Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 5.8.2013.
39 top students receiving full marks of Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) 4.0 but still not being selected for public university places for their preferred courses is a national shame that will stain the pursuit of merit, excellence and merit as well as cripple the elusive search for national unity after 56 years Of Merdeka. Depriving qualified students, including those with a CGPA of the maximum 4.0 from places in public universities, will only exacerbate the brain drain, make it harder for Talent Corporation to generate a brain gain and make it easier for neighbouring countries to steal our best and brightest.
No democratic and humane country in the world would consider as just in rejecting top students who scored the perfect CGPA of 4.0, but were offered courses that were not their chosen option. Even though MCA, MIC and Gerakan leaders have openly attacked the Ministry of Education(MOE) for this injustice, MOE has clearly dismissed these BN component parties as staging a sandiwara as they did not pull out from BN.
What is the point of MCA pointing out that in the past four years, the enrolment rate of Chinese applicants fell from 92 percent to 88.2 percent, followed by 86.4 percent to only 75 percent this year, or the percentage of successful Chinese applicants entering IPTAs had fallen to 19% this year from the previous 23%, when MCA still remain in BN? What is the point of MIC questioning Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s pledge to uphold his message of “nambikei” (trust) to the Indian community when Indian students were allocated only 4% of public university places of only 1,800 instead of the promised 3,000, when MIC still remain in BN?
DAP does not agree with the annual national obsession on race profiling by both MCA and MIC. Both argue the serious issue of deprivation of university places in education solely from a racial perspective when it should be strictly from equal opportunity, excellence and performance.
As the public has lost confidence in the professionalism of the Education Ministry, an independent body such as an international auditing firm should be appointed instead to vet and select future university applicants to ensure that no qualified students loses out. How can we prepare the young for the future or the future for our young when we deny that future by permitting such painful injustice?
Lim Guan Eng
—–Mandarin Version —
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2013年8月5日在吉隆坡发表声明：
39名考获总平均绩分4.0的优秀生还没有获得国立大学的理想科系，这是国耻，破坏了对绩效、卓越的追求，也破坏了独立56后对国民团结的搜寻。
39名考获总平均绩分4.0的优秀生还没有获得国立大学的理想科系，这是国耻，破坏了对绩效、卓越的追求，也破坏了独立56后对国民团结的搜寻。当局剥夺合格学生的权利，拒绝那些总平均绩点达4.0的学生进入本地大学，这不只让人才外流恶化，也让人才机构更难吸引人才，也让其它邻近国家更容易地挖走我们的人才。
世界上没有一个民主及人道国家会考虑拒绝考获总平均绩分4.0的优秀生，给他们非首选科系。就连马华、国大党及民政党领袖也公开批评过教育部的不公义，而教育部也很明显地驳斥这些国阵成员党在演戏，因为他们没有退出国阵。
马华指出今年马来西亚华裔入学率从92%降到88.2%，接着从86.4%降至今年75%，或者说成功被本地大学录取的华裔生只有19%，比去年23%还少。当马华还留在国阵里，他们说这些有什么用？国大党甚至要求首相纳吉阿都拉萨实现对印度人的承诺，因为印度学生在大学的学额只有4%。今年印度学生应获得的学额3000个，而不是1800个。但国大学还留在国阵里，他们的呼吁有什么用？
民主行动党不赞成马华公会及国大党每年诉诸种族牌来看待这个课题。他们单从种族角度看待优秀生进不了大学的问题，而事实上我们应该从机会平等、表现及卓越的角度出发。
公众已经对教育部的专业失去信心，我们需要委任独立机构如国际稽查公司来遴选未来的大学申请者，以确保符合学生不会被忽略。当我们继续允许这种惨痛不公义的做法，我们要如何让年轻人为未来做好准备，或者如何为年轻人的未来做准备？
林冠英