Najib: Some DAP leaders graduated from MCA funded institutions

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Razak today claimed that certain opposition leaders were once students in higher education institutes started and funded by the MCA.

He said that these political figures had become “smart” because of the contributions of the MCA and Barisan Nasional (BN) in providing Malaysians with quality higher education.

“My minister (in the prime minister’s department) Dr Wee Ka Siong told me that MCA’s UTAR and TAR UC had produced over 200,000 graduates since their formation,” he said, referring to the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

He added that the ruling BN coalition needed to remind these political leaders about the matter as the opposition was constantly attacking the government.

He said Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Rasah MP Teo Kok Seong and Penang state executive councillor and Bagan Lalang assemblyman Chong Eng, all from the DAP, were among the former graduates from MCA-funded institutions.

Najib, who is BN chairman and Umno president, said this in his speech while officiating at the MCA annual general meeting at Wisma MCA here. Also present was MCA president Liow Tiong Lai.

However, checks by FMT on the social media accounts belonging to Kok and Chong indicated that they were not alumni of the institutes.

According to Kok’s blog, she had studied in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), while Chong was a graduated from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

When contacted, Teo confirmed that he was an advanced diploma holder from TAR College and he did his master’s degree in business administration at Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (Unitar).

“They (BN) should be proud of us, the opposition, because we are also serving Malaysians,” he said.

He questioned Najib’s intention in using the issue of education in his political speeches.

“Education and politics should not be mixed,” Teo said.

Unitar is a private university named after Najib’s father and late prime minister Abdul Razak. -FMT