Student group Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) has joined the chorus of brickbats against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over his response to a teenage student’s question on the abolishment of the bumiputera quota system for public university entry.
Umany in a statement yesterday criticised Anwar’s defence of the quota system, as well as the way he answered the student’s questions.
“Pakatan Harapan is known as the coalition which supports social equity, wherein the same system, the disadvantaged are enabled, whilst not disabling the advantaged.
“As Malaysia grows to be a more socioeconomically developed country, it is now time for us to remove race-based policies and implement needs-based policies,” said the group.
“The prime minister called the people who wish for the quota system to be abolished extremists.
“As the prime minister of Malaysia and an advocate for equity and equality, this is uncalled for,” they stressed.
Umany argued that the abolition of the quota system has been long overdue to be replaced with an admission system based strictly on meritocracy.
The group went on to describe the quota system as a “highly racist policy” that has purportedly hampered Malaysia’s potential to develop the country’s socio-economy.
‘Abolishing quotas against social contract’
Anwar had, during a dialogue session at Kolej Matrikulasi Pulau Pinang in Kepala Batas on Saturday, responded to a student who stood up to ask when will the quota system be abolished and replaced by a meritocracy system.
The student also requested that she be given time to explain some context before posing her question.
“My friends and I, as well as others that are not known, are affected by this quota system, all because they don’t have bumiputera status,” she was heard saying in a video of the event posted on Anwar’s official Facebook.
However, Anwar cut her off before she could explain, saying he already understood the question and that he had previously answered a similar one.
He further said the student should understand how abolishing the quota system as a whole, rather than the current way of responding to individual appeals for admission, would supposedly go against the “social contract” and ignite turmoil.
Harapan no different from BN, PN
To this, Umany said Anwar’s response amounted to coercion and renders him no different from his opponents.
“The prime minister asked the student to ‘understand’ him, saying that if he were to abolish the quota system, the Pakatan Harapan government will ‘lose all of its elections’, and ‘the people will suffer more in this country run by PAS and Bersatu’.
“We are to understand his statement as a coercion to the people to stop advocating for social justice, and support his own political motives,” said Umany.
In which case, Umany said Anwar’s perceived departure from fighting for social justice to instead use the race card, would render Pakatan Harapan to be no different than BN and Perikatan Nasional. - Mkini
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