Abdullah and his Cabinet must work out a fair and just selection
system for all students apart from finding solutions for the
“unfortunate 128”
Media Statement
by Ronnie
Liu Tian Khiew
(Petaling Jaya, Tuesday):
Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has sent words from China that he
has some ideas on how to help out the 128 top achievers who were not given a
seat in any of the six medical faculties in the country. While we welcome
his message of hope for the 128 students, we must stress that Abdullah and
his Cabinet must work out a long term solution for university student
intakes - nothing short of a fair and just selection system with
transparency and professionalism.
As a former minister of education,
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should not have accused the Opposition and a
handful of government leaders who have criticized the system or sympathetic
with the unsuccessful students for “playing racial politics”.
Najib should know very well that the
present so-called meritocracy system is biased, flawed and rigged with
double standards. To begin with, the present selection process accommodates
for both Matriculation and STPM candidates. How could we compare apples with
oranges in the first place?
Najib should in fact seriously
consider terminating the National Service program and put the RM500 million
(annual budget for the NS program) in better use- providing better
facilities and hiring more qualified lecturers for all the six medical
faculties in the country.
Health Minister Datuk Chua Soi Lak has
admittedly outlined the acute shortage of doctors and specialists in the
public hospitals. He has also spoken publicly that he would raise the plight
of the “unfortunate 128” with the Cabinet. We hope he would not back out in
the coming Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The students have done their best to
produce good results. It’s now the duty of the government to provide places
in universities to help them further their studies before serving the
society.
We would not accept any excuse from
Najib or any other government leaders on this subject. What has happened to
the talk of making Malaysia the world class education centre in the region?
How do we explain to the students who have done their best that what they
have achieved was still not good enough? And what‘s the point of winning big
in general elections but in the end cannot even meet the basic needs of our
young generations?
(1/6/2004)
* Ronnie Liu
Tian Khiew, DAP national publicity secretary
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