though they are pleased that the non-bumiputera students are leaving in droves to neighbouring countries on scholarships. Don’t they realize that Malaysia has lost FAR TOO MUCH to the benefit of other countries who have lured our star pupils to their country? No wonder Singapore has grown many times faster and better than Malaysia. They value our star pupils and offer them what our leaders do not seem to want to consider!
b) The authorities have said that there aren’t enough scholarships. Well, just as they can with the click of a mouse or the flick of a signature make policy changes, why can’t they be fair and heed the request of the people? These young students worked for their results and it is only fair and right that the government invests in these youth rather than spend millions on bridges, submarines, buildings and other unnecessary expenditure. This is ONE expenditure that will pay dividends in MANY areas!!! Is it too much to ask for the government has to provide scholarships to these brilliant students? It’s a drop in the ocean compared to the obscene amount spent on other unnecessary projects such. All these students are going to be the brains needed for a country that is going to compete globally. Doesn’t the country want our rakyat to progress? Doesn’t the government want to show the rakyat that they put the people first? Talk is easy. We want to see real action!
c) If indeed there were outsiders in the lounge:
* how did they get past the security guards in the first place?
* who were they and what evidence can Bung Mokhtar provide that there were actually outsiders there?
* how could these characters have jeopadized the safety of MPs? What did they do?
d) Who picked the fight first? The photograph in Malaysiakini shows the blazing eyes of certain characters. I wonder who were the real aggressors.
