Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Penang On 19.8.2014.
The failed medical romance with world-renowned Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is a costly US$ 34.199 million (RM107.91 million) for only 80 students and the Federal government must come clean on how Malaysia benefits from spending RM1.35 million per student. The public will also be interested whether the 80 students are all Malaysians and the critieria applied for their selection.
This full accountability is especially important when the Federal government has made limited offers to only 418 brilliant students to take up medicine at local public universites. Deputy Minister of Education P Kamalanathan said yesterday that the limited number of offers is due to a over-supply of new doctors where only 418 out of 1,163 students who obtained top marks were selected for medicine.
This is not the first time that an alliance with a world-renowned university failed. In 1999, a grant of RM100 million was approved to set up a the Malaysian University of Science and Technology to mirror the Massachusettes Institute of Technology(MIT). However, MIT pulled out in 2004.
The end of the 4 year medical romance with the world-renowned Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from the United States, reinforces the culture of mediocrity in Malaysian educational standards and the sad reality that there is no room for excellent institutions or brilliant students. Further this is symptomatic of the failure of the BN Federal government’s transformation programme to pursue excellence and the creative city concept due in part to reluctance to embrace the critical success factors of talent, technology and tolerance.
The 3TS of talent, technology and tolerance must co-exist in an eco-system that can engender creativity. Whilst we may have the talent and the readiness to invest in technology, the general reluctance to permit tolerance of different ideas and lifestyles has proven to be to big a hindrance for Malaysia until our universities have descended into mediocrity and our talented resources have migrated in droves to other countries.
What is equally worrying is not just that the elite excellent foreign universities are abandoning Malaysia, but that the Federal government is also abandoning our top students.
Why Continue To Conduct Sekolah Tinggi Peperiksaan Malaysia(STPM) When Top Students Are Denied University Places For Their Preferred Courses?
Why then continue conduct Sekolah Tinggi Peperiksaan Malaysia(STPM) when top students are denied university places for their preferred courses? Recently a straight As STPM student from Klang, Ng Li Ying, was denied courses in medicine, dentistry and pharmacy despite applying to nine local universities. Instead she was offered a course in nursing.
Her case is not the first case of top students being denied their preferred courses. 2 straight A students from Ipoh, who opted for dentistry and medicine in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, were offered nursing in Sarawak and veterinary studies in Kelantan respectively. Another top student in Liow Tiong Lai’s own Bentong constituency was offered nursing in Sarawak as well.
There is a STPM student from Perak with 4As failing to be accepted for a pharmacy programme in Universiti Sains Malaysia(USM) despite being offered the same course by Monash University, Australia, which is ranked 8th in the world by the 2014 QS World University Ranking for pharmacy and pharmacology. Someone must have forgotten to tell the whole world that USM is better than Monash University.
As a first step, the Federal government must win back the confidence of our top local students by offering them university places for their preferred courses before trying to attract top foreign universities to Malaysia. Finally the 3T concept of talent, technology and tolerance must be fully adopted and practiced if Malaysia is to succeed in developing a creative society.
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2014年8月19日在吉隆坡发表声明：
世界著名的美国约翰•霍普金斯大学医学院结束了与首要大学所合办的医药课程，有关课程花费了3419万900美元（1亿791万令吉）来培育仅仅80名学生，我们在每一名学生身上花费了135万令吉，联邦政府必须交代清楚我国如何受益？
世界著名的美国约翰•霍普金斯大学医学院结束了与首要大学所合办的医药课程，有关课程花费了3419万900美元（1亿791万令吉）来培育仅仅80名学生，我们在每一名学生身上花费了135万令吉，联邦政府必须交代清楚我国如何受益？公众也有兴趣知道，上述80名学生是否全为马来西亚人，以及他们申请时的资格。
联邦政府有必须交待清楚，特别是当本地国立大学只录取418名优秀生报读医学系。副教育部长P.卡马拉南丹昨天发表声明，指由于医生过剩，因此在1163名选读医学系的特优生中，当局只能录取418名学生。
这不是第一次我国与世界著名大学合作告吹的案例。1999年，政府也曾拨出1亿令吉以成立马来西亚理工大学，并计划以美国麻省理工学院（MIT）为典范，结果，麻省理工学院后来于2004年退出合作计划。
世界著名的美国约翰•霍普金斯大学结束了与首要大学（Universiti Perdana）合办了四年的医药课程，再次突显我国教育水平平庸落后、没有容纳优秀学府或优秀学生空间的可悲事实。这也是我国转型成为卓越及创意城市失败的象征，这是由于当局不愿接受迈向成功的大三因素：才能、技术及容忍所导致的。
才能、技术及容忍（3Ts）是酝酿创意的环境是必须共存的因素。我们可能拥有人才并准备投资在科技，但是，总体社会对于不同想法及不同生活方式的宽容程度，证明是我国前进的绊脚石，以致我们的大学越来越平庸，我们的人才被迫移民到其他的国家。
同样令人担忧的，不只是国外的顶尖大学放弃了马来西亚，而是我国的联邦政府也一样放弃我国最优秀的学生。
若优秀生被拒于大学门外，不获报读他们的首选课程，为何还要继续举行高等教育文凭考试（STPM）？
若优秀生被拒于大学门外，不获报读他们的首选课程，为何还要继续举行高等教育文凭考试（STPM）？最近又有一名来自巴生的全优生黄丽盈，被国内9间公立大学拒绝其申请的医学系、牙医系及药剂系，反之只获其中一间录取“医护系”。
她的个案并不是国内首宗优秀生被拒于大学门外的案例。在这之前，2名自怡保的全A优秀生，申请雪州及吉隆坡的牙医系及医学系，却只分别获得砂拉越的护理系及吉兰丹的兽医研究系。另一名在廖中莱文冬选区的优秀学生，则被分配到砂拉越州。
被马来西亚理科大学药剂系拒绝的4A优秀生，却获得2014年QS世界大学科系排行第8的澳洲莫那斯大学药剂系录取。 一定是有人忘了告诉全世界：其实理科大学比莫那斯大学更好。
联邦政府的第一步是，必需在吸引外国顶尖大学进驻我国前，先透过提供优秀生属意的本地大学科系学位，赢回这些优秀生的信心。最后，若马来西亚要成为一个成功的创意社会，这个3T概念，即人才、技术及宽容必须被充分地采纳及实践。
林冠英