KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — MCA today accused a Malay rights group of legitimising laziness and denying the academic abilities of its own ethnic group as well as other Malaysians by suggesting Putrajaya limit exempting loan repayments of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) to only excelling Bumiputera students.
Selangor Wanita MCA chief Ong Chong Swen said that the suggestion, which was passed as one of the resolutions during a National Unity Convention on Sunday, which Perkasa also participated in, reeks of racism and creates a sense of discord among youth.
“The idea (to exempt PTPTN loan repayment to excelling students) is to encourage students who were unable to obtain scholarships not to give up but to study hard so that their study loan can be converted into a scholarship.
“Such a noble plan by the federal government to encourage youths has unfortunately been turned by Ibrahim Ali into a ‘racial’ issue, creating ‘uneasy’ sentiments among the youths,” Ong said in a statement today.
“His (Ibrahim) comments are indeed self-defeatist and a self-embarrassment as he insults his own top scholar Bumiputera students as if he himself is admitting that Bumiputera are less able (which is not and never the case), while offending other hardworking and goal-oriented non-Bumiputera students,” she added.
Ong said that Ibrahim has also “committed a disservice” to Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera alike by carrying out racial profiling.
“Are Perkasa and all other similar race-based NGOs aware that the majority of university lecturers in public institutes of higher learning are Bumiputera? Hence, they should ask themselves — Is there a hidden agenda by Bumiputera lecturers in IPTAs to help the Chinese by being lenient on the latter’s marks?” Ong said.
“Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim once declared that if Pakatan captures Putrajaya, PTPTN loan borrowers need not pay back (sic). His proposal drew criticism.
“Now Ibrahim Ali, in demanding exemptions from loan repayments, is singing the same tune. He is teaching students to be lazy, reckless with their studies and financial management,” she added.
Continuing her brickbats, Ong said that Ibrahim is also nurturing Bumiputera students to be irresponsible.
On Sunday, the convention of Malay rights groups made the suggestion in a resolution, after noting the ubiquity of high-scoring non-Bumiputera scholars.
The convention noted that students owe PTPTN RM1.1 billion in total, and that the ethnic Chinese have the most number of graduates with first-class honours degrees who are exempted from repaying their loans.
In the statistics supplied by the National Unity Convention, 8,818 ethnic Chinese students were exempted from repaying their PTPTN loans as of December 31, 2011.
In comparison, 2,347 ethnic Malay and 456 ethnic Indians students were exempted.
The groups also alleged the existence of a possible conspiracy among private institutions of higher learning (IPTS) to grant non-Bumiputera students higher grades, which it claimed could escalate into a racial issue that can affect national unity.
The event was organised by a coalition of 58 Malay non-governmental organisations, and was attended by over 300 groups, to debate and pass a National Unity Memorandum draft to be delivered to Putrajaya and the Malay rulers, among others.
