MCA president Wee Ka Siong has called on Universiti Malaya (UM) to provide proper information to disprove his claims of inequality in UM’s dual admissions process.
Last Friday, UM vice-chancellor Noor Azuan Abu Osman dismissed Wee’s allegation and said the data the latter cited regarding increased undergraduate admissions through the “Satu” open channel from 2018 to 2022 was “misleading”.
In a Facebook video today, Wee said his data was derived from UM’s annual report and parliamentary replies by the higher education minister.
“I’m disappointed that the vice-chancellor did not address my questions,” said Wee.
“If you say I do not have accurate data, then provide it. It is as simple as that,” he said.
Wee noted that fees for UM’s bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (MBBS) programme via the Satu route was RM500,000 for the 2025/2026 intake, a 67% increase from RM300,000 last year.
The MBBS course only costs about RM15,000 annually for the five academic years if students are selected through the UPUOnline process, he added.
In his video, Wee claimed to have evidence that a top-performing student, who was denied entry to UM’s MBBS programme through the UPUOnline system, was then offered a place via the Satu system.
“I challenge the university to provide an answer on whether students who are unable to get a place through the UPUOnline system are then offered places through Satu,” he said.
On Tuesday, MCA called for a suspension of UM’s MBBS intake for the 2025/2026 session until the higher education ministry reviews its admissions mechanism.
Wee launched a position paper by MCA on the matter in which the party said the apparent selectiveness in UM’s student admissions raised questions about meritocracy in the process.
In the paper, MCA said the availability of the two parallel channels reinforced inequality as lower-income students could only apply via UPU, while those with more funds could afford Satu’s higher fees.
