KUCHING: It is baseless to say non-Bumiputeras are rich enough to be able to send their children to study in private or foreign universities.
Sarawak Patriots Association (SPA) chairman Datuk Lau Pang Heng, who was responding to a recent statement made by Education Minister Dr Maszlee, said it is determination that drives the non-Malays to send their children to private institutions of learning.
“Many of us have sought loans or mortgaged our houses to get money to send our children to universities.
“This is because Chinese students, even if they obtain excellent results, are not given places in local public universities,” he told New Sarawak Tribune, yesterday.
He said although Chinese children were not given the opportunity to enter public universities, their parents never complained but instead looked for ways to send their children to private and foreign universities to enable them to further their education.
“This is because the Chinese has this saying that no matter how poor we are, we need to pay special attention to educating our children. Hence, we need to source for fund because education is an investment,” he pointed out.
Lau urged Maszlee, who attempted to justify the matriculation quota, to go to the ground to learn the difficulties faced by non-Bumiputeras.
“Many Chinese parents had even sought money from loan sharks to send their children for higher education and ran into financial difficulties in the process.
“There are many non-Bumiputeras in the B40 group as well but they do not ignore education. Many non-Bumiputeras also took up distance learning to sharpen and improve their academic skills while working,” he said.
Lau added that Maszlee even mentioned that there were fewer Bumiputeras working in the private sector because of Mandarin proficiency, but that is not the case, it is because the private sector employs only those who can perform their duties competently.
“The private sector does not hire employees by race. There are many private firms in Sarawak employing Bumiputeras.
“Being fluent in Mandarin is a plus factor but is not the criteria because in the private sector, everyone communicates in either English or the local dialects,” he added.
In this Malaysia Baru as claimed by Pakatan Harapan (PH), Lau called upon the honourable minister (Maszlee) not to play racial issues in the execution of his duties.
“Let’s work towards a competent work force everyone can be proud of in the world. Finding fault with the private sector to gain political mileage is most uncalled for.
“We need to work together as Malaysians and by bringing up racial issues, we will be dividing the nation.” he said.
On May 16, Maszlee said that as the government maintains the race-based matriculation programme by 90 per cent quota for Bumiputera students, the unfair job market dominated by a particular race should be addressed too.
