Make public PSD scholarship recipients

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang says the prime minister must restore transparency and integrity to the selection process

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang wants Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to make public the names of PSD scholarship recipients.

“Najib must restore transparency and integrity to the selection process by making public the list of scholarship recipients,” said Lim.

“It’s a crying shame that even after so long, the Public Service Department is incapable of functioning in a competent and professional manner.”

The former DAP chairman added that as the government had spent billions of ringgit on computerisation, this should be achievable.

“If it was not possible, those responsible for computerisation project should be sacked,” he said.

Lim also underlined the importance of restoring public confidence in the system by ending the double standard of having two different pre-university examinations.

“Malaysian students should be sitting for one common examination.

Separate systems go against Najib’s 1Malaysia concept as two different pre-U’s with different grading systems are open to accusations of manipulation.”

Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships are given to students who obtain 8A+ .

Top scorers are offered matriculation and diploma courses, and then given scholarships when they further their studies at the first degree level, said Najib yesterday.

There will be 4,000 scholarships to be given to those who obtained at least 9As. Of the total, 1,500 will be for study abroad and the rest for study locally.

There is a 60% Bumiputera quota for foreign PSD scholarships. The rest of the quota are given out to students based on merit (20%), those from East Malaysia (10%) and the needy (10%).