Bumi... Bumi... Bumi...

Read this and this on the outcome of Malay Private Higher Education Convention organised by the Malaysian Bumiputera IPTS National Association.

Tengku Razaleigh enlightened the rest of the country that "Malay students pursuing higher education at private institutions of higher learning (IPTS) certainly have the right to receive government assistance as it is provided for in the Federal Constitution".

This is certainly an eye opener for me and maybe many of you out there. I would certainly like to find out which part of the Federal Constitution enshrined the above claim. As far as I understand, the constitution Article 153 only states the following:

"the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (The King of Malaysia) shall exercise his functions... in such a manner as may be necessary to safeguard the special position of the Malays... to ensure the reservation... of such proportion... in the public service... and of scholarships... and other similar educational... privileges or special facilities given... by the Federal Government."

In spite of PSD scholarship being given mainly to the Malays (which I doubt few is allocated for the "real bumiputra or orang asli"), there are still people out there crying for more and more "assistance" each day. Apart for asking help in scholarship, Tengku Rasaleigh also calls on the government to help finance students pursuing their studies in Malay IPTS through MARA (a whopping RM300million!).

Meanwhile, Johor CM, Abdul Ghani Othman claims that the current "meritokrasi" system is oppressing and discriminating against thousands of Malay students who is living in rural areas with limited access to quality education. He justifies his remarks by saying that the intake of Malay students in various "critical" courses in public universities has declined since the implementation of the said system.

After reading all the above, I wonder why these "champions of the Malay cause" fail to recognize the root cause of their problems.

First of all, who are responsible for providing quality education in the first place? Isn't that the job of the Education Ministry? Quality education should be equally provided to everyone regardless of family background, geographical locations, ethnic and beliefs.

Secondly, why are we focusing only on tertiary education? What about primary and secondary education? If a teenager is given proper education during the first 18 years of their live, they should be able to equip themselves with enough caliber to qualify for a scholarship like the rest of their peers. Does it mean that just because is student is studying in rural areas, they will receive inferior education as compared to those living in big town? Do you mean to tell me that good quality teachers are meant only for big boarding schools first, and the rest of the crops will be segregated among other "lesser" schools?

Thirdly, if Malay IPTS cannot survive without government help, why do they not submit the running of the IPTS to the government instead? Why are those investing in Malay IPTS still continue their business if such business plan is clearly a failure?

Some complain that the government is giving too much help to non-Malay IPTS instead. I find such complain doubtful. To me, IPTS (meaning Private Institute of Higher Learning) are private businesses. If I were to start a private business in any field, I would have come up with a sustainable plan that would last at least until I retire. It would be good to invest in business that is given some form of government assistance such as tax exemption etc. to help me to kick-start the corporation. Do you think that IMU, LimKokWing, HELP, Informatics etc. survived until now by relying on government funding alone? You'd gotta be kidding me!

As for meritocracy, I would only like to quote the Pahang CM Adnan Yaakob, "I would prefer to go to a doctor who entered a public university based on merit rather than someone who gained entry because of his bumiputra status". Would you do the same?

Some end note, does it matter if the education we receive comes from a Malay or non-Malay IPTS? Is one inferior in terms of standards compared to the other? If so, why are we having inferior IPTS educating our young ones when we know we are heading towards a knowledge-based economy?

God save our education system!