UMNO Youth chief Muhamad Akmal Saleh has called on MCA president Wee Ka Siong to personally apologize to the Higher Education Ministry for unfairly prejudicing civil servants.
This demand follows revelations that outstanding STPM achiever Edward Wong Yi Xian failed to secure his preferred accounting course at Universiti Malaya (UM) due to over a thousand more qualified applicants ahead of him.
The Higher Education Department (JPT) clarified that although Wong achieved a perfect 4.0 CGPA and scored 99.9% in co-curricular activities, he ranked 1,129th among 2,291 eligible applicants for UM. Only 85 places are available for accountancy this year at the top-choice university for the 20-year-old from Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
“No doubt he obtained 99.9% overall merit, but the fact is there are more STPM candidates who achieved 100% merit while places are limited at UM,” wrote the Merlimau state assemblyman on his Facebook page.
“When you blame the Unit Pusat Universiti (UPU) pathway as a broken system, I think that’s an inappropriate accusation which tarnishes the good name of the Higher Education Ministry,” added the Melaka Rural Development, Agriculture and Food Security Committee chairman.
“You should therefore apologize to the Higher Education Ministry, as I think civil servants have carried out their duties diligently without any prejudice to any group, which is expected of them. If you are ashamed to apologize publicly, you can call on the minister to apologize privately.”
The controversy stems from a media conference staged by Wee on Monday, Sept. 8, after Wong and his family appeared at Wisma MCA in Kuala Lumpur to share their story. The Ayer Hitam MP raised three key questions: Why was Wong, who earned a perfect 4.0 CGPA in STPM (straight As), 9.9/10 in co-curricular activities, and 99.90% overall merit, rejected for a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting at six public universities?
The universities in question are UM, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
Why was Wong’s UPU application (admission into public universities based on merit) not accepted? Why was an excellent student like Wong only offered admission through the open channel instead of through the UPU? (Editor’s Note: Wong was offered admission into UM for accounting, his first preference, in July through the open channel, which requires a high tuition fee of RM83,800 compared with about RM8,000 under UPU. At the same time, Wong received an offer from USM for management studies, despite his preference for accounting. Why did this happen?)
Meanwhile, MCA Youth has defended Wee, asserting that Wong’s predicament “is not a racial issue but one of fairness and transparency in the student admission system.”
“Public universities are institutions funded by taxpayers. They should not be run as businesses or treat students as sources of profit,” stated MCA Youth Education Consultative Committee chairman Ong Chee Siang in a media statement.
“Their fundamental principle is to provide access to quality education for all, especially outstanding students regardless of their background.”
In this regard, MCA Youth urged the Higher Education Ministry and the concerned public universities to provide a transparent explanation and to urgently address flaws in the system so that students who truly deserve a place are not unfairly denied.
