Read this first on the Star Online.
To start off, Bumiputera = Malay. See my previous post on "Pendatang". So the terminology is interchangeable, in my humble opinion.
Malays should not have a right to scholarships. It is a bloody joke! I'm still pissed off about this. Would you give a pair of binoculars to a blind Malay person simply because he/she was entitled to it in the constitution? No. You give it to a person who can actually see, and who would actually use it!
The only people who have a right to them are those that study hard and get the grades. I don't mean those people who "study" by memorising reams of text, but to people who actually undertand the concepts being put forward to them and are able to apply them.
To illustrate my point, there was a study not so long ago when they we looking at Nobel Prize winners (or lack thereof) from Asia. China produces a shed load of PhDs but very little in terms of contribution to the advancement of Science and Mathematics (past achievements in giving the world gunpowder notwithstanding). This was put down to the narrow mindset of the curriculum of the Chinese Universities that do not encourage voicing of opinions, debates and challenging the status quo. Memorising was the key to exam success. This suppresses innovation and the breakthrough needed in advancing a particular field. I am sure other Asian institutions of higher learning are guilty of this as well (no hard facts to back this up, but just my personal opinion). I remember memorising text books from my Sejarah classes and the information has long been forgotten, probably right after the exam. Whatever snippets of info still residing in my alcohol-ravaged brain has been retained not though memorisation, but through the understanding of why and how.
The Malaysian curriculum seems completely entrenched in rote learning and not enough in getting the students to think. Again I am not saying all Malaysian colleges or Universities are like this, but most of them seem to be guilty. I also acknowledge the teachers and lecturers that help cajole us out of our intellectual shells play a huge part in turning us to "A-class" thinking citizens.
I went off on a tangent there....so to conclude, what is the point in wasting a perfectly good scholarship on a Bumi student who comes back home holding a degree with a minimum pass and still unable to string two sentences together in English? Tan Ah Beng and Raju a/l Selvam may have all the "A"s under the sun, but if they cannot think, then they should not be getting an all expense paid "holiday" to Eng-kok to memorise the Magna Carta or the Pythagoras Theorem either.
Give a scholarship to someone who has a brain, and who really wants to better themselves. To dumb it down further, give a scholarship to someone deserving.
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the solution is simple, have 2 separate funds
1) scholarship
meant for the qualified on merit because the purpose is to develop human capital to carry the nation forward. scholarship comes with a bond and subject to stringent qualification terms
2) study aid
meant for social re-engineering and is give due to political/racial/income level considerations. The recepient of this category are known to all and sundy that they are not the deserving lot due to meritocracy but other reasons.
perhaps this can be divided into 2.1 need to pay 2.2 no need to repay categories
Err Lee. It's good to see some readers of this blog does contribute constuctively by offering solutions. Good on ya mate.
However, don't they have both already at least on paper? We have all the scholarships offered by the government and we have Study Loans/Aid which we all know as PTPTN loans.
This country has mostly good laws and policies that actually does benefit the rakyat. It's just we have ftoopid jokers out there who abuses the system and make a mess out of it. :P
I am totally supportive of the concept of affirmative action where an extra portion of resources are diverted to help the truly deserving poor Bumi. But we should balance that with support for the deserving non Bumi and even those other neglected Bumi (e.g. Orang Asli, Dayaks, Iban). Even if you parcel it out according to the racial composition, this would be more equitable than the current system where there is no transparency (40-50% Malays, 10-20% other Bumi, 20-30% Chinese, ~10% Indian)
also, look at those Bumi scholarship holders that parents are far richer than the most people, driving big cars and staying in bungalows, especially for Petronas scholars. Shame on these people for stealing from their own lower income Bumi.
gooster... am sure you remember temenggung jugah anak barieng from sejarah in school hahaha...
guys, i've accepted the fact that whatever good policies approved by our gomen will not achieve its objectives as long as the present racial based politics continued to be practiced.
politically, we are nowhere near an 'open market'. as long as there is racial politics, there is going to be bias and leakages.
i don't see the point of thinking of ways to better allocations etc.
be smart, identify the root of the problem and rid it. and to me, the root is none other than racial politics.
Very well said!
Firstly, I am amazed with the depth of observations shown via comments and articles in this blog (first visit to this blog, surprisingly not food related).
This is what I call 'straight to the point' - somestimes you wonder why respected figures say and do funny things.
I am very upset with the issues of scholarship = bumiputera. Promotions, incentives, grants, awards, etc MUST all be based on merits. Sultan's statement showed that he has yet to put rakyat's interest as his first priority (the most basic that we need from a ruler). Still hasn't learnt their lessons. Seems to me, you will need some royal families or senior police officers to be victimised by robbers/road bullies/ah longs/snatch thieves/run over by Mat Rempit/their daughters brutally raped by illegal foreigners before they FEEL the PAIN !
The day will come. Mindsets at the top MUST change. 1MALAYSIA is nothing but a rebranding exercise of how racial polictics is to be run in the next few years (if BN still rule by then).