YOURSAY 'In fact, many compete and excel because they believe no one owes them a living and they need to put in the extra effort to get ahead.'

'Meritocracy in education only helps Chinese'

LittleGiant: The proposal by the Malay Consultative Council president, Ibrahim Abu Shah, that meritocracy be abolished in the country's education system is illogical and short-sighted.

Is it true that meritocracy has sidelined the Malay students and that they have been ignored by the government? Is it not an embarrassment to all those Malay students who had the talent and the capability to compete with the non-Malays and excelled in their studies?

There are many Malays who are willing to learn, ready to compete and have the determination to produce excellent results on a level-playing field. They do not see meritocracy as a problem or an issue.

Instead of finding fault with the meritocracy system and making it look like a big racial issue, the Malay NGOs and educationists should find ways and means to improve the confidence of the weak Malay students and equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to increase their self-esteem and face the world with a ‘can do' attitude.

Kamikasi: Are the educationists - Ibrahim Abu Shah and Zainal Kling - openly admitting that Malays are second-class students? There is a saying, students will only be as good as their teachers.

This implies that if you have Chinese teachers teaching your children you are saved. If you have Malays as your teachers you are done for. Sorry, the educationists are implying this. Hello, second-class professors, you are insulting the Malays.

Kairos: In effect, these esteemed educationists are admitting that Malays are not good enough and capable of competing against other races, including Chinese and Indians, on a level-playing field.

With that kind of a handicapped mentality and a belief that they are not as good as other races and therefore, need crutches all the time, how can the Malay race ever improve and progress enough to compete on a global stage where only the best and the fittest survive?

Prolonging such a self-defeating mentality would only lead to generating low self-esteem and weak character over the long haul. Is this what the guardians of the Malay race want?

Dizzer: Former Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) deputy chancellor Ibrahim's 35 percent figure could be right if you include all the Institut Pengajian Tinggi Awam (IPTA) and tutorial colleges but do not include UiTM (130,000-plus bumiputera students).

About 55 percent of all higher education students are in the private sector, with the rest (70-80 percent of them Malay) are in public universities.

It is sad indeed to hear 'educationists' bleat on like this - protection, protection, protection - especially when even a primary school kid knows that it is these very policies that harm Malay kids.

Myop101: I disagree that Malays can't compete. In fact, many compete and excel because they believe no one owes them a living and they need to put in the extra effort to get ahead. These people don't talk about scholarship, meritocracy and such.

They just accept the reality of life and work hard to achieve what they set out to achieve. And these people don't just survive, they actually thrive. To the rest, lamenting and blaming others won't change the circumstances they are in.

Mushiro: It is shocking that these Malay ‘intellectuals' are leading the Malays to doom by rejecting the meritocracy system.

If obtaining degrees is a concern for the Malays and not the standard of education, then just sell these degrees to the Malays like how we see many Umno leaders buying fake PhDs.

University education is about discipline, interacting with smart students, lecturers, professors, understanding, absorbing the subject matter and being tested.

Already many Malay students find it hard in job interviews when competing with private universities students because of the current low standards in public universities. They lack confidence, communication skills, critical thinking and more.

DontPlayGod: Sometimes I tend to think that these Malay leaders are insulting their own race. Are they saying that their people are so useless that they are unable to complete with others on a level-playing field?

This is what Umno has been telling the Malays, that they are useless and mentally challenged and that is why they need Umno to hold their hands and guide them.

Wg321: On one hand, a certain retired Appeal Court judge proposed the abolition of vernacular schools to promote national unity. On the other hand, Ibrahim Abu Shah proposed to practise educational apartheid in order to abolish the current meritocracy system in education.

Odin: Use your brain - that is, if you have any. To make you happy, have the (in alphabetical order) Chinese, Indians, Malays and those of the strange race called ‘Others' go to separate institutions of learning.

That way, no students of one race need to compete with those of another one for a place in, or a scholarship to go to, a particular university. Of course, don't forget to lower the passing marks for the Malays. That way, practically all the Malays will each have a university degree.

Absalom: Such a shocking level of stupidity in 'educationists'. When you fellows want to build your house, do you look for best qualified person or one who managed to become an architect by quota on mediocre results.

When you go to do your bypass operation to prolong your unworthy life, you would wish (as you are lying in hospital) that the doctor operating on you got to be one on merit.

When you are in a plane flying over a bumpy patch over the ocean, you are praying that the pilot got his life on merit and not because of his race.

If you go to a fine dining place, would you wish that the chef is excellent or that he can barely cook but it is okay since he is the same race as you? If you want merit in all your personal requirements, why don't you wish it for the country and people, too?

The other thing is, are you conceding that the Malays cannot be as good as the others? Who are you to make that judgment? You fellows are precisely the products of education that future generations should avoid becoming.

Gerrard73: My father used to spank me if I got poor results in school exams. Studying has been a nightmare and a horrifying experience for me. But I thank him now because I'm earning RM10,000 per month.

In this time and era, we cannot effort to have such pathetic racist opinions. Everything has to focus on the greater good of the country and its people.

Wira: That's why I would like to see that PTPTN (Higher Education Fund) is abolished and converted to free aid to all students. In this way, all races are helped.

You don't get ahead just pulling others down so that they cannot finish the race. You excel to compete. That's the human race.

Why choose 'mediocracy' over meritocracy?

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