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No News Is Bad News
Malaysia, the world’s 2nd racist country, continues to churn out half-baked Malaysian graduates to discriminate others
KUALA LUMPUR, May 20, 2024: Malaysia is already the world’s No.2 racist country and the Government remains shamelessly proud of it. It may well hit the top soon.
Education admission into public universities is not based on merit or talent but based on kulitfication (skin colour).
Where do you think Malaysia expects to go when the quality of its human capital is mediocre and not the best?
Surely, it is only natural to think less of tertiary students who fear competition and spew moronic demands that non-Malays should not be allowed into UiTM as cardiothoracic trainees in its post-graduate programmes.
In a letter to Free Malaysia Today (FMT), a Dr Dickson Kay asked:
How can we allow non-Malaysian international students into UiTM as postgrad students but fight so vociferously against our own Malaysian national of a different race? Where is the logic in that?
In social media, there were also views that Malaysians can look to other public universities for medical studies.
The matter is not about other universities but about the rights of all Malaysians of ethnicity to education and the recognition of talent, not half-baked graduates.
Furthermore, there are not enough medical universities to cater to talented Malaysian students. Why do you think the talented have all gone overseas and remained there with a brighter future?
So, the Governments of Malaysia (elected every five years), including the now so-called Madani Unity Government (UG) led by Anwar Ibrahim, are solely to blame for its racial discriminatory education and economic policies.
If this is the sad situation Malaysians must endure after 66 years of Merdeka (Independence) from the British, the only direction Malaysia’s future is heading to is the doldrums.
Already, Malaysia has lost out to most of its neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Thailand.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below Dr Dickson Kay’s letter published by FMT:
Is Malaysia heading in the wrong direction?
Letter to the Editor-19 May 2024, 11:35 PM
In light of recent events, the Malaysian narrative seems to have come to a point of ‘us versus them’.
From Dr Dickson Kay
I read with much regret, not only as a minority in Malaysia but also as a Malaysian, a doctor and as a son to my parents.
The news I am referring to are the protests of our supposed fellow learned future generation in UiTM against the suggestion to admit non-Bumiputera cardiothoracic trainees into the UiTM postgraduate programme.
This issue of a shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons is a dire one as we all know in public and also as a government doctor myself.
It has led to exceedingly long queues for life-saving cardiac surgeries throughout the nation, with many patients dying before receiving the much-needed surgery.
Even with such circumstances, we see our university students out in unison to protest this, citing reasons such as Article 153.
I am no legal expert and do not wish to delve into such sensitive issues, but I urge these students to just put themselves in the shoes of one of these patients and their family members.
If it was your mother or father who’s awaiting a cardiac bypass, would you not want them to be operated on as soon as possible?
Or would you rather delay their treatment in the name of defending your ethnic privileges?
Would you demand to wait until a doctor of your ethnicity and religion is available? Does it matter if the surgeon is of Chinese or Indian or Murut descent?
All that matters is that the doctor is competent and compassionate.
If any of your parents were the patient, would you still be protesting as fervently as you are to this suggestion, which is a solution to our already ailing healthcare system? There should be no place for racial bigotry in medicine.
I am glad that several well-respected community leaders have yet again voiced their much-needed thoughts on this.
I have always applauded UCSI University’s Tajuddin Rasdi who has always been a strong proponent of a moderate, inclusive Malaysia.
The question he recently asked was apt. How can we allow non-Malaysian international students into UiTM as postgrad students but fight so vociferously against our own Malaysian national of a different race? Where is the logic in that?
We pride ourselves on the international arena for being a moderate brand of religious practices, and of a multicultural nation.
But in the face of these recent events, it is not the protests of such supposed future leaders of our country that worry me most, but the silence of the majority. It is deafening. What do they all mean? More worrying to me, what does the silence of the said majority say about the state of our nation?
As a minority, honestly, most of us are fearful to speak up as the repercussions are severe. The silence of the majority of supposed moderates in Malaysia is deafening and it speaks volumes and worries us to the core.
We always hoped and thought with Undi18 that the younger generation would be more inclusive and moderate, but with recent developments and election results, it doesn’t appear so.
Malaysia needs more open dialogue on such quintessential topics which determines the narrative of the country’s direction but, unfortunately, the minorities, such as myself, have learnt our lesson not to voice out. We know that we, too, are citizens of this country but are always told to stand down and know our place. This is very sad for Malaysia indeed as the direction we are heading to does not seem to be a good one, unlike our neighbours such as Indonesia and Vietnam, who have far surpassed us in all aspects.
We are heading the other way and the wrong way in my humble opinion.
These events seem to be showing me a glimpse of what could be an undercurrent of a different narrative that Malaysia is heading to. Has the Malaysian narrative come to a point of a ‘us versus them’?
More mature open discussions with good intent are needed across the divide. One that someday need not hide behind the three capital letters. One that is, I stress, mature, intellectual and level-headed. One that is headed by community leaders, religious leaders and political leaders. One that is of good intent for nation-building and not for political scores. One that, instead of infighting among ourselves, is razor focussed on how we should compete against our neighbours. One that has a shared positive outcome for all Malaysians.
But now, all we hear across the stage are but lone respectable voices of a few. Even politicians nowadays are held hostage to the demands of the seemingly growing far right. As a minority in Malaysia, how can we not be fearful for the future of Malaysia?
Dr Dickson Kay is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.
MALAYSIA
UiTM admissions backlash sign of misplaced priorities, say academics
Bumi students should not be afraid of competition, they say.
Updated 3 hours ago · Published on 20 May 2024 8:00AM
Universiti Teknologi Mara remains open to only Bumiputera students following a protest over a proposal for the institution to accept students of all races to a medical programme. – The Vibes file pic, May 20, 2024.
BY Alfian Z.M. Tahir
THE backlash over a proposal to open a Universiti Teknologi Mara medical course to all Malaysians reflects a bigger issue of declining academic quality and misguided education policies, say academics.
They said the country's education system is in need of reform.
Sociologist Dr Sharifah Munirah Alatas said the government must speed up the much-needed changes.
She said it is worrying that the university students are fearful and suspicious of their non-Bumiputera counterparts, saying such an attitude must be addressed at once.
"If anything, more of our Malaysian children and youth – and their teachers and parents – must be exposed to more courses on cross-culturalism, discussions on diverse religions, and how various civilisations around the world thrived and the reasons for their demise," said the visiting professor at Indonesian International Islamic University.
She was responding to the UiTM student council's opposition to a suggestion to temporarily allow non-Bumiputera students to enrol in the university's postgraduate cardiothoracic surgery programme. Munirah said that while the students had every right to protest, their fears were misplaced.
"First and foremost, the UiTM students have every right to organise the protest, even though it is grossly misleading. Provided they are peaceful, let them dress in black if they want. If they do not cause uncontrollable chaos or violence, let them protest."
"However, from my perspective, the protest is terribly misplaced, precisely because it is premised on a tangential issue of ethnic rights, destructive communalism, and divisive thinking," said the daughter of renowned scholar Syed Hussein Alatas.
UiTM was established in 1956 as the Rural and Industrial Development Authority Training Centre, a brainchild of the late Datuk Onn Jaafar — a founder of Umno — after a 1951 visit to Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was then known, to learn about rural development programmes.
In 1965, it changed its name to Maktab Majlis Amanah Rakyat to aid and train the Bumiputera in business and industry. In 1967, it was renamed Institut Teknologi Mara.
It achieved university status in 1999.
Its students were recently up in arms over the Malaysian Medical Association's advice to UiTM to temporarily open its postgraduate cardiothoracic surgery programme to people of all races to meet an acute shortage of medical specialists, especially cardiothoracic surgeons.
The suggestion was shot down by the university's student body. UiTM later said that it would stay true to its mission to "empower the Bumiputera" and not change its student admissions policy to allow all races to enrol.
Munirah said the nation should be working to resolve the problem of shortages in the medical profession instead of racialising it.
"I agree with Higher Education Minister Zambri Abdul Kadir when he said it is unfortunate that this has quickly become politicised. The UiTM Student Representative Council (MPP) is irrationally worried. They may or may not have forgotten that the suggestion was for only one programme. Nevertheless, their overreaction is silly."
"However, Zambri must reiterate the need to solve the shortage crisis, instead of remarking that 'this matter (of the non-Bumi admission) has not been discussed in any meetings at the ministry or the Cabinet level.'"
Tajuddin Rasdi of UCSI University said UiTM should decide if it wants to coddle its students or if it wants to produce students who are competitive.
He said university students should bravely take on challenges.
"What do we want them to become? Do we want them to be skilful, brave and have a strong attitude, or do we want them to be spoonfed all the time?"
"It is unfortunate to witness such behaviour and mentality from a higher learning institution. This matter has become a racial issue when it is not."
"The failure to understand an issue properly has turned this matter (politicak). It was simple – temporarily allow non-Bumiputera into the programme. That was all. It wasn't abour changing the policy," said Tajudin. – May 20, 2024.
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