KUCHING: Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh has expressed disappointment over the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) intention of not recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
He said it is rather unbecoming for the Education Minister to issue such a sweeping statement with regard to the issue of UEC recognition without being armed with convincing arguments or any explanations.
“It should not be just a simple answer – ‘no plan to recognise UEC’ from a minister,” he said in a statement.
He further said when faced with difficult issues such as the recognition of UEC, all parties should be prepared to sit down quietly and rationally to resolve issues through the spirit of cooperation and goodwill.
“Let the public know why it is that certain policies are not fair or unjust and how some policies will adversely affect the interests of certain communities and how to work for certain compromises or possible adjustments and suitable changes.
“1This should be the modus operandi, the working style of any minister in the government if it can hope to bring about more unity amongst the people and be more durable and lasting for the unity government,” he said.
In the recently concluded 15th general election, he added, the Malaysian Chinese community had gone all out to give overwhelming support to Democratic Action Party (DAP), an estimated of up to some 90 per cent of the Chinese voters voted for DAP.
“It is therefore time for DAP to provide meaningful leadership to the Malaysian Chinese and to be continually responsive to the needs of the community.
“DAP ought to have a special responsibility in speaking out on behalf of the legitimate concerns and interests of the some seven million or more Malaysian Chinese in this country.
“It is therefore hoped that DAP can be bold and frank spokesmen for the Malaysian Chinese community, particularly when it comes to the long standing issue of UEC recognition,” he said.
After all, he said DAP or Pakatan Harapan (PH) had pledged to the people in the election manifesto time and again that their immediate task in coming to power is to recognise UEC.
“DAP must therefore bear the burden and responsibility to speak out and act on behalf of the Malaysian Chinese community when it comes to the issue of UEC recognition,” he said.
