Breeding a resentful generation

Mariam Mokhtar
May 23, 11
The nation risks breeding a generation of ingrates and a resentful youth, if the unfair and unjust distribution of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships is not resolved.

Malaysia's education system, until the mid-1970s, was one of the best in the region. Our teachers were articulate, well qualified and disciplined. Sports and recreational activities were important facets of school life.

Today, after-school tuition seems to be the norm and parents pay through the nose for tuition. Not surprisingly, the tuition teachers' classes are often formed from their school classes.

Many parents claim that the teachers do not put their best efforts into the school lessons, so that they (the teachers) will be able to earn a fat income from the tuition trade.

This is perhaps a disservice to the many good teachers out there but it is the sad reality of life in Malaysia.

After the students have scored a string of 'As', who really deserves the credit for the success? The teachers, the school or the tuition provided by the same school-teachers?

Until the 1980s, there was hardly any segregation in our schools and there wasn't the mad rush for Chinese- or Tamil-medium schools. Today, many parents mistrust government schools and the apparent indoctrination practised, where teachers seemingly chastise non-Malay students.

Nowadays, bumiputera students can qualify to enter residential schools at secondary level. After their secondary education, the non-Malays usually enroll in private colleges, while the Malays and other bumiputeras do matriculation. Many of the brighter non-Malays go to Singapore or other countries. At local university level, segregation among the students has intensified.

At one time, Malaysia's institutions of higher learning, like the University of Malaya, were highly respected. Today, ethnic quotas for public universities, which came about with the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1971, have put paid to all that.

The standard of education has steadily declined and the apparent lackadaisical attitude of our leaders in addressing long-standing issues has exacerbated the problem.

In July last year, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced that PSD scholarships would be awarded to all students, regardless of ethnicity, who managed to score 9A's or higher. The scholarships could be either for local or overseas studies and that the policy would help strengthen his 1Malaysia concept.

On May 4, the cabinet decided that all students who scored 8A and above in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) would be eligible for PSD scholarships.

An elated MCA deputy president Liow Tiong Lai said Najib wants to reward good students by training and encouraging them further, while Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong said the news shows the cabinet's sincerity in helping students of all races.

However, after the SPM results were announced, several top students found that they had failed to obtain scholarships whilst those who were not top scorers, had managed to receive financial aid.

Wee (right) blamed the failure on government officers who had probably set their own selection criteria and ignored the cabinet directive.

He said: “If this trend continues, many BN parties will have to close shop because such a practice will only scare away young voters. Many talented young people will also be driven away and this will make the brain-drain problem even worse.”

MCA vice-president Ng Yen Yen said the unfair distribution of the scholarships had created much unhappiness and that those responsible should be punished.

“In what way (they will be taken to task), we shall leave it to the ministry to decide.”

Chorus of opinion

Wanita MCA secretary-general Chew Lee Giok, who also believes the brain drain will worsen, quoted a UN report which stated that over half (57%) of Singapore's professional talents were derived from Malaysia.

She too agreed that the errant civil servants who did not follow the cabinet directive should be censured.

“If the authorities find that human factor was involved in the mishandling of the PSD scholarship awards, the civil servants concerned should be dealt with.”

Ramon Navaratnam (left), the Director of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute issued a statement saying: “If there is evidence of skewed implementation of the government's sound policy to grant awards based on merit, then the officials should be severely disciplined for flouting government directives.”

Yesterday, MIC's SK Devamany who is also the deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department said: “The (PSD) has failed to follow the cabinet directive. The PSD must realise that high achievers are assets to the country.”

According to him, top scorers were disappointed to discover that instead of being offered scholarships for a degree of their choice, they were given matriculation or diploma scholarships.

Devamany wants the selection criteria reviewed and complaints about the unfairness of the awards to be resolved, to be in line with 1Malaysia policy.

He said: “MIC wants an independent committee to investigate the scholarship distribution.”

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (right) who is also the Education Minister, has directed the PSD to investigate the complaints. He also denied that his ministry was at fault.

So will Muhyiddin find the errant civil servants who supposedly ignored the cabinet directive to award scholarships to all students regardless of race?

Many people do not think so because they believe that such a bold and discriminatory move could not have happened without prior instruction from higher up.

Or perhaps, civil servants are in a world of their own and have no desire to change what they have practised all these years.

This is not the first time we have failed our students. On this occasion, we are denying them an equal and fair chance to obtaining scholarships.

At this rate, Najib's Talent Corp will have a harder time trying to lure skilled overseas Malaysians to return home.

Is it any wonder the non-Malays are resentful of the Malays? For those who do 'escape' abroad for studies, few will have any desire to return, whilst those non-Malays who remain, simmer with indignation. One day, these bottled up tensions will be unleashed.

Already, the private sector is the domain of the non-Malays while the civil service and GLCs are the preserve of the Malays. For as long as education and scholarships are politicised, the racial divide will be reinforced.

What hope have we in investing in Malaysia's human capital?

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In 'real-speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.