Minister vilified by MCA, DAP for decision on Taylor’s

MCA says Ismail Sabri is politicising education and being childish while DAP says he is treading on dangerous ground and must be censured.

PETALING JAYA: The recent decision announced by Minister of Rural and Regional Development Ismail Sabri Yaakob that Mara will stop sponsoring any new intake of students to Taylor’s University has come under fire by political rivals MCA and DAP.

In a statement today, MCA Publicity Bureau Chairman Senator Chai Kim Sen said the minister’s inability to state even one reason for this decision was not only “unbecoming” but “even childish”, a sentiment echoed by DAP National Vice-Chairperson Teresa Kok, who said it smacked of a “political vendetta” against Taylor’s University.

Both political leaders remarked how this decision came hot on the heels of a move by the management of Taylor’s University to terminate the services of its bus operator who had ferried participants to the Red Shirts rally using a bus bearing the university’s logo.

Saying that Ismail Sabri was infamous for his racist remarks when he called for the boycott of Chinese businesses, MCA’s Chai said his latest announcement about Mara would only “further weaken his already-tarred reputation as a racist”.

He further condemned the minister for working against the government’s aspirations of producing 160,000 foreign students by 2020 and added, “Education institutes are expected to remain apolitical.

DAP’s Teresa meanwhile said, “The fact that Ismail Sabri could not even give any specific reason (for the termination of Mara sponsorship) shows very clearly that it was a political vendetta against Taylor’s University.”

The Opposition MP for Seputeh also said, “Ismail Sabri has his right and freedom to support the Red Shirts rally as an Umno leader. No one will bother if he does not want his grandchildren to go to Taylor’s University. But he cannot and must not abuse his ministerial power for the purpose of political vendettas.”

She also criticised Ismail Sabri for acting in a “most irresponsible and dangerous” manner and called on the Cabinet to censure him as well as direct him to rescind his decision.