Gov't upgrades Dong Zong college, says not GE ploy

Just three days after dissolving Parliament, the BN caretaker government has issued the approval letter for the upgrading of the Dong Zong-owned New Era College into a university college. The approval was made in late March but the letter was only issued today.

However, the BN denied today that the move is an election gimmick to woo the support of the Chinese community in the coming general election.

"This has nothing to do with the election. It's merely a coincidence," Deputy Higher Education Minister Hou Kok Chung (right) said when asked about the timing of the approval letter issuance, so soon after Parliament was dissolved.

Hou said the minister, Mohamed Khaled Nordin, approved New Era College's upgrading on March 29, days before Parliament was dissolved, so the move did not go against the caretaker government guidelines and it was not ethically wrong, either.

He further explained that New Era College had met the requirements needed for its upgrading at the end of last year and some months were needed for the upgrading to be approved.

Upgrading assessments and approvals for higher learning institutions are part of the ministry's daily process, Hou claimed.

'Are you not willing?'

Asked whether the move would please the Chinese community, Hou said the ministry disregarded any ethnic element when dealing with educational issues and he advised that the media report this matter professionally. 

"Are you not willing to see the upgrading of the college?" Hou fumed when repeatedly pressed to answer on the caretaker government guideline issue.

Also present was Dong Zong chairperson Yap Sin Tian (left), deputy chairperson Chow Siew Hon and New Era College principal Mok Soon Chong.

Established in 1998, the college, located in Kajang, is run by Dong Jiao Zong Higher Learning Centre Bhd and offers diploma and twinning programmes.

The Chinese educational group has long been fighting for the government to approve the upgrading request from this local Chinese-medium college.

This is the second Chinese college to be upgraded into a university college, after the Southern University College, which is located in Johor.