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Derecognition of CSMU: MIC
members and supporters should take the suspension of S. Sothinathan as
a wake up call
Media
Statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
(Petaling
Jaya,
Friday):
MIC President should not have asked
S.Sothinathan to accept the suspension without putting in any appeal as he
was the one who first expressed anger and dissatisfaction over the
derecognition of Crimea State Medical University (CSMU) in Ukraine.
It’s also morally wrong for
him to warn all MIC members and leaders not to express support for
Sothinathan.
Samy Vellu’s actions have
given an impression to the Indian community in this country that he was not
sincere and serious about championing the rights of the students and parents
who were badly affected by the sudden derecognition. Or he simply has no
guts to defend his earlier stand and viewpoints.
For those who have read the
Hansard or have watched the video clips provided by the DAP official website
at
www.dapmalaysia.org and
dapradio.org would know that what S.Sothinathan has said in the Parliament
on Wednesday was not very different from what Samy Vellu has said in his
press conference on Monday.
In fact, S.Sothinathan did not
even criticise the government on the matter. He was merely trying to say
that his party do not agree with the hasty decision of the MMC, and he
wanted further clarification on the derecognition of CSMU.
It’s therefore very wrong for
Datuk Mohd Nazri to claim that Sothinathan has broken the rank as a
government leader. It’s also wrong for the Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to say that it was breach of party discipline.
The suspension demonstrates
that “telling the truth” has backfired on Sothinathan. It would be very
difficult for any other minister or deputy minister to heed the call made by
the PM by saying anything truthful within or outside the Malaysian
Parliament.
The suspension also reflects
the predicament face by the MIC as a component party. It simply means that
whatever disagreement or unhappiness the party may have equals to nothing or
not be taken seriously by UMNO (U must not object) and other
component parties like MCA, Gerakan and SUPP.
The fact that close to 90% of
the Malaysian Indian voters have voted for Barisan Nasional Government in
the 2004 general elections did not mean a thing for the BN Government. I
hope MIC members and supporters would take the suspension of Sothinathan,
who’s also the Secretary General of MIC, as a wake up call.
Parliamentary Opposition Leader
Lim Kit Siang has found out that CSMU happens to be a reputable institution.
In fact, it’s the second highest ranking medical university in Ukraine, a
country known for rocket science and nuclear technology. Many of the 1,100
Malaysian students studying there right now are high achievers.
The concern of quality and the
so-called student – lecturers ratio (1:8 at CSMU, lower that the
international standard of 1:4) quoted by MMC was just an excuse as none of
the local medical faculties in the Malaysia could match the so-called
international standard.
And to claim that quality of
the local universities were higher than Ukraine without any substantiation
was not acceptable by any of the students and parents affected by the sudden
derecognition.
Only one Indian student was
allowed to study in the medical faculty of Universiti Malaya last year is a
well-known fact. This may explain why there are now about 500 Malaysian
Indian students studying at CSMU in Ukraine.
We hope the derecognition of
CSMU and non-recognition of other Ukrainian medical universities were not
done to deny the Indian community from producing more medical doctors, as
claimed by MIC President and Minister of Works, Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu.
(24/6/2005)
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Liu Tian Khiew, DAP International
Secretary and NGO bureau chief
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http://dapmalaysia.org