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Wee Ka Siong has come out better than MCA Youth chief  Ong Tee Kiat in the farce of the STPM certificate forgery syndicate which had never existed in the first place
 


Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang

(Petaling Jaya, Friday): Although MCA Youth leader, Datuk Ong Tee Kiat announced yesterday that he would institute legal action against me for my comments on the MCA’s role for the baseless furore over the alleged STPM forgery syndicate, I expect him to drop the matter and quietly forget about it, for he should know better than anyone that he has absolutely no case whatsoever for any legal proceeding!

The MCA Youth national education bureau chairman Dr. Wee Ka Siong had in fact come out better than the MCA Youth chief in the farce of the STPM certificate forgery syndicate which had never existed in the first place.

I had said that a careless report by MCA Youth to the Ministry for Higher Education had been used by the Minister for Higher Education Dr. Shafie Salleh as well as certain print media, in particular Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian and New Straits Times, to go on a rampage about the horrors of a syndicate to falsify not only STPM but also SPM certificates, casting doubts on the credibility, integrity and honour of the STPM “top scorers”, especially the 527 STPM candidates last year who had scored the perfect score of 4.0 cumulative grade point average (CGPA).

Even worse, the furore about the non-existing STPM certificate forgery syndicate succeeded in distracting national attention from the plight of the 99 of the 128 “top scorers” who were initially denied medical places in public universities but subsequently offered private medical places – with  the majority unable to  take up either because of the financial burden or quality of course.

I had conceded in my first statement on 6th July that Wee had clarified that he had not said students had forged their STPM certificates, only that a student had made a false declaration in his appeal form. 

What Ong Tee Kiat as MCA Youth leader should have done was to publicly back Wee and criticize the Higher Education Minister and the print media which had distorted Wee’s statement to create a national frenzy about the non-existent STPM and SPM certificate forgery syndicate – but instead, he turned on me, threatening to sue me, a most typical example of  the Chinese saying of “Bully the Decent, Fear the Oppressive” complex.

What is most ironic is that the farce and furore of the non-existent STPM certificate forgery syndicate has now come full circle, with UMNO Youth finally admitting that there was no such forgery and blaming the MCA Youth for triggering the furore.

Under the headlineTiada pelajar disiasat palsukan sijil SPM, STPM masuk IPTA”, Utusan Malaysia quoted  UMNO Youth leader and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Higher Education Ministry, Datuk Dr. Adham Baba, admitting that no “top scorer” had entered  the public universities with forged STPM or SPM certificates.

The report said:

 

BANGI 8 Julai – Siasatan Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi mendapati tiada pelajar cemerlang yang diterima masuk ke institusi pengajian tinggi awam (IPTA) baru-baru ini telah memalsukan keputusan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) dan Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM).

 

Setiausaha Parlimen kementerian itu, Datuk Dr. Adham Baba berkata, Jabatan Pendidikan Tinggi dengan kerjasama Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia (MPM) telah membuat semakan semula terhadap sijil SPM dan STPM seorang pelajar yang dikatakan terlibat dalam pemalsuan itu.

 

Menurutnya, hasil siasatan mendapati pihak MCA keliru dengan keputusan gred pelajar yang mendakwa tidak diterima masuk ke IPTA itu.

 

Katanya, perkara sebenar yang berlaku ialah pelajar yang mengadu kepada MCA itu bukanlah dari kalangan pelajar cemerlang yang memperoleh Purata Nilai Gred Keseluruhan (PNGK) 4.0.

 

Sebaliknya, pelajar itu menurut Adham, hanya memperoleh PNGK kurang daripada 4.0 kerana dia tidak mendapat A dalam semua mata pelajaran yang diambilnya.

 

``Ada mata pelajaran yang diambil pelajar berkenaan mencatatkan gred A- dan ini sekali gus menurunkan PNGKnya kepada kurang 4.0.

 

``Siasatan mendapati pelajar itu hanya memperoleh PNGK 3.9 dan bukannya PNGK 4.0,’’ katanya kepada pemberita selepas melancarkan program Bulan Membaca Peringkat Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) di sini, hari ini.

 

Beliau mengulas perkembangan terkini kes pelajar cemerlang menipu slip peperiksaan untuk masuk ke IPTA yang disiarkan dalam media tempatan, baru-baru ini.

 

Mengikut formula penggredan sijil yang dikeluarkan oleh MPM, PNGK 4.0 diberi kepada pelajar yang mendapat semua A atau A+ atau campuran A dan A+ dalam semua mata pelajaran yang diambilnya.

Jika satu atau lebih daripada mata pelajaran yang diambilnya mencatatkan gred A-, maka pelajar itu tidak diberi PNGK 4.0. PNGK pelajar itu boleh menurun kepada 3.9 dan ke bawah.

 

Adham menjelaskan bahawa kekeliruan berlaku kerana pelajar terlibat memberitahu MCA bahawa dia mendapat A dan bukannya A-.

 

``Dalam kes tadi, ternyata pelajar tidak menipu sebaliknya MCA yang keliru dengan keputusan keseluruhan pelajar berkenaan,’’ katanya.

 

Justeru, beliau berharap dengan penjelasan itu, semua kekeliruan yang timbul akan selesai.

 

As Adham has now  put the whole blame for the furore and farce of the non-existent STPM forgery syndicate scandal squarely on the shoulders of MCA, is Ong Tee Kiat going to sue Adham Baba or will he quietly pretend that this Utusan Malaysia report never existed?

 

(9/7/2004)


* Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Member of Parliament for Ipoh Timor & DAP National Chairman