By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | June 02, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — The MCA’s failure to obtain overseas scholarships for 86 SPM top scorers may further hasten the brain drain of young talents, the DAP has charged.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that the party was “disappointed” with the Cabinet’s decision that the top scorers would only receive scholarships to study in local private colleges and universities despite MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lok’s recent statements that it would push for overseas scholarships to be awarded to these students.
“MCA’s failure to fulfil their own promise that the 86 SPM top scorers be given the same Public Service Department (PSD) overseas scholarships given to other top SPM scorers is not only unjust but may further hasten the brain drain of young talents. Is it fair that 300 top scorers get overseas scholarships but not the 86 who are also top scorers?
“Since Merdeka, more than two million Malaysians have migrated — a sheer loss of human talent which Malaysia can ill-afford… Failure to retain and appreciate our top scorers will only adversely impact and jeopardise efforts to have a per capita GNP of US$15,000 (RM45,000) by 2020,” Lim (picture) said in a statement today.
He also demanded that MCA, Gerakan and Barisan Nasional (BN) ministers explain why they did not dare push for the matter or reveal the full list of those who had obtained overseas scholarships.
“MCA has also failed to find a permanent solution to this annual problem which will recur again next year,” he said.
The 86 SPM top scorers who failed to qualify for this year’s PSD scholarships will be given places in local private colleges and universities, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz announced yesterday.
The move, he said, was to reduce costs. By giving out scholarships for local private colleges and universities the government will only spend RM21.6 million, as opposed to overseas scholarships which will cost RM52.1 million.
Out of the 86 students who appealed, three were Malay Bumiputeras, one Sarawak Bumiputera, 71 Chinese and 11 Indians.
PSD currently offers overseas scholarships to 1,500 students with straight 9A+ and above, 2,500 local grants to those with the minimum achievement of 8A+ and above and 8,000 local scholarships for diploma or matriculation courses to those who failed to qualify for the first two categories and others.
#1 by pulau_sibu on Thursday, 2 June 2011 - 12:07 pm
i am not questioning about this 86 cases, but about the management of scholarship in general.
it is such unfair to the public by spending so much unnecessary money in sending spm students to study overseas. who can believe that we cannot educate these students locally? the amount spent on each one overseas can probably allow us to educate 10 additional students locally. a country that can produce cars and yet we cannot produce our own undergraduate students? the persons in power should apologise and quiet.
my concerns is if these thousands of a+ students are really the best students? how can we be so boleh in producing the most number of a+ students and yet we are so backward. from past statistics, how many of these a+ students stood up compared to their peers? we should review some of the data.
the government should stop sending undergraduate students overseas. review your policy and send some of the phd students overseas. strengthen your local institutions. it is wrong to look at the outside world as a better world.
#2 by k1980 on Thursday, 2 June 2011 - 12:56 pm
//MCA’s failure to fulfil their own promise that the 86 SPM top scorers be given the same Public Service Department (PSD) overseas scholarships given to other top SPM scorers..//
You still believe in mca’s promises? Angela Yam believed in CSL’s promise and look what happened to her— banged up all for nothing
#3 by penang308 on Thursday, 2 June 2011 - 8:15 pm
We all know that there are 363 straight A+ students.
Total oversea scholarship available base on merit were 300.
Out of these 363 top scorers, 30 were awarded National scholarship, and another 51 were awarded various scholarship such as Petronas, Bank Negara, Yayasan etc… Hence, in actual fact only 282 top achiever applied for the oversea scholarship as claimed by Wee Ka Siong our Deputy Education Minister!
How come there are still 86 top students NOT RECEIVING THEIR OVERSEA SCHOLARSHIP?
Somebody must have STOLE the scholarship and SOLD IT!
#4 by pulau_sibu on Friday, 3 June 2011 - 4:51 am
I suggest the ministry of education to make public the answers for these 1500 A+ students to convince us that they are really A+ students.