YOURSAY | ‘What crime is it to suggest a more equitable education policy?’
Police probing Umany over call to abolish matriculation
Cynic: Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) pushing for a single examination for varsity entrance is not something to make a police report over.
It is an educated opinion of intelligent young minds that seek fairness and transparency in tertiary education.
Umany is not a group of politicians spouting racial and religious rhetoric. As such, their opinion should be welcomed rather than censured.
Matriculation is just coursework. One can finish the coursework satisfactorily and simply become eligible for university.
On the other hand, STPM involves hours of study, research and revision, burning the midnight oil far into the wee hours of the morning.
To aver that matriculation and STPM are equal is comparing apples to oranges.
Lodging police reports and urging the authorities to act against the honest and righteous opinion of Umany is nothing short of asinine behaviour.
And should the police choose to act on these reports, their behaviour is even worse.
The youth are the leaders of tomorrow. Their opinion counts.
BlackHornet3412: What crime is it to suggest a more equitable education policy?
Ketuanan, supremacism, and apartheid – aren’t these altogether the glaring crimes against humanity?
Racial discrimination in the guise of affirmative action is nothing but pure apartheid and a crime indeed.
The government promised a need-based affirmative policy, but it’s just another election lie.
Fools seldom differ: Indeed. What’s so criminal about having a just and fair examination system to improve and enhance the quality of our students?
Having an educated younger generation is critical to the continuous progress and economic development of our country.
Notwithstanding, Malaysia’s international standing is far behind many of our neighbours.
We are in a situation of regression. Threatening and intimidating with a police report is a cowardly act to cover the actual situation of the predicaments.
Mazhilamani: I don’t normally comment on matters like this, but I think this investigation into a statement made by Umany (through its president, Tang Yi Ze) is outrageously uncalled for.
Many politicians have made unthinkable and overly sensitive remarks, as recently by PAS, that the Chinese are likely to take over everything that once belonged to the Malays.
Why was no probe made against the uncouth leader, who could have burst the racial seam?
These young people want to express their views. I believe university is a place to discover your true self, and that needs expression in different modes.
I’m sure some of the lecturers and professors share their thoughts and sentiments.
I hope the ministers related to education are not behind this move. It is not just the students affected by matriculation, but also students vying for seats for specialised courses; many Malay students are also equally affected.
The question to be asked is whether STPM or matriculation is more difficult to pass. Who is or are the examination board that sets the examination papers?
In the past, the Senior Cambridge and High School Certificate examination papers came from London.
Who marks the papers now, especially the matriculation papers?
Koel: “The statement was found to have the potential to create negative perceptions of the national education system, incite public dissatisfaction, and cause public anxiety.”
As with previous cases, a lack of accountability and transparency in selection processes in public education is at the heart of negative perceptions and public anxiety.
So, does this mean that all members of the public should lodge reports against public education and the Higher Education Ministry because of this?
This is a sign of leadership failure in education to stifle discussions on matters that affect the advancement of the nation.
Instead of improving matters in public education, the university and the Higher Education Ministry stand by to allow such cowardly intimidation.
Those who preach human rights, freedom of speech, the need for equity and equality in education need to stand up against this intimidation of youths asking for justice in education.
Where are the civil society organisations, the NGOs, the political parties that are vocal on these issues? Time to step up and speak up.
Open mind: Making an opinion or statement can elicit police reports citing public dissatisfaction, negative perception of the national education system, and cause public anxiety.
This is unbelievable. Where is freedom of speech or expression?
PurpleCat9452: Police should investigate “the underlying basis” of the negative perceptions of the national education system, which indeed will incite public dissatisfaction and cause public anxiety – as highlighted in the five police reports.
Police are expected to investigate and verify whether the claim that “matriculation is an easy backdoor into university” is true.
The investigation should also reveal how matriculation and STPM students are assessed, show actual data, and whether both systems apply the same merit-based criteria as claimed by all the related parties.
If the investigation finds any of the claims to be false, action must be taken against those who spread misinformation or lodge baseless police reports.
Cogito Ergo Sum: This seems to be a political directive rather than an initiative by the police.
Since police reports have been lodged, the police are bound by procedure to investigate.
Whether they find anything substantive to charge individuals depends a lot on the lenses through which they see the contents of the reports.
Common sense will prevail, and we have an excellent new Criminal Investigation Department chief, M Kumar.
Falcon: My only humble advice to all parties is, please do not ramp up the anger, hate, bullying, disillusionment, disappointment, a sense of betrayal and sell out of accountability, justice and integrity.
Or the continued weaponising of police reports to shut down dissent or pertinent questions.
Eventually, it will ruin true democracy and the dreams of our founders. Moderation was the foundation of Malaysia’s independence.
RR: Umany expressed that Malaysia should adhere to an equitable meritocratic educational system for the good of the future.
The matriculation system was introduced for weak students to catch up with others about 50 years ago.
But now there is a good balance amongst all Malaysians in the educational phase.
Therefore, it is vital now for the government to consider bringing in meritocracy and an equitable single-entry qualification for all students to public universities so that we will have highly competent leaders in all sectors of the economy and civil service in this competitive world.
So, it is not a matter for the police to investigate, but for the Higher Education Ministry to study Umany’s proposal for the good of our country.
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