I am a Malaysian. I love my country. I love our portmanteau, “Dei macha, go to the mamak shop and tapau me mee goreng spesel satu.” I am a true blue fan of our national dishes nasi lemak, roti canai, teh tarik and Neslo. In school, I mingle with my fellow Malaysians. Never once I was reminded of my race except when filling up governmental documents and after I finished SPM. The latter hit me in all its full blown blow. MY RACE MATTERS WHEN I WANT TO GET INTO MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITY, NOT MY MERIT.
We, generally accept this institutionalized racism benignly except for the annual hue and cry when SPM high achieving non Malays are not given the chance to flourish in this blessed land of ours. I absolutely hate sounding racist but in the face of gross inequality, sounding like a racist becomes inevitable.
In other countries, such as India, it is the minorities who are protected and it is topsy turvy in Malaysia. This ugly under belly of Malaysia is largely unknown internationally; foreigners only know Malaysia Truly Asia. But, the disappearance of flight MH370 punctured Malaysia’s ugly under belly and the stench emanating from it has pervaded the world over – the world has now come into the ‘in the know’ circle of Malaysia’s mediocrity which is contained in the reign of a single, unchallenged (challenged albeit lately) political party that navigated Malaysia since independence and slanting to Malays policies. CNN leh kili kili nu kilikirangge.
Let’s have a flashback folks. When Singapore was a part of the Malaysian federation, Singapore’s CM, Lee Kuan Yew, openly displayed his chagrin and disenchantment over Malay supremacy and Bumiputera policies, calling for a Malaysian Malaysia.
Then, racial riots happened in 1964 and Singapore got expelled from Malaysia. It was truly, in every sense of word, a blessing in disguise for Singapore. Under the stewardship of Lee Kuan Yew, (just to make you guys piqued about Lee Kuan Yew, Rajinikanth is a huge fan of Lee Kuan Yew) Singapore overtook Malaysia by leaps and bounds and has left us in the dust. Lee Kuan Yew was dejected when Tunku Abdul Rahman ousted Singapore but hey, who is having the last laugh now? Why Singapore made it so far in just several decades? It’s because it did not compromise education excellency and professionalism. And, Singapore is the best comparison to make with Malaysia because both are demographically lookalike albeit in different proportions of course.
This year, the JPA scholarship was accorded to 50 straight As students but it still heavily reeks of flagrant racism. Again, race has become the basal to appraise who should get the much coveted scholarship and who shan’t.
Linggeas and Naveena scored 12 A+ and they did not get the JPA scholarship. Both of them were state toppers. Out of the 50 recipients, 20 of them are Malay, 20, Chinese and 5 Indians. The numbers seem pre-fixed – they are definitely not measured upon merit. Why 10% of 50 seats were allocated for Indians while they are many Indian students who could make it to list on merit? Something is very fishy in the way the selection were made. 1Malaysia va? Appidi teriyiliye..
Both Linggeas and Naveena have a Tamil school background. There is a nagging feeling that they were turned down just because they are from Tamil schools. I am not speaking about Indian school dropouts who join gangs and resort to crime and be the bunch which rock the boat. I am speaking about a bright Indian lad and a brilliant Indian lass who showed what they are made of – sublime material. The claim that Indian inmates makeup 60% of the prison population is always brought up when talking about what’s bugging Malaysia and the Indian community here. But, when Indians excel, they are denied opportunities to prove their capacity and capability and then be labelled unfairly.
The government says that the selection is purely based on merit but is their talk walking?
Blogger Dhanyaraam, a MIC blogger, cited the below. He came up with this list of JPA scholarship recipients which has no source:
JPA offered 50 national scholarships for 50 students who obtained all A+ in exam. Which means 50 top students (based on merit) out of 405 students will be awarded this scholarship.
Note : Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia is the one who will pass top 50 students list to JPA.
Who are the 50 national scholarship recipients?
AHMAD AYYASH B AMINUDDIN
ANIS SYAHIRAH BINTI CHE HARUN
ARWIN LASHAWN ANAK KENDARY
BEN YAP
CHARYL LEE YI XUAN
CHEW ZUAN YI
CHONG XUI TING
CHUA PEI RONG
CHUNG LE JUN
DANIAL IMRAN BIN AZMI
DESMOND CHAI WEI HAO
ESTHER KOK SOOK KUAN
FARAH BINTI MOHD ZAKI
FATIN FARHANA BINTI ALI BADRON
FRANCIS MOH KIM CAI
HAEMISH SUBHASH
IMRAN BIN ANOAR
JEGADESHWARAN A/L C GANDHI
JOYCE LIM TAU SHIN
JUSTIN LIM KAI ZE
KHAIRUL FIKRI BIN MOHD YUSOF
KOH VEE LEE
KRISTEN LIM YEUNG LYN
LEE QAO MINN
LEONG KAR YAN
LIEW JIN HUA
LIM JING YI
MITRRAH A/P GOBINATH
MOHAMAD AKMAL HAKIM BIN AZIZ
MOHAMAD ILIYA HAZIQ BIN MOHAMAD LOKMAN
NICOLE ANN MATHEWS
NOR ZAIMIN NADHIRAH BINTI AMIN
NUR AIN SYAFIQAH BINTI ABDUL HALIM
NUR SABRINA BINTI BABE AZAMAN
NUR SAKINAH FIKRIAH BINTI AZMI
NURFARHANI IRFAN BINTI NOR AZMI
NURHIJJAH BINTI MAHYUDIN
NURUL IZZATY BINTI MOHD KAMAL
ONG ZHEN LING
ROSALYN CHAN LI ZHEN
SAHIB SINGH A/L SARBJIT SINGH
SARAH BINTI ZULKIFLI
SITI AISHAH BINTI MOHD KHAIRI
TAN CHEOW LIN
THIVYA DHARSHINI A/P V VADIVELOO
WILSON WONG ZI XUAN
WONG JECINN
WONG JEYINN
WONG MING HUEY
YUHANIZ BINTI ABDUL MALIK30 Non-Malays Recipients
5 Indians and 25 chinese students received this scholarship despite the fact that this selection are based on MERIT.. yeah MERIT.. freaking MERIT!!
Facts : 10% of the scholarship receivers are Indians , 50 % are Chinese and 40% are Malays.
Bursary KPM ditawarkan secara automatik kepada pelajar-pelajar cemerlang lepasan Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) Tahun 2013 yang mendapat keputusan cemerlang 9A+ dan ke atas bagi mengikuti pengajian peringkat persediaan DI DALAM NEGARA SAHAJA – Bursary SPM. But, they are not given the bursary – they are merely eligible to apply which is prone to rejection. This is a pacifier of sorts.
Lee Kuan Yew had prophesied that if Malaysia continues to favour one race at the cost of education standards, the country will rot away. The rot has already set in – Malaysia is now afflicted by chronic brain drain. Non Malays especially are leaving this forsaken land by the droves, driven by the logic, “Why stay in my country which treats me like second class citizens when the world welcomes me with open arms?” Can anyone blame them?
The spurning of Linggeas and Naveena is egregious. Gross discrimination with impunity. What’s the use in making a big deal of a letter of a clueless 15 year old from France that expressed admiration for one of our minister when our own dexterous kids at home get treated like cow dung. Yes, cow dung indeed; this cow dung will fuel the powerhouse of Singapore or any other countries that welcome the usefulness of them. These two kids will somehow find their way on top elsewhere. With Vision 2020 being just 6 years away, it is indeed at Malaysia’s cost. Malaysian leaders, tepuk dada, tanya selera.
I shall leave you all with a quote from a 2013 SPM top scorer who was denied the JPA scholarship:
“I hope there won’t be columns that segregate us into races in all kind of application forms and that transparency is applied in the qualifications systems and merit system for choosing of the recipients of the PBN scholarship. Utter frustration and disappointment engulfed me when I didn’t get what I deserve.”
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