JOHOR BARU: The claim that the government has resolved the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) issue while MCA failed to do so is an outright lie, says Datuk Chong Sin Woon.
The MCA secretary-general said the party has consistently pushed for UEC recognition in stages, including allowing UEC holders to apply for National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans in 2010.
Chong said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, during a campaign event in Batu Pahat on Thursday (July 9), had claimed that MCA could not resolve the UEC issue yet the current government could.
"In 2013, then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced Barisan Nasional’s offer to recognise the UEC provided students obtained a credit in Bahasa Melayu in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)," Chong told a press conference on Friday (July 10).
"However, then opposition leader Anwar and DAP opposed the proposal, with DAP leaders urging the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) to reject the conditions and seek unconditional recognition of the UEC."
He said at the time, it was Pakatan Rakyat led by Anwar that opposed the conditions set by the Barisan government.
He added that Barisan's 2018 election manifesto clearly stated that the UEC would be recognised if students obtained a credit in Bahasa Melayu and passed History in the SPM.
Chong said the current policy allowing UEC holders who meet SPM requirements to enrol only in Chinese-related courses at public universities did not amount to full recognition of the qualification.
He also reminded the public of Anwar's tenure as education minister, where he made controversial moves including deciding to appoint non-Mandarin-speaking senior assistants to Chinese vernacular schools in 1987.
The move was strongly protested by Chinese educationists, MCA and DAP because it affected the administration of the schools, leading also to Ops Lalang.
He claimed that during the tenure of Anwar as education minister, Chinese primary schools received only a symbolic RM10 development allocation after education funding was reduced due to economic constraints.
On the issue involving the Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT) tax exemption period, Chong stressed that MCA was not raising the issue for political mileage.
He noted that the contents of the official letter differed from the earlier announcement of the government.
"Nobody is politicising the TAR UMT issue. It was your government that issued this letter," he said, noting that the letter clearly stated a three-year tax exemption from Jan 1, 2026, to Dec 31, 2028.
He said facts could not be changed to suit political narratives and urged the Prime Minister not to smear MCA for the sake of campaigning. - FMT
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