OF SCHOLARSHIP AND RACE BASED QUOTA

Najib is crossing the red line on the sand when he suggested the idea of giving scholarship based on merit alone, thus scrapping the race-based quota system that favoured the Bumiputras.

I am sure that he is currently stepping on a lot of toes among his ruling party members, UMNO for proposing the idea. In fact, he might be called a traitor by his own race, just like Anwar when Anwar proposed the same idea himself.

So far, none of the top UMNO members say a thing about his proposal. His arch nemesis, Anwar has accused him of being a copy cat, hijacking the idea that has been mooted by Pakatan Rakyat under their Ketuanan Rakyat concept.

I deeply understand the frustration of the non Bumis for voicing out their disagreement about the racce-based scholarship awards.

Just imagine, a form 5 Indian student, giving his heart and soul to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor, burning the midnight oil for 2 years and regularly saying no to the pleasures that his peers are enjoying just because he wants to concentrate on his study.

Then, after scoring straight As in his SPM, only to be denied the scholarship to study abroad just because of the race difference!

I still remembered when I was interviewed by Yayasan Sarawak to do my degree at a local university with full scholarship after finishing my Form 6.

One of the interviewer was shocked to see my SPM results and utterred, 'Sayang, kenapa tak minta biasiswa JPA untuk study overseas?'. I just smiled and did not reply him (I got the scholarship to do my dengree anyway).

What he did not know was I applied for all the openings that I could think of; JPA scholarships, MARA, Matriculation programs etc.

The answers were always 'no'.

To my frustration and anger, some of my Bumi friends whom results were worst off than mine were offered full scholarships to study abroad at the university of their choices.

I felt betrayed.

After working my hearts out non stop for 2 years, the ending was just plain painful.

I did not blame my friends for getting the scholarships. I blamed the unfair system, that, to this day, I really do not understand and accept.

My anger and frustration have long been buried inside me, under all the other challenges that life has thrown towards me and my family.

I learned not to rely on government when it comes to financing one's education let alone trusting the words of a politician whom real interest, to me, is the pure survival of his job.

My wife and I are saving money for our children's education, eager and hard-learned not to repeat the same mistake that happened to me.

So, when Najib announced the scrapping of race-based quota system for government scholarships, I digest the news with plenty of salt.

However, for the sake of other poor but hardworking and bright non Bumi students, I hope I am wrong on this.

Let's see how it goes from here. Will Najib take the hard walk of his talk?

Lo