Penang MCA has criticised the Pakatan Harapan administration, for supposedly only fulfilling only 40 percent of its election manifesto, by staging a mock funeral service to ‘mourn’ the passing of the 100-day mark.
Clad in black, the chiefs of 10 state MCA divisions gathered on Saturday for a mock candlelight memorial service to mark Harapan’s apparent failure to keep their election pledges.
In a statement, state party chief Tan Chuan Hong said the coalition had let those who voted for them down – particularly on the issue of recognising the United Examination Certificate (UEC) of independent Chinese high schools.
"To the rakyat, it is clear that there is no hope in the current government," he said, pointing out that in the struggle to get UEC recognised, "a mile has become 500 miles.”
"We expect that in five years, this promise will be hard to deliver, and it will inconvenience the Chinese voters who voted Harapan in GE14."
Tan said this in reference to Education Minister Maszlee Malik previously stating that a decision on UEC recognition would only be made after a detailed study within five years.
He added that Harapan had also reneged on its promise to allocate funds for the building and management of Chinese vernacular schools prior to the election.
"The education minister said Harapan cannot provide funds for the management of private schools, and has only allocated money for development.
"But the Bagan MP cum Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had said after a change of government, private schools will get a systematic allocation of funds.
"Why is it until now, DAP is not bold enough to pressure the Harapan government to provide management funds to UEC schools?" he asked.
Malaysiakini's tracker of Harapan’s election pledges shows their final score as two fulfilled promises, five partially fulfilled and three in progress after its first 100 days in office.
Read more: What's the progress of Harapan's 100-day pledges?
The promise to recognise the UEC was not part of Harapan's 100-day manifesto, but instead part of its five-year plan.
‘Students cannot get into uni’
In his statement, Tan also alleged that students with excellent examination results are being kept out of local universities.
"Worse still, they were made fun of, as Harapan representatives say not all students who score straight As are accepted into the faculty of their choice,” he claimed.
Speaking on the 100-day milestone yesterday, Maszlee defended his record, saying that his ministry had in fact implemented 43 education initiatives in 100 days.
These include removing the names of National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) borrowers from the Immigration Department’s blacklist, giving more autonomy to institutions of higher learning, and agreeing to build six new Chinese national-type schools.
