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Opposition to Selangor MB's proposal highlights racial divide in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: A proposal to open the doors of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) to non-bumiputeras has sparked fierce criticism, protests and even a rebuke from the Malaysian government.

The suggestion that UiTM set aside 10 per cent of its places for non-bumiputeras, which came from Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, gave rise to cries of betrayal.

On Tuesday, about 5,000 students from the university took to the streets and marched to Tan Sri Abdul Khalid's office in Shah Alam, waving placards that said 'Do not seize our rights' and 'Save UiTM'.

The front pages of Malaysia's Malay-language dailies Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian headlined the fierce opposition to his proposal.

Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin said the suggestion was an insult to Malays, reported Berita Harian Malaysia.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi also ticked off Mr Abdul Khalid, but more for speaking outside his jurisdiction than on the racial issue.

'He has no power to do that,' Datuk Seri Abdullah was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

'Matters related to (student) intake are under the jurisdiction of higher educational institutions.'

But the strongest words came from the university's vice-chancellor, Professor Ibrahim Abu Shah, who warned those involved not to raise the issue again as about 120,000 UiTM students and 350,000 of its alumni were prepared to stage a nationwide protest, reported the New Straits Times.

The UiTM traces its roots to the Institut Teknologi Mara, which was set up in 1967 by then-prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, who wanted to raise the socio-economic status of bumiputeras, reported the New Straits Times.

The institute, which was upgraded to university status in 1996 and renamed UiTM in 1999, aimed to churn out more bumiputera professionals. Hence its bumiputera-only policy.

Mara, which stands for Majlis Amanah Rakyat (People's Trust Council), is a government agency formed in 1966 to help bumiputeras in the areas of business and industry to lift them out of poverty.

Prof Ibrahim, who was speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, felt that Mr Abdul Khalid's statement was politically motivated, to garner support from non-Malays and to show that the opposition wanted to help them.

He also rejected Mr Abdul Khalid's reason for his suggestion: to make UiTM students more multiracial-society-friendly.

The Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau quoted the professor as saying that 12 per cent of UiTM's academic staff were non-bumiputeras, adding that the students had high respect for other races.

The UiTM episode reveals the increasingly tense race relations in Malaysia, with minority communities, championed by the opposition alliance, wanting more equal rights, and the bumiputeras, who are mostly Malays, guarding their rights and privileges jealously.

Yesterday, Bernama reported that Mr Abdul Khalid had said his comments were quoted out of context.

He said the statement, which he claimed was not the stand of the opposition, was made in reply to a question from the media about admission of non-bumiputera and foreign students for UiTM.

But when asked whether he would apologise for his statement, he said: 'No...This is not a question of apologising or not, but to clarify an issue which has been politicised by certain quarters.'

Race-based quotas still controversial

MALAYS form 60 per cent of Malaysia's population, but are under-represented in public and private institutions of higher learning (IHLs), said the vice-chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Professor Ibrahim Abu Shah. He said that Malays made up just 35 per cent of the total intake for higher education in IHLs.

'The majority of students in critical fields like accounting and pharmacy in public IHLs are non-Malays and, in private IHLs, 90 per cent are non-Malays,' he was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times. 'Nobody should begrudge UiTM as the only public university for bumiputeras.'

UiTM's pro-chancellor Arshad Ayub said that UiTM was set up in accordance with the New Economic Policy (NEP) to eradicate poverty and restructure society. 'Until we really feel comfortable that we have achieved what the NEP sets out to do, UiTM should not be opened to non-bumiputeras.'

The Malaysian government relied on racial quotas in its other public universities to ensure more bumiputeras obtain tertiary qualifications.

But this meant that students entering many of these universities did so with below-average scores, giving rise to jobless graduates. It created a brain drain: Well-qualified minority students unable to obtain places went overseas.

Thus, in 2001, then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad did away with the race-based quota systems.

But to qualify for public universities, students must pass the Malaysian Higher School Certificate (STPM) or the Education Ministry's matriculation programmes. The facts that the matriculation programmes set aside 90 per cent of the places for bumiputera students and that their exams are deemed easier than the STPM are still a source of contention.

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