Challenging Ibrahim Ali’s view of scholarships
Residential schools, elite schools, Mara Junior Science Colleges and matriculation centres are run – at exorbitant cost – to specially cater for Malays. Muhyiddin’s statement begs the question: If the Std 6 exam is only to determine who gets into privileged schools, why should non-Malay pupils bother to be tested at all?
By Helen Ang
Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali has proposed that taxes from haram activities like gambling and liquor sales be increased so that the surplus can be used set up a scholarship fund for non-Malays.
Ibrahim said his proposal made sense because gambling and liquor were industries that Muslims stayed clear of, and that while he is not against non-Malays receiving government funding like from JPA, they should heed the warning “cuma jangan mengganggu hak pelajar bumiputera” (only do not disturb the rights of bumiputera students).
Non-Malay students with excellent results could apply for private scholarships which he suggests to be created by soliciting contributions from businessmen like Robert Kuok and other prominent non-Malay cartels.
Stressing that every excellent bumiputera (he means Malay) student must be given a scholarship “tanpa mengira jumlah ataupun kuota tertentu” (regardless of how many applicants there are or any quota limit), Ibrahim announced last Friday that his movement will sue the government if any one of them should fail to get the scholarship – which he deems their constitutional right.
Two days later, Muhyiddin Yassin said that UPSR and PMR could possibly be abolished as public exams. The deputy prime minister-cum-education minister said on Sunday that Std 6 and Form 3 students may in future be tested only internally for the purpose of streaming into Science/Arts or for places in residential schools.
Residential schools, elite schools, Mara Junior Science Colleges and matriculation centres are run – at exorbitant cost – to specially cater for Malays.
Muhyiddin’s statement begs the question: If the Std 6 exam is only to determine who gets into privileged schools, why should non-Malay pupils bother to be tested at all?
Ibrahim’s idea of ‘excellent’
Cemerlang means excellent. It is necessary to make a distinction between achievement and excellence. For example, it was doubtless an achievement for Abdul Malik Mydin (left) to be the first Malaysian to swim the English Channel.
However, his time of 17 hours and 42 minutes is short of excellent if we keep in mind that a 12-year-old girl Samantha Druce managed 15 hrs 28 mins. Even a 70-year-old, George Burnstad, did better at 15.59 than the 29-year-old Malik at 17.42.
The Malay hero was nonetheless conferred a Datukship for his exploit, such ‘excellence’ as KPI-ed by our self-calibrated measure. Was it worth all the state-sponsored expense of Malik’s training under an Australian coach and ‘airflown’ to England for his almost 18-hour swim when the best channel crossers can complete the distance in under-seven hours?
For that matter, why not carry out the Malaysia Boleh stunt, if they must, swimming from Langkawi to Kuala Kedah instead?
It was however a different case with the second Malaysian to swim the channel that same year (2004). Lennard Lee was already based in England – at Cambridge University doing medicine, and at least his swim met a more useful objective, i.e. to raise funds for a cancer hospital.
Clocking 9.45, Lee was faster than Malik by a whopping eight hours.
More importantly, Lee did not land Malaysian taxpayers a hefty bill for ‘Satu lagi projek Barisan Nasional’.
Ketuanan chest-thumping
Relating the above swimming anecdote to education, ask if it is worth your money splashed (pun intended) on Malik-type students to send them to England immediately after Form 5 and all those other places with expensive currency exchange for such mediocre returns?
The politicisation of education has lowered the bar and a significant part of SPM presently comprises objective questions where students tick A-B-C-D from multiple choice options.
