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I guess the govt is trying to tell the public to prepare for another wave of complaints from high scrorers who were not able to secure scholarships.
Again, a common recurrent of past events which has become an annual affair. I guess that there is only that much scholarships made available by JPA.

The fact of the matter is that govt. needs money to build scenic bridges and to make up for the losses incurred by those GLCs(Guaranteed Losing Companies) like MAS Proton etc.

However, I am pretty confident that the scholarships for MARA students remain the same. What is indeed upsetting are those less qualified people getting scholarships. Whilst I was in UK pursuing my Masters, there were a few of Petronas scholars who hail from rich family background; one student in particular whose parent is a datuk living in Damansara heights. However, that particular student failed her exams and was not even granted an Honours degree which was worse than 3rd class. Yet, they are still getting scholarships despite being filthy rich.

No thoughts were given to those good students whose parents are poor irrespective of race and creed.

At moments like these, I do weep for this nation of mine whose discriminatory policies, corruption and inefficiencies are too much to bear. I wonder what us being Malaysians can be proud of anymore.

Spot on Jeff! The issue is not about scarce resource and therefore sacrifices have to be made. The issue is plainly speaking about allocating that scarce resource in a fair manner. These variables about "other factors" are so subjective that indeed what has been happening all this while can now continue to be perpetuated without people being able to transparently view the decison making process. Najib was moving the goal post without signalling that he was doing so. But dai, we are all not so dumb as you think. Ofcourse the MCA and MIC stool pigeons will move their silly heads to the goal post you are trying to point at! Idiots!

While not enough money in the scholarship fund but Malaysia has the money to spend hundreds of millions of RM to send one person to space to test how to make roti canai in space. Yet the DPM told everyone it doesn't cost the country a sen as all was funded by the Russian whom sold us the fighter jets. DPM still think we, the Malaysian rakyat is so stupid to believe it cost us nothing for this 'send a Malaysian into space' programme.

Which will reap better benefits for the country in the long run? Use the money to send someone into space or to fund hundreds of qualified students for further studies? Najib, you do the maths.

There should be no scholarships for top scorers in the SPM exams. First of, the exam is very, very easy (O Level standard? You must be joking!). And secondly, WHY?

Why should there be "scholarships" for top SPM scorers at extra expense when already, the govt provides a matriculation prgram for free? It's called "STPM" ever heard of it? But nooo, instead we have to set up "junior colleges" and whatnot to add extra burden to the taxpayers.

The SPM has no standard, whereas the STPM is one of the toughest exams in the world and those who score there DEFINITELY deserve their scholarships.

Good results in the SPM but no money? Congrats, go to Form 6, there's your "scholarship" (its free isn't it). Give all the top scorers of the STPM scholarships, tell the SPM top scorers to go to F6 if they want a scholarship too.

my opinion?

there will be enough scholarship for all the top scorers if the selection for these scholarship is based on results and academic merits.

Actually Phoenikz brought up a very good point. Why are SPM scorers applying for scholarships? During our time, nobody thinks of scholarships after 'O' levels. Whats so bad about Form 6 nowadays? Have a level playing field, scrap the matric programs and get all to do the STPM. Probably give a concession to the top scorers the option to skip Lower 6 IF they choose to do so.

What is the wrong with the government to make STPM like A-Level where it does not need 2 years to complete?

stupid idea of Najib.... But to the high achievers,,you just show your finger to him..and try your luck down south, if you are not considered as nation's wealth.....I think you will be welcome. How stupid can a minister be..

Year in year out..high achievers are left out,it just shows how bad planning the govt have or just plain discrimination? What meritocracy have they been talking about. Why must race and religion be in the equation. Give it to the best students. The high achiever must never be punished at someone else's expense.

Maybe Najib was expecting everybody to fail..so no need to worry about scholarship distribution..or has the money gone elsewhere in the distribution channel.

Make my blood boil..now already talking kok,,what if he becomes PM.

Malaysia is just full of tok cok MPs.I cant wait for the next general election

What is the wrong with the government to make STPM like A-Level where it does not need 2 years to complete?

because the extra 1/2 year will mean easier entry to Cambridge or Oxford or practically anywhere in the world, getting practically any amount of scholarship that you need, kena chop 99.999% gold on the head by any uni...

"On the surface, Najib's statement holds perfect water. Scholarship is a form of resources, and resources are always presented in scarcity".

You are spot on Jeff! But, what I do not understand is everytime there is a catastrophy in another country, Malaysia is always the first to get our ra'ayat to donate money to these countries. Hello Malaysia, please look after your own citizens first! There are a lot of struggling poor here in your own country that needs basic amenities. I often wonder which of these countries would be jumping in to help Malaysia if we have a national disaster....and here we are now saying the Govt does not enough scholarship fund for our future leaders and contributors to the country. How then do we nurture the next generation to take over?

Guys, guess we have nobody to blame except ourselves. We voted for a lot of incompetent people in the govt. who then appointed a lot of equally incompetent people in high positions.So, we have these kinds of issues.

Sorry I have to vent here but this reflects my feeling about the competency or incompetency rather, of the govt at present. I know what I should do in the next election!

Way to go Malaysia garmen! Don't they understand the meaning of "brain drain"?
So I supposed Hishammuddin's daughter who scored 9As will not get her "reserved" scholarship also?:)

"Actually Phoenikz brought up a very good point. Why are SPM scorers applying for scholarships? During our time, nobody thinks of scholarships after 'O' levels".

And why not? A country should be progressing and it would indeed be great if our high achievers in SPM can also apply for scholarships. Many are from very poor homes and if there are govt scholarships for deserving students, surely they will go far. Scholarships can be for entry into form sixes and not necessary to private institutions.

With our resources, we should be able to meet these priority needs...not bailing out corporations run by idiots and wasting tax payers' money. These same idiots also caused the raayat to suffer through directly or indirectly the fuel increases.

If we do not take care to protect and nurture these scholars of ours, they will seek or be seeked by our neighbours. 10 years from now, the govt will be whining why there was a brain drain...the story of our life!

Folks

It is obvious Najib is preparing young and bright Malaysians from a section of the Malaysian community with 4.0 GPA who should have been awarded Govt scholarships, that they will be denied a future for a career of their choice.

Even the a DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER is a believer of mediocrity and expecting Malaysia to be a FIRST WORLD NATION by 2020 and now seen as shoving down the gutter the basic principles of meritocracy in harnessing the best brains in the country.

MALAYSIA BOLEH ??? in 21st Century.

Nope. Not likely comng from a Deputy Prime Minister and who will be a Prime Minister in the future,

More likely it is MALAYSIA BODOH !! continuing to 2020

I think one of the first things the authorities need to do is to stop tweaking the achievement bands and inflating the results of the SPM, and have all post-SPM students sit for a common PUBLIC exam. Then, we will not see ridiculous situations where A's are so commonplace and practically everybody score a CGPA 4.0 !!

if the govt again gvs out scholarship based on race, color but not merit, then they shld do it via the proper way.

they hv all along been hvng the good life, 10-15% discount on buying properties so maybe high time they gv 15% advantage also for exams over the rest of the ppl. like this msia will more more A star students and come the time to gv out scholarships who can argue that these students dont deserve it? They hv so many A's to show as proof.

Case close.

oopppsss, hv i just gvn the govt a bright idea? Aiya who can blame me, i got brains.

while some deserving students prepare to be disappointed now, malaysia will be the disappointed one 10 years from now when we read about these "born in Malaysia" kids who go on to become some high achievers in another country. the thick skinned and thick headed politician will then proudly proclaim them as one of our own.

Its that time of the year again where those involved in slecting students for schorlaship gets all stressed up in case they messed up big time and causes civil strife.We dont need schorlarships, but a free or afforacble quality, varied and mature tertiary education for our young ones. The money spent on this will benefit more students. Emphasis should be on research institution, which the government has not been financing sufficiently. quality research work such as bio-technology shouid be done at national parks and marine parks under guidance of local universities. Fund this programmes instead.Stuff them with our talented youngsters. We will lose our scholars anyway once they realise the research oportunities that are availablke overseas as compared to locally. For heavens sake, stop sending students overseas and spend the money on local education infrastructure.

If so many students are scoring straight As, and there is not enough scholarships to go around, then the obvious LONG TERM solution is to make the exams harder. Students can be given the option to sit for a more difficult Math or Science paper. I think in A-Levels, you have the option of taking S-Levels or something like that poses more chalenging questions.

Irregardless, there must be an objective criteria and those rules must be clearly spelt out.

If there is racial preferences, then it must be clearly spelt out, how many more As must a non-Bumi student score to get a scholarship? Is a 5A non-Bumi student considered the same as a 3A Bumi, or 2A Bumi or what?

Giving out scholarship in a transparent manner is actually very easy with a point system. You can assign say, an A grade 10 points. If you are Bumi, you get another 10 point. If your family income is low, you get 5 point. If it is very low, you get 10 point. Then add up all the points and rank the students. Finally give X available scholarships to the top X students.

Lay the rules out so everyone knows before hand what it takes to get a scholarship. But without transparency, then everyone will accuse foul play.

Actually if you are score 15A1s I am sure you can make some money promoting Exam Grade 2B pencils, Self Study CDs, Secret to 15A1s books. Just look at the "star" of the previous high acheivers.

I personally feel Scholorships should be targetted at STPM students and NOT SPM students. If the student is so smart at SPM, let him or her do STPM.I'm sure theyw ill excel.

I've been through this process of SPM & STPM and proudly entered a local U, though someone offered me a place to do a twining with APIIT 9 yrs back.I feel it was a wise choice.

STPM gives youngsters a whole new perspective in live, a very good period to mature. SPM'mers still have time for that. STPM'mer dont have other optiosn already, it's either they get into uni or they go college. If more STPM'ers are given scholorships..then more of the remaining ones can get into local U.

Second issue is pertaining to allocation based on meritocracy! I doubt thats possible, since we live in a contry where R&R (race & religion) matters for anything & everything (hope i dont cross the line with this statement), i'm only beleiveing more and mroe of it after listening to the parliment sitcoms!

Lets see if the G can keep up the word!

And we are spending money like there's no tomorrow for the scenic bridge, and to put some person on a space holiday.

How does putting a person through a space holiday help advance the country? Or is this just another bloody bragging rights exercise with the "have-nots" countries?

God help us if he becomes the next PM.

Since all have achieved the maximum criteria, all should be given scholarship. If the total fund has been exceeded, then change the scholarships to be partially a loan repayable from the scholars when they start working. Then raise the standard next year. We can repeating this year after year and if the government don't want to change the yardstick so as to look good then do not penalise those who have achieved your standard. THEY DESERVE IT.

Talking like that, he must have thought he could manage expectations by saying something that everyone already knows.

But what he seems to have failed to realize is that the rakyat are not just pissed with a string of past records where the JPA and other scholarship-awarding bodies have patently skewed the awards to one race.

They are also pissed with:

- how many bumis get admitted into local-Uni's based on matric results only? 90%?

- how many non-bumis enrol for STPM? 90%

So where did most of the bumi students come from who've been admitted into the universities on what is officially stated as meritocracy?

The conclusion here is that uni-admission is preponderantly based on meritocracy WITHIN the matriculation results, - especially for the first- chosen courses.

- why is there no transparency todate on how scholarships are awarded by the JPA? why, of the so many amply-qualified non-bumi applicants for scholarships, the few who get them in the end are offered for courses they didn't apply, a method repeated for their local university admission?

- how many of the Petronas and other semi-govt/neo-govt companies' scholarship awards in the past went to non-bumi STPM-qualified applicants?

And why didn't Hishammudin fly by helicopter to personally present the SPM certificate to the 16-A girl in Taiping? One A short? Cost of fuel too much?

For writing these, one can be labelled racist, pedestrian even. But none of this would have been written for the world to read if there is transparency, truth and fairness.

After 49 years of crap, one expects some realization by these ministers of the people, that they represent the people of Malaysia, not just the people of their party or race or religion.

The end-result is there's going to be another brain exodus to Singapore, where their bond for seven years on getting a neat scholarship will be cut - when the bondholder takes up singapore citizenship.

Let me ask umno - is this your method of marginalizing the intelligent, productive, law-abiding, hard-working, self-sacrificing, country-supporting, scholastic segment of the citizenry of this country, to wit the indonesianizing of Malaysia?

I plead to the almighty to provide for our children.

caribenar:

"And why not? A country should be progressing and it would indeed be great if our high achievers in SPM can also apply for scholarships. Many are from very poor homes and if there are govt scholarships for deserving students, surely they will go far. Scholarships can be for entry into form sixes and not necessary to private institutions."

Its not progress caribenar, because the SPM's standard is so low to the point of being laughable.

Why should scholarships be for entry into form 6??? Form 6 is FREE you hardly have to pay any money whatsoever!!! There's the answer for the people who are crying about being "poor" and not getting scholarships.

If people want to pay money to study the A-Levels at a private college, that's their prerogative. However, having good results does NOT simply entitle one to a scholarship and I see no reason why "top scorers" in the SPM who claim to come from poor families can't go on to Form 6 instead of whine about not getting scholarships in the press.

Ok Phoenikz. You are right. Point taken :-).

The few writers who questioned the value of the JPA scholarship given to SPM holders failed to understand the realities of the Malaysian education scene. Let me explain.

SPM is the LAST common exam for the bulk of students. The pathway diverge after that. If we ignore the privately funded pathways like A-Levels, SAM, IB, myriad foundation programmes etc, there are only 2 pathways: STPM and Matriculasi. Until recently, maticulasi is only for bumis, but they can offer up to 10% of places to non-bumis now. The rest go on to STPM.

Is there any difference between the two? You bet. In a nutshell, it is difficult to score in STPM and easy in Matric. How do they equate? Well, an STPM E is equal a Matric C. But an A is still an A for both streams.

Hence, to get into public Unis, your chances are better in the Matric system than the STPM.

That is the first reason why getting a scholarship after SPM is important.

The 2nd reason is, Matric and STPM are generic programmes, you get a Uni entrance qualification, but another battle will arise after that to get into the course and Uni you want. I need not eplain how heart breaking that can be.

A JPA SPM scholarship is given with a designated course already awarded. That means while you still need to get your Uni entrance qualification and get accepted into you course (varies on what course and which country you are assigned to) your pathway is already mapped out for you, baring unforeseen circumstances.

While the JPA scholarship had in the recent past being reserved ONLY for bumis, since 1999, they opened it out for non-bumi, supposedly on a meritocratic basis.

While it was a relatively simple exercise in the early days, when there was few straight A's students, over the recent years, some "engineering" has been dome to the SPM and marking system, such that these straight A students has mushroomed. The reason for this "engineering" is not difficult to farthom, I leave it to your own conclusion.

The effect of course is what we face now: more eligible students than places. So that is when the discretionary part of the decision making process come in.

And you will agree with me, "discresionary" decision making is never a good thing in bolehland.

I hope those who questioned the value of the SPM JPA scholarship understand now, Those who have gone throught this process in recent times, or have children gone or going through, will understand what I am saying.

limeuu:

"The few writers who questioned the value of the JPA scholarship given to SPM holders failed to understand the realities of the Malaysian education scene."

I understand quite well the realities of the Malaysian education scene, having gone through it myself not too long ago. My question is why there should be government "matriculation" at all when there is already the STPM? Why should taxpayers fund an additional, unnecessary expense if the govt is SERIOUS about being a meritocracy?

I know very well what "matriculation" was all about during the bad old Mahathir days. Its a free pass to go straight to Uni - that's what it basically was. If the Badawi administration is serious about being a meritocracy, a REAL meritocracy, I see no real reason why there should be a split between students who go through the STPM, an exam of real quality and recognized throughout the world (UK and US unis recognize it as being of equiv or a higher standard than the A Levels exam btw) and students who go through the internally assessed matriculation of dubious quality with constant rumours of "leaked" questions.

So here's what the MOE has been doing: dumb down the SPM so that its level is not even close to the O Levels. Thats not enough, so we go on to dumb down the pre-Uni courses even more. Now what sort of Uni students will this process result in? I'd bet my months paycheck they dumb down the Uni syllabus as well - you can't expect students who've been spoonfed throughout the SPM and matric years to actually do any real work in Uni!!

What kind of grads are coming out of Unis then? Judging from the numbers of unemployed grads, I'd say the answer is painfully obvious.

If there's no scholarship in cash, can our G at least guarantee the top scorers seats in our local uni. ?

Phoenikz, I apologise if I have misread your post, but you were unclear in your original post.

I agree completely with you that this dichotomy of pathway beyond SPM should be corrected. But there is another political agenda involved, so that is not going to happen anytime soon.

In the meantime, we will have to make do with whatever options we have, however skewed and lopsided they may be.

To the students who slogged hard, and achieved, it would be unfare to belittle their achievements, and to those without the financial means to have a wider option horizon, this SPM JPA scholarship may determine their entire future, and it will be patently unfair to move the goalpost in the middle of the game.

Yes, they have the option of STPM, and Matric if they are lucky, but that will just delay the day of reckoning, and for many, just postpond the day of disappointment. To some, it may even be double disappointment.

How much disappointment can a young mind take, before it rebels?

even if the gov awards scholarship based on race and creed - you may call it affirmative actions, tongkat, whatever, it can still be done in a transparent manner so everyone knows where the goal posts are even though they are different for different members of a team. there need to be a transparent handicap system. for e.g. if you are of certain race, gender, religion, age, place of birth, etc. you need 5A's to get a scholarship. if you are of another, you need 9A's.
if your father is the education minister, you'll get 9A's by default.
that way at least you won't have people come and say: i got 8a's why no scholarship leh? because you need 9a's mah.

lsk, don't be naive, the G DON'T want to be transparent. It takes away the power to be "discretionary".

But that brings me to a position I have held for a long time.

I can stomach affirmative action/NEP/Ketuanan Melayu or whatever you want to call it, as long as the scores are clearly spelled out.

But I cannot stand the hypocrisy of calling something a meritocracy, when it is plainly obvious it is not.

Let us call a spade a spade, and go back to the quota system, if that is still the agenda, as it obviously is.

In the bolehland context, you can have either the enforced privileges or the moral high ground, but not both.

Aren't you folks tired of this annual circus of the government's "wayang kulit" on scholarships and university places which are funded by taxpayers (non Malay and Malay taxpayers, by the way).

JPA scholarships incidentally are NOT UMNO-funded scholarships though the apparatchiks in UMNO and UMNO Youth seriously think so they are.

Tell your friends and neighbours that if their kids are potential straight A students, forget about JPA scholarship... get the extended family system together to help out with the money or put out a loan-fund (and forget about MCA to help them..MCA is no better than its incestuous bed-partner, UMNO). Just send the kid overseas or on twinning on own funds.

If you asked those young Malaysians who were denied in the past or who had simply piss off the JPA scholarship or had told JPA to stuff their scholarships you-know-where, and who have graduated from overseas Uni..., they will tell you they have a better future and a brigher career than if they had taken the JPA scholarship and get stuck with the racially-based govt policies on promotions int the govt service.

Some of these kids I know, had said that because of the racially-biased NEP, ironically they are better off today... because they got into better universities instead of our local unis,and mostly, they had to work harder, allowed themselves to build character , self-confidence and self-assurance, and thus were well positioned for better job opportunities in the international job market.

We should stop complaining because it will fall on deaf ears. Why? Even MCA leaders, with its President sitting on the right hand of the PM in Cabinet meetings, are blind, dumb and deaf to the problem of chinese students. These MCA leaders are only interested in their own personal and family interests, their children's scholarships and opportunties. What more can we, small kucing kurap, say here except to have feel -good self-therapy on this blog.

The chinese character for CRISIS is the way to go.Ask any Chinese scholar what the word contains.

If your smart kid and you as a parent are determined, you can be like flowing water... any obstacle can be overcome by flowing water, one way or the other. No permanent blockade can hold flowing water.

The chicken is now coming home to roost on the blockade put up by the govt on scholarships and university places over the last 30 years for a section of the Malaysia society...such as the downgrading of the status our universities internationally , the call by PM for overseas Malaysians to return who are serving other countries very well, and the continuing uptake of our smart kids by Singapore, Australia,US and Canada to work for them, while Malaysia subsidised the primary and secondary education of these kids.

These countries had our bright kids to work for them on a cheap, with the compliments of our Malaysian govt, UMNO and the JPA bureaucrats.

So we should not complain.. let the chicken come home to roost.

The Govt had been warned and advised. But they just don't give a damn.

Oh great... this year im in upper six... so should i do well or wat ??

anyway, im not very happy wif the govn...

1st, im the 1st batch for the PTS exam, fine, tat doesnt bother me much
2nd, im the 1st batch that najib introduced sastera or literature to be studied...
3rd, i studied f1-f5 in malay and now im studying f6 bio chem maths in english... lucky my dad was english educated.
4th, national service, najib started it,but i heard it was fun though. the problem is NS dragged the intake for STPM.

i choosed f6 becoz, as usual, money matter. i was offered full scholarship in most colleges for my SPM 10A result. the problem is my family worried after i took A levels, my results of it cant qualify me for a scholarship for medicine (tat's wat i plan to go). and the tuition fee for locally done medicine course in IMU is already 300k... sigh... the period of time given for STPM is not enough, teachers are skipping few (quite a lot also actually) chapters to finish the syllabus in time. Some teachers juz fly through. it's never enough for our STPM exam. we r on our own now... juz hope i can get the course that i want next year.

oya, i hope i'll make a good decision for the next election coz im 21 tat year ;)

I think the overall examination system needs to be revamped.What is the used to score straight As and cannot be given scholarship.Maybe,the examination is chicken-feet and the oversupply is more than the demand.Why don't the govt. upgrades the examination's papers so that we can have quality ppl rather than producing quantity,right? Infact we are producing third-class grade rather than first class at this present system.Gosh, something got to be done or else the our u would be a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.

I entirely agree with the views expressed by Neil and Frank&Honest. Yes, do not depend on the JPA scholarships. Scholarship for Whom? The Best and the Brightest? I doubt very much. Every year this brings heartache to bright kids and parents. If it is the government of the people for the people, then the right thing to do is to discard the mindset of thinking along the racial line but to think in terms of the greater good of the country. But this does not seem to be the case! This has become worst over the last two decades or so. The civil service is no longer civil any more. It has become a civil service for one people and the social contract binding the people has been sent into orbit.

How can you expect that scholarships are going to be ditched out on a transparent basis and based on what kind of results? The truth is painful, and you call it admission into Universities by "meritocracy" when in fact there are two systems of qualifying : the matriculation and the STPM. Can you in your right mind say that the level of qualification is the same. One is apple and the other is orange. How can apple be equated to orange? It is in this country that we call it meritocracy. You might as well come out truthfully that we are still admitting students by the quota system! And scholarships are given on this basis too!

Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, we cannot get into the debate that word "main"medium of instruction has become the "sole" medium of instruction when your good old dad was in your position then on the medium of instruction of the education system of the country. Please do not muddle through and it will be disastrous for nation building. Good old "M" is right to bring back some senses of introducing some subjects using English as the medium of instruction. The word "main" is not same as the word "sole". Look at the Oxford Dictionary to see the difference please!

Education is the mainstay of a nation. We need the skilled manpower for nation building. Cut out a lot of the unnecessary expenditure and wastage subsidising rent seekers and mega projects or show pieces, and ensuring GLCs perform with integrity, there will be sufficient funds to fund scholarships for the best and brightest irrespective of race. Please do not go the way of indonesing this country as it has been put by other commentators!

The present education policy is no different from the yesteryears.

Increased competition among non-bumis will only strenghten the non-bumis to meet global demands and challenges. The present NEP has failed to help the under privileged and the have-nots, regardless of race and religion. Arguably, without the NEP, I am sure Malaysia will prosper the same if not better.

The brain-drain issue is the direct effect of the NEP.

As of everything, there are pros and cons. The facts are:- we have roughly 60,000 unemployed graduates. Malaysians abroad continue to be valued and contribute positively to foreign economies.

Do not expect any changes in the short and medium term. However, expect the worse as long as we are afraid of stiring the hornets nests.

Jeff! No wonder after all this people after graduated don't want to come back to serve our country!

yotheman

you said..I cant wait for the next general election

Firstly, if you want a change of federal govt,you have to give a vote to a Malay-based party. Voting for DAP won't change govt. Keadilan has a long way to go to form a govt and it is still trying to find its own identity.

The only viable Malay-base party that realistically is politically capable of forming a federal govt is PAS.

Note the difference, PAS is NOT a race-based party like UMNO, but a religious party. One of its Exco members is a Chinese Muslim.

Many non Malays squirm at voting for PAS especially when UMNO-owned NST and MCA-owned Star start publishing false propaganda on PAS and frighten the sh_t out of every non-Malay. But history shows that PAS is able to govern Kelantan for many decades without the Kelantanese Chinese being victimed and in fact many Kelantanese Chinese voted PAS over UMNO and MCA in Kelantan.

The problem with west-coast non Malays is that when this school and university education places and scholarship issue die down, non Malays especially the Chinese votes start to lose their memory and go into amnesia with regard to the victimisation on nonMalays by UMNO.

And when election comes, they then sheepishly vote for UMNO and MCA..and all the annual circus of UMNO-led govt starts all over again.

Voting for PAS cannot be any worse than what it is today with regard to the UMNO-ruled govt's policies on education and scholarships.

Frank&Honest,

Looks like we have everything to lose. We can't vote for any party in Malaysia at the moment. Could it be that there isn't one party that embraces the Malaysian spirit or we fail to see the obvious?

Firstly, whenever the results of SPM and STPM are released, there will be always outcries of unfair (if not nothing at all) scholarship distributions for top scorers, which always turns out to be non-bumi. Then they will cry and complain to the MCA (forgive me but I didn’t see enough publicity of MIC in the newspaper). I want to challenge these people who are asking for scholarships, do you think you deserve a scholarship simply because you score straight A’s? If I ask you, why do you think you deserve a scholarship? Can you reply beyond “I score straight A’s in my SPM and I have a string of co-curriculum in my resume?” It has been a habit and pre-assumed that scoring equals to scholarship delivered to your house- a mind set that should be re-adjusted. One needs to think what they intend to do with the education from abroad, and how they can return the resources obtained from the people, to the people. As mentioned by Frank&Honest, you better prepared your money. DO NOT assume that the scholarship will be delivered to your house. However, when you are given the scholarship, be prepared to return the favor when the time comes; else forget it and you will have greater freedom upon graduation. As to the unfair mechanism, that belongs to a different category and should be discussed separately.

We, Malaysians, realized the end result of the distribution but never the mechanism. I totally agree that it should be made transparent. Complaining and expecting the government to not to change IS NOT A SOLUTION. I do not know what to do either, but I am not going give up just yet. Neither am I going to work abroad in order to ‘take revenge’ on the government. We all know that the system has to be called for more transparency. So, let’s all make the change for the better- be it voting for opposition, or set up a new party, or join the corrupting party to change from within, etc. But please, those with the brain start planning; those with the muscle start helping; and those with leadership, gather these people for the change. It is not easy but the struggle has to start somewhere. I bet someone is saying that I am NATO, but I believe I am making my first move by deciding to come back and work, instead of working abroad; say what you want but I see this as the first step towards a change.

What is more important than the unfair distribution mechanism should be the end result of scholarship recipient. I know of my fellow graduated friends who are JPA-scholar, are yet to be offered a job. If the government (JPA) cannot guarantee a job for the graduates (from top American Universities, mind you), why are continue with the JPA scholarship program? Stop the program then and stop wasting the resources. What is the use of bonding them if you cannot offer them a job? You have to release them anyways according to the contract. Therefore, it is hard to blame the scholars not to come back when the job prospect is so non-existing. However, should JPA locate a relevant position for them, they should return or be considered a Breach of Contract and be punished accordingly. So, I propose that the objectives of JPA program should be re-examined- whether to develop human resources for the country, as an affirmative action (and scrap off the MARA program), or simply as a charity fund for poor but bright children to have an opportunity to study abroad.

Lastly, to thomas who complained about the PETRONAS scholar, I do not understand what has happened, but being a fellow PETRONAS scholar, allow me to share some insight. As far as I know, there are 2 types of scholarship in PETRONAS- one is for the public, the other one is for the children of the PETRONAS staff. I think every staff may request for the PETRONAS scholarship for one (or two maybe) of their children. So, sometimes, despite the relatively lower performance, they may be offered a scholarship. As to how low they can perform in a university before their scholarship is retracted, I do not know, but for the ‘public’ PETRONAS scholarship holder, we have a minimum performance that needed to be maintained before the scholarship being retracted. Therefore, sometimes rich kids may end up being offered a scholarship by PETRONAS. I am not defending PETRONAS but I just hope that you may understand some of the situations before blindly pointing finger at PETRONAS. FYI, some PETRONAS staffs realized too that part of the culture within PETRONAS has to be changed for good and they are working towards it. As to what that is needed to be changed, the staffs did not go into details. I hope I can be one of those who would change it for the better.

Sorry for the long posting.

penangboy

Here is the choice:

YOu already know that PAS will not allow you to sell alcohol in public and may separate women and men at supermart counters.

You already know UMNO will discriminate you in university places and scholarships.

You choose which is the lesser disadvantage.

THe politics in Malaysia is such that only a Malay-based political party will be the majority party to rule the country. That's the fact of life now.

You have 48 years of UMNO rule and none of PAS. If you want to know how fair is PAS to Kelantanese non Malays, it is best you ask your Kelantanese non Malay friends.

Even if you vote for PAS and allow it to form Govt, you can also kick it out of Govt AFTER 5 years. You have tolerated UMNO for 48 years, what is 5 years of PAS. It can be any worse, can it?

Don't be brainwashed by UMNO-owned New Straits Times and MCA-owned Star propaganda. PAS and other Opposition parties do not have EQUAL TIME and space in Malaysian mainstream newspapers.

I am not a PAS member at all or even DAP member.

Just that, we should use our voting rights as rightful citizens and vote intelligently, instead of being persuaded by rubbish propaganda of UMNO who used race-based politics to separate the races in the country.

I totally agree with frank & honest. PAS has been protrayed as being ultra extremist for far too long by the paper and by Umno and MCA.

The current G use the divide and conquer tactic, legacy of British to held on to power. Just think about it, Without that, they will crumble.

But i have another point to add, I don't really care who's the lesser of the 2 evil. The point is to get them to share about 50-50 of the parliament.

BN 50 opposition 50.

Then the power will return to the rakyat. it will solve the corruption, cronies, APs and what not instantly and your scholarship issue, public transport will instantly be remedied becoz any small slip-up they know the rakyat is breathing down their neck.

But the situation now is 90-10. They can do whatever they want with us. Increase oil, increase toll, change scholarship rules, anything! We r the servant and they are the master.

thought i reproduce a fine letter to today's Sun, reason being it catches neatly what's needed:

Reality check for the nation

I READ with great interest your interview with PG Lim (theSun, March 9) "It is a great pity that the affirmative policy which was introduced to help the Malays has been abused in its implementation and has instead contributed to the rising inequalities between the rich and the poor, and to the yawning divide between the communities".

After the May 13, 1969 incident, there was every reason to introduce socio-economic policies to give a fairer share of the economic cake to the Malays and no one doubted their good intention. The other races in Malaysia submitted to the policy on the premise that the New Economic Policy will be for a period of 30 years. Under the NEP, substantial portions of existing public-listed shares were taken up by the PNB and also by selected bumiputra individuals and private corporations.

New industries were privatised and were partially allocated e.g. the broadcasting industry, the highway and infrastructure privatisation trade, the domestic shipping industry, oil and gas industry, public transportation industry. Today in the courts of judicature, the Metramac case has drawn wide interest as to what, exactly, happened in the privatisation of highways and questions have been raised as to whether the rakyat had been made to pay large sums, once again, to individuals in the privatisation process. Then there is the MAS issue, where already over RM8 billion was paid as recent as within the last five years to a failed investor and now again looking at another "handout" from public funds.

Malaysia is getting closer to being independent for half a century and massive tourism promotion campaigns have been made to lure tourists in Malaysia in 2007 but is our backyard really clean enough a slate to boast to the world that we are as economically capable or truly as harmonious, peaceful and progressive? It has been some 37 years after the unpleasant May 13 incident where today, just look around and one can see most Mercedes, BMWs or Harriers being driven by Malays, branded fashion houses at Starhill and the Golden Triangle of Kual Lumpur and the trendy and upmarket fusion restaurants in five-star hotels being patronised mostly by Malays.

The political masters have all the economic figures at their fingertips and continue to state that the sums still do not favour the targeted socio economic percentages that the politicians have wanted to see. Thus there is now the extension of the NEP in some form and this includes over RM8 billion already spent in sending students to overseas universities for greater exposure in education but yet again in your same publication of March 9, it was reported that "The (Education) Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, said the ministry is looking for the best formula to revamp the current system, deemed to be impractical, burdensome to teachers and students, and which does not really reflect student' capabilities".

Why not let us take ourselves back 40 years and look at the goodness of our communities and readopt some of these practices. Was it not that the rakyat of all races could sit in the same coffee shop on the same table and share their thoughts, be they be Muslim, Buddhist or Christian, and mind you, any coffee shop? When people sit together, they exchange their thoughts and learn practically from each other but when minds do not meet other minds, they fallow and do not absorb as much as those that continuously maintain an intercourse across cultures.

Often I have seen students who are studying in foreign countries gather among their own boundary groups, such as the Kedahan only with Kedahans or Kelantanese only with Kelantanese and Johoreans only with Johoreans.

One may think that they may at least know each other having been studying in the same university. But I have been shocked to realise when speaking with these students that they do not know each other and I have ended up many a time being the introducer of the different groups of students to their fellow university mates. Pak Lah speaks of productivity, efficiency and transparency. How can these noble values be achieved when failed businessmen need not suffer from their mistakes as they are reimbursed from public funds, poor privatised services enterprises are permitted to continue with the poor services even when charging exorbitant rates such as the KLIA taxi services or funds from public trusts such as the EPF are being used to support failing or failed privatised mega businesses or projects.

The young must be properly nurtured in thought and deeds and be educated academically and practically to be proud that they are Malaysians ? be they Malay, Chinese, Indian, Bidayuh, Mulut or Eurasian ? or we will continue to see our disgruntled young brains choosing to depart from Malaysia. In reality, even many of our young Malay academics have chosen to stay in their host education countries as they feel that their liberties have been compromised in Malaysia.

The reality cannot be white washed and it is time for our political leaders to take stock of their actions and policies in place. The time has come to call a spade a spade and with our dwindling oil and gas reserves, how long more can the subsidy mentality and inefficiency be financed from these gifts from God?

Why are even the returning geniuses that the government recruited have mostly returned to their host education nations or moved to Singapore? The reasons are not so mysterious and unless we wish to have only the second or third best brains in Malaysia, then we must be prepared to relegate our status to that of Third World again in the future.

Truly Malaysian

link: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=13437

oi, Frank and Honest, a Chinese Muslim IS a Malay, which makes PAS a malay party. Its plain and simple.

Otherwise you could say that UMNO is not a Malay party in the same breath, given that their President for many years, Mahathir Mohammad was actually an Indian Muslim.

Phoenikz

You said...a Chinese Muslim IS a Malay, which makes PAS a malay party. Its plain and simple.

You got it wrong, totally wrong.

PAS is a religious party not a race-based party. Even that, in Kelantan, there are Chinese non Muslim PAS supporters and members even.

Why in the world did you get the idea that a Chinese Muslim is a Malay. Tell that to a Chinese Muslim in China, Thailand, Indonesia or anywhere else.

Say that to the Haji Mah Li family who live in Malaysia and have been Muslims for generations.

The Malaysian Constitution says you are a constitutional Malay if you a Muslim and also adopt Malay culture and way of life eg where baju melayu etc etc.

YOu can be a Chinese, eat with chopstick, where Chinese dress, give angpows during Chinese New Year and still be a Muslim and pray in a Mosque and/or pray 5 times a day.

I think you are a typical Malaysian non-Muslim Chinese stereotyping others. That can be dangerous.

Neil

Thanks for reposting the letter from Truly Malaysian.

Here is what I think:

Realpolitik in Malaysia as played by the UMNO and UMNO Youth leadership and their apparatchiks don't give two hoots about rational arguments as had been presented by this "Truly Malaysian" and many others.

These political animals in the race-based political parties are aware and fully acknowledge what being said. They just HAVE to refuse to see the arguments because their preference, for their own political survival, is to view any policies for Malaysia through racial prisms and mirrors.

On international platforms they will bleat out all the "right things" for the consumption of the intellectual elite. But once they sit in their little rat-hole in UMNO hideouts, they become like any political opportunists you find in Africa or other Third World countries.

The only window they see with regard to the social and economic development of Malaysia is through racial perspectives. It is to define Malaysia as a Malay-dominated nation with other citizens from other races as inconvenient baggage to be factored in out of mere necessity. If things get out of hand, you can be sure of keris-wielding on UMNO General Assembly and subtle racial threats with reminders of May 1969.

The only way to handle these hidden racists in UMNO and UMNO YOuth to play the game according to the rules they play ie the in-your-face politics of UMNO.

First things first, we know govt has money so no excuses about not having enough money to allocate to bright young students. We have more than enough money to spend on the education system if the boys at the top don't dip their sticky little fingers into the pie. We have A LOT of money.

Who does it go to though? Well, we know that majority of JPA scholarships go to Malays and ALL Mara scholarships go to Malays. Petronas is a bit fairer, but not by much. I came from an A Level college in Lembah Beringin where all UK bound scholars are sent to, so I know, and that's the reality of the situation. Let me first say though that the college I went to picked the cream of the crop. These were really smart Malays and most of us got into UK unis.

But what about those in Matric, and those in local unis? Matric is a virtual passport into university, and anyone can tell you that having an internally marked, coursework based syllabus is miles easier than a centrally marked final exam type course. Some might disagree about STPM being harder than A Levels but there is no doubt it's one of the hardest exams in the world. It's also miles easier to get into Matric (if you're the right race).

Some posters have asked the question, why moan about Form 6? It's a chance to get into a uni, so don't complain right? Well, it's a chance, yes, but it's not a fair one. Also I feel that STPM students should have their first choice course if they get their grades, but it seems now that STPM (ie non Malays) students get the lousiest courses that no one wants in the lousiest universities in Malaysia.

Meritocracy is a very VERY big word. We're nowhere near that yet. Having two methods of entry into the same university and for the same courses is unfair. Having one method predominantly harder than the other is unfair. Having a certain class of people go down one path and another class go down another is unfair. Giving scholarships based on race is unfair. The whole damn system is unfair.

No wonder no one wants to come back and work for the country. I certainly don't. The country wasn't loyal to me, why should I be loyal to it? I'm just echoing the sentiments of thousands of overseas Malaysian students. Given half a chance to stay anywhere but Malaysia, we'd jump at it. I know I would.

I read from your blog site that the Malaysian equivalent of the "A-Level" exams,the STPM,and also the SPM exams,are amongst the hardest in the world.I find this really difficult to believe because Malaysians are dumb animals.You people are not fully-evolved human beings.You folks are subhumans,genetically closer to chimpanzees and orangutans than to proper human beings like myself,a proud Anglo Saxon Australian male.I visited your pathetic Third World country in 2001,and I was struck by just how stupid you monkeys are.I got into a taxi upon reaching Kuala Lumpur Airport,and asked the cabbie to take me to Shangrila Hotel.He asked me,quite unbelievably, whether I knew how to get there,as he had only been a cabbie for just two months!! I mean,how the fuck could this dumb Malay expect a foreign tourist to know the way to the hotel?? This set the tone for the remainder of my trip to Malaysia,constantly bumping into dumb,ugly,brown-skinned,flat-nosed monkeys who were either genuinely very STUPID or were simply too awe-struck to be talking to a white person. You Malays,Chinks and Tamils made me sick--I've never before or since come across a group of people who are so fucking dumb as you Malaysian monkeys