KOTA KINABALU: Umno Kuala Krau Division delegate Datuk Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad has misunderstood the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and exaggerated his claim that proponents of the independent Chinese certification intend to grab power from the Malays.
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) deputy Central Women leader Glenna Wong hoped that open-minded Umno leaders could explain to their members that Chinese education and the independent school system had actually groomed many talents for the country.
Wong said Syed Ibrahim’s claim that recognizing UEC would threaten the Malays was biased, given that Chinese independent schools had contributed immensely to the country for several decades.
Although Chinese independent schools and UEC were not a part of the national education system, she said the students of independent schools were Malaysians, who would serve the country and our diverse community upon completing their studies.
Wong said Malaysian independent school students were actually very much welcomed by foreign universities, some of which even offered scholarships to facilitate their enrolment into the higher learning institutions.
“Some independent school graduates have become experts of specific fields and are employed by international organisations.”
Wong pointed out that recognizing UEC would not harm other races.
“In fact, Chinese independent schools serve as an additional platform to nurture talents in our country, including non-Chinese students.
“In Sabah, there are Malay students who have opted to enrol in Chinese independent schools and successfully completed their studies.”
Wong, who is also LDP Likas Division Women chief, said the State Government’s annual allocation to Chinese independent schools showed that the state administration recognised the contribution of Chinese independent schools to education, which the Federal Government and other states should emulate.
Despite the negative perception of some Umno delegates towards Chinese education and independent schools, Wong said there were some open-minded delegates such as Pasir Salak Umno delegate Datuk Dr Wan Norashikin Wan Noordin, who urged the government to expand the availability of Mandarin elective classes to more schools so that more national primary school pupils could learn the language.
She said being fluent in Mandarin would be a major advantage in the future as China’s economy had taken off, not to mention the signing of numerous collaboration deals between Malaysia and China recently.
“The non-Chinese will be better positioned to tap into the opportunities that arise if they have mastered Mandarin.
“I hope more open-minded Umno members, especially those from Sabah could explain this trend to their West Malaysian counterparts and that recognising UEC will not threaten the position of the Malays.”