YOURSAY | Student's meritocracy plea says what we all know

YOURSAY | ‘This is a decades-old issue that will never change.'

Royal Education Award winner calls for meritocracy in education

World Citizen: This is a decades-old issue that will never change, and has only gotten worse over the years.

MIC and MCA never pushed for it and now the current crop of non-Malay politicians don't even mention it because then it becomes a racial issue.

We all saw how Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reacted when the young Indian girl questioned him on this issue.

He was more interested in his political survival than in addressing the concern the young girl raised. This is the reality.

Those non-Malay parents who can afford it had better get their children sent overseas for studies and, after that, get them to stay wherever they are.

It’s too bad for those who can’t afford it but be patient and hope that there will be some help on the way.

At the end of the day, this country will be left with a very mediocre and poor-quality population which we are already beginning to see.

The horses are already leaving the barn.

Kilimanjaro: When Anwar derided that Indian student who questioned him on the merit system and his wayward reply and going around the same old stale story of politics, it did dawn on us that he was not being honest to us through his various political speeches.

One issue that he raised was the disparity in the standard and the lack of opportunities faced by rural students that encumbered their progress and attained a par status with the rest of Malaysian students.

That is nothing but cheap political talk. Education ministers have always been Malays.

The prime ministers have always been Malays. So, why talk as if the non-Malays are to be blamed for this problem?

And how long are people going to spin such stories? Or is it going to be a case of the Malays never going to grow or not going to be allowed to grow by Malay politicians?

Circus In Malaysia: Without meritocracy, we will soon be doomed.

The signs are already very clear in Malaysia. We can see it from the quality of governance in the various government departments.

Look at the quality of our low-grade professors, our clueless politicians, our civil servants, airports, roads, immigration, and so on. It’s not rocket science.

We are heading in the direction of Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Education is why Singapore is miles ahead of us.

The last 30 years of substandard education have produced today’s substandard administrators and politicians. It is scary that our future is in their hands.

Koel: Congratulations, Nahvin. In your speech that honours your friend, you have shown courage, conscience, compassion, and integrity.

Without these, a brilliant intellect is nothing. Thank you for articulating the truth no matter how painful.

In doing so, you have also put to shame many greybeards and powerful but empty shells that dominate our pages every day.

I wonder if the prime minister and his cabinet of sycophants have any positive response to this message of this young scholar. Here is a young man with true potential. Any Perdana Scholarship for him, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh?

I would also hope that no cowardly actions will be taken against this courageous young man for taking a stand when so many in this land with more means choose to feign blindness and deafness to the decades of injustice against minorities.

Prominority: Not one politician in MIC, MCA, PKR, or DAP brought this malady out in the open like the young, brainy Royal Education Award recipient M Nahvin.

Such people should be encouraged to be leaders as they have courage, vision, and intelligence.

I don’t think MIC Youth has one single person with the nerve to express their current predicament.

I hope he becomes a popular voice to raise issues and change policymakers' mindsets.

May God bless you, Nahvin.

MS: Congratulations Nahvin. Your acceptance speech should be made compulsory reading for the politburo of the Madani regime, including its principal evangelist.  

You have articulated what this and previous Ketuanan governments would rather not acknowledge, much less discuss.

It stands in sharp contrast to the haranguing of that Indian student who had the temerity to ask the “anak India... anak saya” hustler to consider equal educational opportunities for marginalised minorities.

BadCaptain: I am a non-Malay whose 1990 STPM results were As for Pengajian Am, Biology and Chemistry; and Cs for Pure Maths and Physics.  

I applied for Medicine but “the system” offered me Food Technology at USM.

I waited one year for an appeal and got rejected as expected. Then, left with no choice, I pursued my MBBS in Manipal, India, fully sponsored by my loving parents, to whom I’m eternally grateful to this day.

I don’t harbour any bitter feelings towards the system because, while in India, I was trained very well with a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Well, at least in 1992 the currency exchange rate was US$1 = RM2.8.

Muchin Orb: The quota system is part of a subsidised programme, which eventually will eat into the coffers.

Finally, when all the people are getting hardcore poor, only then will we have to remove these kinds of subsidies, like the recent removal of electricity, diesel, chicken subsidies, and so on.  

The only way forward is to give opportunities to those who work hard based on meritocracy.

Meow2: Unfortunately, equal opportunity doesn’t apply to Malaysia. If people insist, MARA/bumiputera students will protest on the street.

Many of my friends who studied together in the US didn’t want to come back because of the racist policies, especially when they consider their future generation.

Fools seldom differ: Nahvin, you spoke with neither fear nor favour, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

The government is pushing away and has forsaken many of its bright students to leave for a better future away from our shores. Our loss is someone’s gain.

Soon our country will regress to an undeveloped country ruled by an illiterate population.

Open minded 2281: The present system is unfair to top-grade bumiputera students as they are always looked down on as beneficiaries of handouts even though they deserve entry based on their own efforts.

The present system only benefits mediocre bumiputera students.

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