KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) should continue to remain a tertiary education institution for the Malays and Bumiputeras as long as national-type or vernacular schools exist in Malaysia, said Universiti Teknologi Mara Alumni Association (PAUiTM) president, Datuk Mohd Zaini Hassan.

He said the issue of whether UiTM opens its doors or not to non-Bumiputeras should be consistent with the national education system.

"We have no problem whether UiTM admits non-Bumiputeras or not... but it should be in line with the current national education system. My reasoning is simple, as long as the school education system is still diverse (according to race), I think the original goal of UiTM should be maintained, that is to cater only for the Malays and Bumiputeras.

"If we want to raise this issue, it is better to settle it at the school level (primary and secondary) because at this stage there will be racial integration and so on,” he said in the Ala Carte Pagi programme titled ‘Pertahankan UiTM’ on Bernama Radio, here, today.

On May 28, the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) handed over a memorandum to the Institutional Reforms Committee (IRC) by listing 25 proposals to address the issues faced by the B75 Indian community (75 per cent of Inidans in the lower income bracket), among them the mandatory admission of 15 per cent of Indian students into public universities, including UiTM.

Mohd Zaini said all quarters should not cause incitement in society as Malaysia is a multiracial country.

"We have to respect each other. UiTM can be opened to the various races but the race-based education system such as national-type or vernacular schools need to be changed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Zaini said a petition launched online at Change.org to protest the proposal for UiTM to open admission to non-Bumiputeras, has garnered 156,713 signatures so far. — Bernama