MCA Youth chief Nicole Wong Siaw Ting has lambasted Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for upholding the quota system for bumiputera students in education.
In a Facebook post, she labelled Anwar’s statement as a backward move that has left the Chinese community feeling “deceived”.
“Although MCA is part of the government, we absolutely cannot agree with Anwar’s statement.
“This statement makes Malaysians feel like we have regressed back to the 1960s and 70s and undoing all the progress we have made,” Nicole (above) said.
She claimed that Malaysian universities have been unable to rise in global rankings due to the quota system.
In a response, BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Nicole’s woes were due to “misinterpretation”.
“I think the policy is very open and it will be based on merit. Of course, there will be a quota, as it is stipulated in our Constitution, but we are not denying the entry of other Malaysian ethnicities to enrol into public universities,” Zahid said.
He told this to reporters at the launch of the 2023 National Entrepreneur Week and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Week at Dataran Merdeka today.
Yesterday, Anwar said the quota system for bumiputera students will remain to balance the number of students from the community in institutions of higher learning.
Responding to a student’s question regarding the quota system and meritocracy in the current national education system during “Temu Anwar Kedah”, Anwar said if the quota system was not retained, it could cause an imbalance in the number of Malays - who form the majority of bumiputera.
The prime minister said, however, having the quota system did not mean that meritocracy was dead, and if there were students from non-Malay and non-bumiputera who excel, the government must find ways to give them opportunities as well.
He stressed that if the government took action to set aside the quota policy, it would cause tension and be turned into a political issue by certain parties.
‘Confident MCA, MIC will stay with BN’
Meanwhile, commenting on Perikatan Nasional election director Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s invitation to MCA and MIC to join their coalition, Zahid said he was confident the BN component parties will not accept.
“In any election, be it state elections or even general elections, these kinds of offers will be made by them (PN).
“But I am confident that MCA and MIC will remain in BN,” he said.
MCA president Wee Ka Siong and party secretary-general Chong Sin Woon also declined Sanusi’s invitation.
Zahid also commented on former Umno Putrajaya deputy division chief Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz joining Bersatu.
“I wish him best of luck. We only need loyal members and leaders in Umno and BN,” said the Umno president.
Tun Faisal was sacked from Umno in January for allegedly violating Umno’s code of ethics.
He confirmed with Berita Harian that he would be joining Bersatu and is expected to receive the membership certificate from Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin tonight. - Mkini
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