YOURSAY | ‘Let’s inculcate nation-building values rather than keep talking about race…’

Umno veep cautions Maszlee on listening to DAP's matriculation feedback

The Wakandan: Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin is attempting to put up an intellectual argument that the matriculation policy is meant to rectify the racial gap and that education is not just about excellence.

He should be an education minister then and tell those universities and colleges that they should not put up the word “excellence” in their mission and vision statements.

He also made an assumption that DAP would keep silent if non-bumiputera were urged to fill up the uniformed services. His is as much a political speech as anybody else, with arguments featuring many holes.

Our education policy, as far as racial quota is concerned, should go into review. Affirmative action should not go on indefinitely because then we are churning out low-quality, below-par graduates who would be our professionals.

Khaled should understand that lowering the standards of our universities with mediocre students taking up demanding professional courses will only put our country in a terribly dangerous situation and direction.

If we do not make the best use of our brains, how are we going to move forward and be at par internationally with countries like Japan, South Korea or even Singapore?

In helping the weak students because you want to bridge the racial gap, it must not be at the expense of the country’s brightest, because our future depends on them rather than the academically weak ones.

Change for the Better: And Education Minister Maszlee Malik should listen to Khaled? There’s a joke if I ever heard one.

There was absolutely zero rationale in the education policies of the BN government. Just look at the poor quality of our human capital, their poor critical thinking skills, their work ethic, their dependency on rote learning, the brain drain that we have endured under BN, and the number of false degrees and qualifications that politicians, in particular, appear to have acquired.

Every day, we deal with the incompetence of our nation thanks to the education policies of the past.

I am not saying that Maszlee has it all right but surely Khaled’s and BN's advice is certainly not needed.

Let's get our nation thinking and working, and inculcate values that will build this nation rather than keep talking of race and the bogey of inequality to serve your political agenda.

Let Malays stand proud and tall on their merits, rather than keep telling them that they need crutches.

Malaysian-United: Khaled said, "Therefore, to me, DAP Youth's desire for the government to evaluate students for entry into university based on the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) system clearly proves their thinking and desire for absolute equality."

What does he mean by "absolute equality”? It should be “merit”.

Even if DAP is asking for equality, what is wrong with that? You mean after 62 years of unequal treatment between the races, you still demand inequality?

If you don't use CGPA scores as the basis for admission into universities, then what's the point of having examinations and the scoring system?

Hello: Now who is coming out with empty, confusing rhetoric? What is Khaled talking about when he says education is not about academic merit, but concerns demography that forms a complex social conundrum?

He is sputtering racism wrapped in the guise of an education debate.

Oldtimer: Khaled has absolutely no idea about education, and the international competition in education and progress in general.

Khaled, if you want to remain a ‘katak di bawah tempurung’ (ignorant), please do so. But don’t drag the rest of Malaysians down with you.

Flabber Pro: Khaled's opinion should be muted as it fans racism. If Maszlee were to heed his suggestion, then our country will not be able to progress forward.

I am glad DAP Youth is able to suggest a progressive stance for the Education Ministry, as opposed to Khaled who is all about the races. This kind of thinking by Khaled and his cohort will certainly stunt the growth of our nation.

Drngsc: Dear Maszlee and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamd, please ignore the minority who wish to hold Malaysia back. This minority is loud and vocal, led by Umno and PAS. Ignore them.

For them, everything in Malaysia is race-based. That is why they lost. Let Malaysia move forward, not backward.

Anonymous_1399778124: Let's face it, the argument for merging matriculation and STPM syllabi is not so much about quotas as it is about raising standards and getting the best and our brightest, including the Malays, into our universities.

Consequently, it is about feeding our universities with the kind of high-calibre students who will compete to be world-class.

People like Khaled wants a different standard, a lower standard, a dubious matriculation class where incoming students and ensuing graduates will forever be consigned to the heaps among the flotsam and jetsam of the uncompetitive classes in the world.

Telling them that they do not have to compete because there is an inside track for admission to our universities is an admission that the STPM is too tough, that they aren't competitive enough to succeed, that they are naturally inferior.

Come on, Khaled. Look at the damage US President Donald Trump is doing to the global economy with his brand of myopic economics and self-destructive policies.

Trump wasn't thinking deeply enough - if he was thinking at all - when he launched into his irrational economics of bigotry.

And now, Khaled, you want to out-Trump Trump with your “divide and perish” proposals. Thank God, you aren't our prime minister.

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