I refer to the Malaysiakini report 'Non-bumis will be an asset for UiTM'.

The MB of Selangor Khalid Ibrahim must be commended for suggesting that UiTM open up 10% its intake to non-bumiputeras and foreign students.

The reaction from UiTM, both from its management and students was expected. Almost immediately, marches were being organised and press conferences being called; demanding for an apology and retraction and calling Khalid a ‘traitor’ to his own race.

There is no doubt that when UiTM was first setup, the general standard of education of the Malay/bumiputera community was lacking far behind the non-Malays/non-bumiputeras and the opportunities available were also very lacking.

Fast forward more than 30 years later and there is no doubt that UiTM has done much for the Malay/bumiputera community in terms of proving them opportunities for higher education and also uplifting their overall standard of living.

The long-term solution to uplifting the standard of living of any community or country is through education. Give a man a fish and he will live for a day; teach him how to fish and he can live for a lifetime.

However, Malaysia today is very different from when UiTM was setup. The gap between the Malays/bumiputeras and non-Malays/non-bumiputeras has been greatly narrowed. It is myth that all Chinese enter universities and become accountants and Eengineers or Indians enter universities and become doctors or lawyers.

There are also many faceless non-Malays/bumiputeras who lack the economic means for higher education. What will happen to this group of Malaysians? How will they be able to improve their economic outlook and provide a better future for their future generations?

This is especially true for the Indian community who have been long neglected by the political leadership. Sad to say, the overall standard of education for the Indian community has not improved much compared to 30 years ago.

Please don’t go running to the Bar Council or Malaysian Medical Council membership list and say that x% of Lawyers are Indians or y% are doctors. These statistics mean nothing to the countless of Indians displaced by estate closures and urban poverty.

Khalid in suggesting that UiTM open up 10% of its doors never said that 10% will be taken away from the Malays/bumiputeras. If that were the case, the management and students of UiTM may have the right to protest.

Just say for argument’s sake, the current intake of UiTM is10,000 students per year (of course, the actual intake is much higher). All these 10,000 students are from the Malay/bumiputera community and in UiTM’s own words: ‘UiTM is the last educational bastion for the Malays/ bumiputeras’ Thus, not a single one should be deprived of their ‘rightful’ place.

For a win-win situation, UiTM could take in 1,200 non-Malays/non-bumiputeras and increase their intake of Malays/bumiputera students by an additional 800 students, thus the student intake would be 12,000 students comprising 10,800 Malays/bumiputeras and 1,200 non-Malays/ non- bumiputeras.

The percentage would be 90% Malays/bumiputeras and 10% non-Malays/non-bumiputeras. This would provide some opportunities for the non-Malays/non-bumiputeras without depriving any Malays/bumiputeras of their rightful place in UiTM.

I am certain that the government, with the support of the rakyat , will be able to give sufficient funding for UiTM to increase their intake by 12%. Isn’t this a win-win situation? UiTM can actually increase the intake of Malay/bumiputera students and at the same time provide educational opportunities for the non-Malays/non-bumiputeras.

UiTM aspires to be a ‘world-class university, so says their website. However, no university will ever be ‘world class’ if it remains protected, shielded from competition, disallowing any real form of social integration and reflecting the total opposite of what is happening in the real world.

Can we imagine if Harvard is only open to ‘white Caucasians’ or Oxford only open to ‘white Anglo-Saxons’? Would Harvard and Oxford be ‘world-class universities’ if they remain shielded in such a manner?

I am sure that the honourable vice-chancellor of UiTM Prof Dr Ibrahim Abu Shah has the answer.