Bersatu Youth stands with Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) students protesting against a proposal to allow non-bumiputera to enrol in its cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme.
Bersatu Youth assistant secretary Muhammad Faiz Rahmad said in a statement that the proposal goes against the Federal Constitution and existing laws.
“The proposal is in conflict with the basic principles of UiTM’s establishment under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and Act 173 which gives privileged rights to the bumiputera group, including in the aspect of education.
“Therefore, the proposal to open a temporary quota to non-bumiputera groups is seen as somewhat challenging and insensitive to the Federal Constitution and gazetted laws,” he said.
However, DAP Youth chief Dr Kelvin Yii has argued that the country’s need for medical care is more urgent.
He said this is because the lack of cardiothoracic surgeons has affected healthcare services, causing some patients who were waiting for months to pass away before they could be treated.
“That is why i strongly believe the conversation on the matter should be on solutions and avenues to address it including maximising the abilities of all local institutions to produce the needed specialists, including incorporating the specialist parallel programs to complement the existing numbers of specialists in our country,” he said.
“That is why I strongly believe the conversation on the matter should be on solutions and avenues to address it including maximising the abilities of all local institutions to produce the needed specialists,” he said.
Citing statistics from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), Yii said Malaysia has less than 15 percent of the minimum number of cardiothoracic surgeons required to serve the population by 2030.
He urged Malaysians to unite against the issue, rather than allowing it to divide them.
Last month, health website Codeblue reported that Raja Amin Raja Mokhtar, who is on the board of studies of the UiTM-IJN (National Heart Institute) cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme, saying the varsity is agreeable to opening up the course to non-bumiputera parallel pathway trainees and graduates.
He said the decision was made after speaking to UiTM’s vice-chancellor and the chairperson of the UiTM board, and they agreed to the idea for a limited period.
Despite this, Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said there had been no discussions on the matter and later said that the issue had been turned into a point of contention.
Opposing views
Arguing that since international students can enrol in UiTM, Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said the university should allow non-bumiputera students entry.
But the UiTM student council urged students to dress in black today to protest against the proposal.
Meanwhile, Faiz expressed worry that allowing non-bumiputera students entry will set a precedent.
He had three alternative suggestions:
For UiTM-IJN to source talent from East Malaysian bumiputera to fill the admission quota for the programme
For Universiti Malaya to expedite a cardiothoracic programme with assistance from the Higher Education Ministry
To allow non-bumiputera students shortlisted for the field to register with other institutes of higher learning
The issue originally arose after four graduates who earned the professional qualification “Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons Edinburgh” for cardiothoracic surgery were denied registration as specialists in Malaysia.
They were purportedly told they could not practise the specialty here as the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) did not recognise the qualification.
UiTM is the only varsity that offers a parallel pathway programme in collaboration with IJN in the cardiothoracic field, which comprises surgery and care for heart and lung diseases.
UiTM vice-chancellor Shahrin Sahib said the varsity is committed to upholding the UiTM Act 1976 (Act 173) and Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, which only allows the enrolment of bumiputera students.
However, he added that UiTM will accept whatever the government decides with the blessing of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong based on the nation’s needs.
Malaysia is facing a shortage of medical specialists including cardiothoracic surgeons.
Three Health Ministry centres in Kota Bharu, Kuantan, and Kota Kinabalu have only one cardiothoracic surgeon each. - Mkini
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