In the past week, the most pressing issue in Malaysia deals with education and who should have access to it. As in any country, only the very best students coming out from their secondary education will be accepted into the tertiary system. For the last three decades, this arrangement has been tempered with a quota system that guarantees places to the indigenous Malay population; 55% of all available university places would go the Malays and 45% will be divided among the other races. As an affirmative action policy, it has served a limited purpose with a fair amount of success, namely bridging the socio-economic divide between the races. In today’s society, with the changing needs and geopolitics of the nation, maybe it’s time for a serious policy rethink.
The local media had very little else to say the whole of last week: 10A (the highest possible distinction in national-level final secondary exams) non-Malay students have had their university applications rejected. Non-Malay science students of the highest caliber, applying for seats in university to study medicine were being turned down and offered literature instead. Of the 38,000 places available in the local universities, more than 8,000 places are being withdrawn because the Malay students these spots were reserved for simply do not qualify; rather than give these places to qualified non-Malays, these spots are no longer being offered. The whole nation has been asking: why?
It’s the quota, dummy
Ministry officials had only one response: the quota system has tied their hands. This excuse is simply not good enough. It is common knowledge that non-Malay students, especially the Chinese, do far better than their Malay counterparts. Regularly scoring among the highest scores in every subject, thousands upon thousands of them are clamoring for the spots made available in local universities; for most, overseas education or private colleges are simply not an option because of the high cost involved. Knowing that the quota system is biased against them probably also spurs on the non-Malays to feverously compete against one another. In combination, these factors produce top-class students, year in, year out.
For the Malays, the story is very different. Three decades of affirmative action in virtually every imaginable field of public society has created a serious problem, a problem of complacency leading to a sharp decline in competitiveness and quality. For years, 2 or 3 distinctions in the secondary level national exams would be enough to make it to the local universities. Their non-Malay friends, even those who score 9 or 10 distinctions, have no such guarantee. Such an environment can and has produced a growth-bed of complacency – why struggle when the silver spoon can be yours with much less effort? Certainly, this quota system has produced some success; Malay students, given the chance in university, have often shone and become highly constructive members of society. But the universal truth remains in any society, any education system – put average students into the system, and, more often than not, you will get average results. All the while, Malaysia has had top-quality minds waiting on the sideline, pushed aside for the sake of “national balance” and “equity”, pushed aside because of the color of their skin.
The color of my skin
And that is where lies the weakness of race-dependent affirmative action. With race-dependent AA, even the well-off Malay will get assistance but the poverty stricken, brilliant non-Malay will not. Sensitive problems between the races have made open discussion of scrapping AA very difficult, but as the country moves into service intensive industries, it will become increasingly more difficult to ignore the amount of talent the nation is ignoring.
As an up-an-coming developing nation, Malaysia has repeatedly espoused the importance of moving into a knowledge-driven economy. Focus on service industries such as IT, banking and media is on the rise. More and more governmental resources are being pumped into these areas. With such an economy, other professionals who specialize in law, medicine and science will be needed to fulfill a complementary role. It is a terrible waste that the best candidates for these vital positions are being told that they are not wanted in the local tertiary education system. Hurt but undaunted, they will, rightly so, pursue their dreams elsewhere, in places where intellectual excellence is richly rewarded, where your only qualification for entry is your grade sheet.
Countries like Singapore, Australia, the UK and the US are prime destinations for them (or at least for those who can afford it). More likely than not, they will want to stay there once they have completed their studies, contributing to the productivity of that nation, productivity that could have been channeled into the development of Malaysia. Conscious that they have made a mistake, conscious of the fact that they need these excellent individuals to make the nation succeed, the Malaysian government will, as they are doing right now, try to woo them back.
A lost generation
Ask yourself: this is the country that denied you your chance, even though you were among the most brilliant of your generation. Will you even think of going back? Would you want your children to be subjected to the sort of discrimination that you faced?
Further reading:
Not enough qualified bumis to fill quota
A news report on the comment by the Malaysian Education Ministry Higher Education Department director Prof Dr Hassan Said who said that there were not enough Malay students of suitable quality to fill in their allocated quota. Contains links to other news reports over the issue.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2001/5/3/nation/0303univ&newspage=Search
Affirmative Action Special Report
Published by the Washington Post, the Special Report on affirmative action deals with the furor over AA in the US in the late 1990s. Concise, definitive report with complete details on all issues on both sides of the debate.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/affirm/affirm.htm
Yahoo! Listing of AA-related sites
A fairly large directory of affirmative action related websites. A wide range of opinions is available from these sites.
http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Issues_and_Causes/Affirmative_Action/
Appearing in www.renungan.com 8 May 2001
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