BN guide to “101 on crushing the dreams of our youths” May 25, 2008
Posted by elizabethwong in Current Affairs, Democracy, Malaysia, Note2Self, Politics, Race Relations.Tags: meritocracy, NEP, youth
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Hands up, everyone who had once dreamt of being a doctor, to help society, cure diseases, world peace etc.
(Even I once taped a paper cutting of an article on ‘Flying Doctors’ next to my bed for a full year when I was a student, to inspire me while dreaming of helping the poor and marginalised, alongside other possible occupations eg. being an agriculturist, writer, artist, quantum physicist etc.)
Today, a 17 year old from my state constituency Bukit Lanjan, despite having 12 As, was told he couldn’t qualify a JPA scholarship, evidently based on his ethnicity. He too dreams of being a doctor and to be of service to society. And despite the recent announcement by the Ministry of Education that all those 9As and above will be recipients, our young friend still has not received an new offer from MoE.
He is not the only one out there.
Our young friend has penned a most articulate letter to Malaysiakini as a result:-
The signals are clear for BN that it needs to reform after the massive vote of no-confidence especially in Peninsular Malaysia. Alas, there are none so blind as those who will not see.
The dilemma of ‘Malaysian’ scholars
Disappointed Student | May 22, 08 3:22pm
I was also like many others who wrote in hoping and praying hard that I will get a PSD scholarship. However the reality of injustice materialised when I found out I didn’t get this offer upon which I had placed all my hope. Other similarities I have, include obtaining a string of As (10 A1s and 2 A2s), being rejected for matriculation as well as having parents working in the government sector.I also have outstanding co-curricular results. I didn’t even bother applying for the Asasi programme (local university foundation) as I was too devastated when I found out that non-bumiputeras who wanted to pursue medicine were not allowed to enrol themselves in these programmes.
I even went as far as to call every university in the list to ascertain this very painful reality. All I can do now is hope my appeal for a PSD scholarship will come through. My heart goes out to all the other high-achievers in our country who have been discriminated in a similar way.
My concern is why doesn’t the government have a system solely based on meritocracy to give the opportunity to those truly deserving of a scholarship. These students might feel as if all their hard work and talent has not been appreciated and they will be terribly hurt.
Also, it will serve as a terrible blow to their perception towards the country. This unjust system will backfire on the country itself as it is preventing deserving students from becoming future leaders of our country. Consequently, our country is denied the fast pace of development it is capable of.
What of the quality of students who are entering the local public universities having not obtained one of the 2,000 PSD foreign study scholarships every year? I have ‘friends’who are not up to par with me and are able to obtain scholarships and enter our local universities easily.
I myself feel very hurt as I ponder upon our dilemma, the non-bumis, who really did come from this bumi here in Malaysia. We have the love for Malaysia and are prepared to strive our best for the country. Our love for the country is equal if not more than the bumi.
I think I speak for all the non-bumis by saying we would never let the country down given the chance. However, I am confounded on why we are condemned to such a situation. Why treat us unfairly? Is this the government’s way of creating unity among races they continually speak of?
For the good of Malaysia; it’s people, it’s sovereignty, and national integration I hope now will be the time where we can all be equal Malaysian bumiputeras. Everyday we hear the cries of many students who seem to undergo the same fate and everyday the love and hope for my country dwindles as well. Please don’t fail me, Malaysia.
elizabeth wong 
Very angry and totally disappointed with BN. Make sure vote them out totally from the parliament during the next election. I do not want to hear or see any of their faces. In spite of knowing the people grievances, the BN government still continue to practice race based allocation of scholarship without considering the deserving young men and women of other races. How could you claim to represent the people of Malaysia whereby a special race is well taken care of and the other races are left to struggle on their own? You deserved to lose the five states. You are lucky this time you lost five, Next time around you can only stand outside the parliament building gate because the people of Malaysia have totally rejected you all.
PKR, DAP and PAS make sure you all fulfill your pledge of equally treating all races and helping each deserving Malaysian without considering the color of his or her skin.
The only way this can be stopped is by replacing the govt we have.I hope that day won’t be too far away.
wHAT HAPPEN TO ALL THE TAXES LIKE INCOME TAX, SALES tAX.? Arent the non malays contributing?
The racist federal government is already in the throes of self-destruction. In the meantime, perhaps we can show this smart chap and others like him the benefits of living under Pakatan Rakyat. Let’s make sure he receives a Yayasan Selangor study loan (www.yayasanselangor.org.my).
Scholarship should not be racial-based yes. But it should also not just based on pure academic qualifications but also on the economic background of the students. That was the main intention of scholarships in the first place. For example, a Penan/Iban student whom I’ve visited, has no electricity and water; and their diet is poor. Of course this will impact upon his/her ability to perform as well as the student in an urban areas especially from a well-off family. Where the student can get whatever he/she wants including expensive private tutorials, a private room, electricity, well-nutritient food etc.
So please as an opposition MP, who promised to work for the benefit of all rakyat especially the poor and oppressed, to just stop addressing this issue based on academic qualification, but also to find resolutions on the complex connection between poverty and academic performance. Poor students should not be deprive of opportunities such as scholarships just because they don’t perform well in the first chance. I’m sure if they have a second chance to perform in a better environment, they would perform as well as the rich students. So class/economic issue here is also important.
Noor Aza Othman.
I hate to advise this ….. but what other options do we had in our own contry. Pls go to singapore …. I am sure they will be very happy to give you scholarship.
Eli,
Back in my time, only 60 odd people have 10A1s in the whole nation (the max possible), and I was one of them. And yet, I too failed to obtain the JPA scholarship. And like most, I was angry at that time.
But looking back, I come to realise that this “I deserve a JPA scholarship” mode of thinking is not the right way to look at things really. Firstly, the onus of ensuring the future of your education comes partly from yourself too, and secondly, there are many many other opportunities available if we are willing to look for them, especially for high achieving students. Talents are an increasingly scarce resource, and the bargaining power is with the talents. We shouldn’t really ‘wait’ for the ‘usual route’ and hope for the best. There are much more to your future and education than securing a JPA scholarship.
I’ve blogged about this annual problem that we face. I think it’s time to scrap this post-SPM scholarship craze. You can read the thread and the commentshere.
every single time someone doesn’t get a scholarship, ethnicity is singled out as the number one factor. this isn’t just the case when it comes to scholarships but for almost every other problem in malaysia.
i have gripe about malaysians, i do. i intensely dislike it there so much credit is given to ethnic difference. there are those who perpetuate it, and there are those who accept it and then perpetuate it on their own terms.
there are other realities aside from ethnic difference. we need to start thinking about those as well.
And they say our kids are soo polarised… no need to wonder who created this big gap! the school system and how they award scholarships shows their biasness in bolehland.. boleh only for some, not the rest… Even when you do well you suddenly realize that they have already given all the top prizes away to some in the 3rd tier! And then they go create something called National Service to forge national unity, where some kids are killed in the NonSense program. Doesn’t make sense to me, but i know it makes a lot of $$$en$$$ to cronies!
So you decided to censor my free speech? What difference are you then to Umno/BN? Shame indeed? Power seems more important to you than social justice!!! What a hypocrite elitist attitude! I’m loyal to social justice more than to power or party and will criticize whatever hypocrite politician, whether from Umno, BN or the Opposition!
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Soon another brain drain due to BN brainless people,Singapore wil be happily to graps this poor kids to add to their brain bank.
I love this country but at the same time they dont love me because i am not bumiputra ( weird the BUMI words itself borrowed from indian words )
rajraman666.still dreaming to be malaysiaputra in my dreams?
My niece scored 10 A1’s and 1 A2’s and her application for a PSD scholarship (to do medicine) was recently rejected. We hope Pakatan Rakyat can help fufill the dreams of our young generation, like my niece since her parent cannot afford to pay for her medical studies (see below, an extract of her email that was sent to me yesterday).
——————————————————–
“The Star once issued an article regarding the PSD Scholarship on May 18th, 2008. “Not for all top students”, said the PSD. According to
the criteria stated, in terms of academic the student must get 10 A1s and above. However, what I failed to understand is why are there students awarded with the scholarship despite not achieving more than 10 A1s?
I , like many other disappointed and frustrated student who got
11 As and above for SPM 2007 examinations failed to get a PSD scholarship. I was shocked to discover that my application was rejected on the day the results were out. After all, my family members and teachers placed high hopes on me in getting the scholarship as I was the top student in my former school. I also failed to get matriculation, where as my other friends who got less than 9 A1s managed to get both matriculation and PSD scholarship. I was sorely disappointed, because I worked so hard and in the end the effort was fruitless.
I cannot think of any possible reasons why I failed in getting the scholarship. After all, I met wit the criteria in terms of academic and co-curriculum. I scored 10 A1s and a mere A2 for my Moral Education, I obtained an average of 8.9 for my co-curriculum which is an A, not to mention holding various important posts such as the Assistant Head Prefect and the Chief Editor of the school magazine. In addition, I was a PTS student who skipped standard 4 and as I can recall, I did fairly well in the interview.
I’ve always pushed myself further and telling myself to study hard
just to get this PSD scholarship and achieve my ambition to become a doctor. However my ambition will remain as a dream now since PSD did not offer me a scholarship. What is the use of studying so hard if I cannot t get any scholarship? My parents also have to support my elder brother who also wishes to pursue his dream in the field of medicine.
To cap it all up, I really hope that the PSD reconsider my appeal
as I really need the scholarship to pursue my ambition in the field of
medicine. My parents even made an effort to go to the department to appeal on my behalf after I sent an appeal letter online. I sincerely hope that the government will help me and the other students who are facing the same predicaments as me.”
somehow… why nowdays we have a lot of straight A students in SPM compared to 10 to 20 years ago… i meant.. previously.. it’s lucky to get 50 Straight A students nationwide.. but now… hundreds or thousands of them… are our student suddenly become exponentially smart… or our school system improved really a lot … or is it easier to get an A now than 10 to 20 years ago (grading system rigged so that SPM result will shows something the G did)…???
I am a little amused that some people here think that by changing the present government this issue would be solved. Come ON. Take it from Selangor, even under the new Selangor Pakatan MB, the scholarship issue is STILL being restricted and inflexible. So I wouldnt really count on Pakatan being able to change things so easily. It is indeed that, easier said than done. It is not easy leading a state, a country, fulfilling the rakyat’s needs, so before Pakatan wants to scatter more promises for this and that, it is probably better to start showing some results to convince us more. Talk is cheap nowadays. They can promise fair and equality, but for sure really, can they really achieve that in reality?
Um, hi. My opinion here may not be representative of the entire Rakyat, but since we live in democratic days and I AM a part of the Rakyat, I believe I deserve the right to voice out what I believe in saying.
It’s been a few months since you opposition peeps are in power, but i still see no changes. i agree with sandyow; you guys promise fairness, equality, and more rights for the undermined. but i see no change. all i see is verbal wars splashing headlines about pressuring one another to quit, everyone lodging police reports on everyone else and guess where that leaves us, the rakyat? continue to suffer and rot in our state that’s been constant for the past 20 over years.
don’t get me wrong. i love the fresh change in the msia political scene, and i love you pakatan people who are so vibrant, energetic and driven. but such change is futile if the ways are still old, cheap and dirty.
To everyone who has seen little to no changes happening since the PR came into power in 5 states…
I won’t pretend to be privy to all the details and like you all, I’m hungry and desperate to see some semblance of change going on in my beloved home state of Penang and my adoptive state of Selangor, but I know well enough that change cannot happen with a snap of the fingers or happen the moment you want it to happen.
Many BN cronies are still doing all they can to hamper progress, resisting change and sabo’in
sorry… clicked on “enter” while typing fast…
As I said, many of BN’s people are still doing all they can to hamper progress, resisting change and sabo’ing the PR state governments whenever they can. It’s not that PR doesn’t want to change but the fact that there are still lots of things that are still going against them. They have to also abide by the law and constitution too, they can’t make any rash decisions lest they incur the wrath of the people and also the Sultan. Look at what happen when a change tried to happen in Perak? Poor Nizar had to swallow his pride and reinstate the guy.
Please, give our PR MPs and assemblymen space to breathe and to work towards a better future for the states and for the country. Change will happen. Continue believing it! Besides, having the PR in govt is more than enough of a change I had previously hoped before the elections. What PR has done so far has satisfied me and given me much hope and put my worries about their capabilities to rest.
Godspeed to all PR MPs and assemblymen! Keep it up and tangible change will happen! Keep piling the pressure on the miscreants of the previous govt!
NOOR AZA OTHMAN:
“I’m sure if they have a second chance to perform in a better environment, they would perform as well as the rich students. So class/economic issue here is also important.”
All Uni around the world accepts student based on academic achievement first, especially in medicine. And that’s the only CRUCIAL yardstick.
It’s also becos future patient treated by them, only have 1 chance with their life entrusted to these bunch of professional. Same thing applies to all other professional. for god sake, its professionality. If you want second chance, go retake the exam again.
And Whats this nonsense about poor student performing badly? we have seen hawker’s son earning Less than RM1,500 became the de facto top scholar of the countries. It’s whether you want to or don’t want to.
But it’s a downright “low and lousy” underhand tactics if you deny someone thats deserving brilliant to education.
What is patriotism when the country dont even treat you as citizen?
sandyow/philix
if a BN govt. cant provide these in 50 years and in power throughout the country, what makes you think pakatan “STATES” can provide in less than 3 months?
I have no affiliation to any. I just hate BN cybertroopers.
These states needs federal fund and have their hand tied on all national issue including education.
If you ask me, 3 months administration in opposition states fare much better than 50 years of BN rules. Open tenders, access to info, corruption drive, you name it, and its just 3 months.
Try a 5 year PR in federal govt. it will be the day of reckoning for the rakyat
My niece informed me that her appeal to PSD results has been rejected. The reasons given was that there were too many good results. For your info. my niece is a all rounder and scored 11 A1’s and 12 A2’s. I have another neighbouring friend, who’s son scored 12A and also got rejected. Now, the question in mind, has the 900 scholarships really been given out and if so, who got it and how transparent is it? The government should publish the full list in the local newspapers for all to see.