KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — Top Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) scorer Edward Wong Yi Xian has voiced heartbreak after being rejected by Universiti Malaya (UM) for its Accounting course despite achieving near-perfect results, The Star reported.
The 20-year-old from Bukit Mertajam, who scored a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.0, straight A’s in all subjects and 9.9 out of 10 for co-curricular activities — giving him a merit score of 99.9 per cent — said all six of his applications through the Unit Pusat Universiti (UPU) were rejected without interview.
Instead, Wong was offered a place in Management at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), his fifth choice.
“When I entered Form Six, I had only one dream — to be accepted into UM’s Accounting programme. I poured in all my energy, time and effort, fighting through the most challenging syllabus in the country. I never gave up because I believed that if we gave our all, the results would come,” he said at a press conference at Wisma MCA yesterday.
He added that while UM later adjusted its entry requirements for the programme, which he met, his application was still rejected.
“In the end, the four leading universities did not offer me Accounting. I was only given Management at USM — not the path I had dedicated myself to,” Wong was quoted as saying.
He also claimed that some peers with slightly lower scores managed to secure places at UM, though not necessarily in their desired programmes.
His father, Wong Hooi Yik, 48, who works in the semiconductor industry, said his son’s near-perfect score should have guaranteed fair consideration, adding that the family is now banking on the appeal process, which remains open until September 14.
MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, who highlighted the case, said it revealed serious flaws in the public university admissions system.
He pointed out that Wong was offered UM’s Accounting course under the open admission channel known as Saluran Terbuka Universiti Awam (SATU) on July 23 — but with tuition fees of RM83,800 compared with about RM8,000 under UPU.
“This doesn’t make sense. Wong should have been admitted under UPU with his 99.9 per cent overall score. Yet he was rejected there but accepted under SATU, where the fees are more than 10 times higher. Does this not render UPU meaningless?” Wee was quoted as saying.
Wee argued that the SATU system, which operates as a commercial pathway, was unfair to students from lower- and middle-income families, and urged the government to restore confidence in the admissions process.
He said he would raise the matter with Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir and called on UM to explain why Wong was rejected under UPU but offered a place under SATU.
