Call on Mahathir to give his personal attention to schedule a special parliamentary debate on the Suhakam Annual Report 2001 to ensure that  Parliament does  not commit a second grave dereliction of duty in failing to discharge its “oversight” responsibilities over Suhakam

(Penang,  Thursday): Both UMNO Youth and PAS Youth must prove that they can keep abreast with the changes and challenges of the time, rising to become all-rounded Malaysian nationalist  movements recognizing that the single biggest problem facing Malaysia in the era of globalislation  is not competition between bumiputras and non-bumiputras but Malaysia and the rest of the world

Both UMNO Youth and PAS Youth must prove that they can keep abreast with the changes and challenges of the time, rising to become all-rounded Malaysian nationalist  movements recognizing that the single biggest problem facing Malaysia in the era of globalislation  is not competition between bumiputras and non-bumiputras but Malaysia and the rest of the world.  

Yesterday, both UMNO Youth and PAS Youth have shown that they have not yet developed to become all-rounded Malaysian nationalist movements who have the global and future vision as to the perequisites to make a plural Malaysia a world-class developed nation.  

Hishammuddin has proven my prediction last week right that every time there is UMNO and UMNO Youth assemblies, there will be attempts to raise political and racial temperatures.  

The attack on the DAP by the UMNO Youth leader, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein Onn at the UMNO Youth Assembly yesterday alleging that the DAP was being racist and had insulted the Malays (“penghinaan kepada orang Melayu”) in questioning the academic excellence of Malay students resulting in greater university intake this year is baseless,  mischievous, irresponsible and even seditious.

Let me remind Hishammuddin of my first reaction when the 2002-2003 public  university intake results were announced on May 9, which  was to give “hearty congratulations” to the bumiputra students for their  “outstanding success” in a selection system based completely on merit.

I did  caution however that  the Higher Education Department should be completely transparent and make public the various criteria for the merit-based selection system  and that  it must be prepared to respond to all public queries about the system. 

This the director of Higher Education Department, Prof. Dr. Hassan Said  failed to do.

 Even worse, the Education Minister, Tan Sri Musa Mohamad also failed to give any good or satisfactory answer to the contention that the system used to compare the results of the STPM and matriculation courses was unfair and unprofessional.

For the past six weeks, DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Kepong, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw had been trying to arrange for a meeting for DAP leaders and MPs to meet either with Musa or Hassan to find out more details about the formula in comparing the two completely different examination systems to ensure that the Education Ministry was not comparing an apple with an orange in an arbitrary and unprofessional manner.

But this was all to no avail, as Hassan passed the buck to Musa while Musa kept himself completely incommunicado as far as meeting DAP leaders and MPs was concerned!  

On 20^th May, I sent an urgent  email to all Cabinet Ministers asking the Cabinet to rectify the double wrongs of the unfair and unprofessional merit-based university selection system adopted by the Higher Education Department this year, namely  

• the  rejection of the application by 31,572 students, comprising 24,321 bumiputras, 4,820 Chinese and 2,431 Indians with minimum university entry qualifications into the public universities with the  adoption of a merit-based university selection system which is unfair, unprofessional and completely lacks transparency; 
• the unfair and arbitrary refusal to consider the university application of some 10,000 diploma hlolders, when   diplomas have for many years  been officially  recognized as one of the legitimate university entrance qualifications. 

But my email to Cabinet Ministers, which suggested  a race-blind merit system coupled with needs to cater to the socio-economically backward students to people our institutions of higher learning  based on a common university entrance examination also fell on deaf ears.

Is Hishammuddin as the UMNO Youth leader prepared to support a race-blind meritocracy system for university intakes coupled with needs to cater to the socio-economically backward students  to establish Malaysia as an international educational centre of academic excellence as well as to enhance our national competitiveness to face the challenges of globalisation, liberalization and information and communications technology?

The speech by  PAS  Youth leader, Mahfuz Omar in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday on the issue of 10 percent quota for non-Malays in Mara was most shocking and unbelievable.  

In his motion to seek leave of the House to adjourn parliamentary proceedings to discuss the issue, Mahfuz said the government-approved 10 percent quota for non-Malays in Mara was against Article 153 of the Constitution which touches on Malay special rights. 

Mahfuz’s stand was clearly against the 1986 assurance given by the PAS Deputy President, Datuk Hadi Awang to non-Malays that if PAS came to power it would abolish the special privileges accorded to the Malays.  

In fact, one would have expected the  speech and arguments advanced by Mahfuz in Parliament yesterday to come from the UMNO Youth leader rather than the Pas Youth leader.

(20/6/2002)