Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Scholarship Quotas

Having written on "Scholarship Reforms" and "Scholarship Heartbreaks", I think it's time to have a look at one of the most thorny and sensitive issues with regards to scholarships in Malaysia. Is there a quota, hidden or otherwise, placed on bumiputera and non-bumiputera students in the award of scholarships?

If I don't remember wrongly, Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) has previously denied such "formal" quotas being in existence. However, with the recent release of statistics by Datuk Dr Abdullah Mat Zin, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in Parliament a few days ago, and published in Sin Chew Jit Poh, it has become crystal clear that there exists a specific quota on bumiputera and non-bumiputera receipients of JPA scholarships.

As the table below clearly shows, JPA has made it a specific point to award 80% of overseas scholarships to bumiputera students and the balance 20% to non-bumiputera students every years since 2000. Nothing was disclosed prior to that year.


In addition, for local undergraduate scholarships, JPA has clearly allocated 30% to non-bumiputeras, and the balance 70% reserved for bumiputeras. This is shown in the table below.


The question then is, is this a just and equitable distribution of scholarships to young Malaysians?

Personally, I'm a firm believer of affirmative action, even racially based ones under certain circumstances. However, to have between 70-80% of scholarship awards reserved for a particular ethnic group which constitutes approximately 65.9% of the population is to me grossly unjust. The scholarship distribution ratio in this situation appears to be a case of tyranny by the ethnic majority under the guise of ethnic-based affirmative action.

To me, an effective ethnic-based affirmative action policy must be balanced between providing a policy advantage to the disadvantaged group, while at the same time provide elements of incentives. That way, receipients of affirmative action policies will continue to have strong incentives to pursue excellence.

However, in our current case, it appears that the policy advantage provided is so overwhelming that the incentives for excellence are substantially (if not totally) diluted. The gap of standards between the bottom 5% bumiputeras and the bottom 5% non-bumiputeras receipients of the scholarships will be so huge, such that the long term objectives of the affirmative action policies are defeated.

Assistance must be given to bumiputeras, who with certain additional policy assistance as well as hardwork and dedication, are able to make the cut. However, such "additional assistance", if provided to under-achievers of whatever ethnic group, will just be a simple case of flushing limited and valuable public funds down the toilet bowl.

Lest my opinions be construed as seeking to eliminate the quotas altogether, I shall propose here, an alternative ethnic-based affirmative action steps and policy.
  1. Scholarship awards should be evaluated totally based on merit, without first taking into consideration ethnic groups. Currently, it appears quite obvious that the number of scholarships to be awarded to bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras are decided up front, and candidates of the respective ethnic groups are evaluated within the groups to fill the available pre-determined slots.

  2. There should however, be a minimum, say 30%, of scholarships to be awarded to Bumiputera students. I use 30% as a convenient figure, because that's the minimum wealth distribution model which our National Economic Policy is seeking to achieve in the 9th Malaysian Plan (and the ones before that).

  3. In the event that the evaluation based on (1) above, produces only say 25% of the proposed scholarship holders comprising of bumiputeras, then the next 5% of bumiputeras shall be offered scholarships.

  4. However, in the event that the evaluation based on (1) above results in 50% of the scholars being bumiputeras, then there will be no necessity for the affirmative action policies to kick in.
The policy should similarly be made applicable specifically to the Indian community, to ensure that they enjoy an equitable distribution as well. Hence, for example, while they constitute 7.5% of the population, possibly a 3.5% quota should be set as reserved for them.

Such a system will be beneficial to all ethnic groups for several reasons.
  1. The system will provide a sense of justice to Malaysians of all races for the scholarships are not awarded to fill availability pre-alloted to particular ethnic groups, irrespective of changes in social circumstances.

  2. In the event that a particular ethnic group performs too poorly, it makes equitable sense for the ethnic group to be given additional policy assistance. Bumiputeras will hence be "protected" in that perspective, and yet at the same time, the advantage does not significantly eliminate the incentives necessary to pursue academic excellence.

  3. However, in the event whereby the "disadvantaged" ethnic group has clearly advanced its well-being and demonstrated an ability to compete on equal footing, the affirmative action policy is automatically made obsolete without a necessity of having to make subjective judgements of "readiness" to compete. For instance, once a merit-based evaluation produced 50% bumiputera scholars, then the 30% quota is automatically made obsolete. The crutches, which are often difficult to discard, can hence be transparently and justifiably removed without even a need to revise government policy.
The above recommendations is clearly in line with what the current Government is seeking to achieve in the 9th Malaysia Plan (9MP) which also emphasized the 10 guiding principles of Islam Hadhari, which includes amongst others:
  • A just and trustworthy government;
  • Free and liberated people;
  • A rigorous pursuit and mastery of knowledge;
  • Balanced and comprehensive economic development;
  • A good quality of life for the people;
  • Protection of the rights of minority groups and women;
  • Cultural and moral integrity;
It is hence, of great importance for the Prime Minister, the Government and its relevant authorities to reform its current scholarship policies which are clearly in breach of the above principles to ensure that not only the economic objectives of the 9MP are met, but also the moral and ethical ones.


Footnote: While I feel very strongly with regards to the above topic, I actually had to think twice about publishing this blog post on this thorny issue. As a sensitive issue, more often than not, it'll raise debates and comments which are inconsiderate, racially-biased and even irrational, driven by unmitigated emotions under the anonymity of the Internet. Hence, I'd like to implore on readers out there to please comment with thought, reason, maturity and responsibility to demonstrate that we can deal with such issues without being prejudiced and destructive.

113 comments:

Anonymous said...

While the efforts and recommendations by Tony should be commended, trying to alter a policy that has been deeply entrenched within the Malaysian society, especially the Bumi, is akin to trying to move a mountain by an old man. The mountain just wouldn't budge. We cannot change a policy in a day or two.

As the next GE comes nearer and nearer each day, the government will try to appease the MAJORITY as much as possible to sustain their 'rice bowls'. From my point of view, when the next UPU results are released in a couple of months for public U applicants, most of the successful or rather, chosen ones are from the East Coast states like Kelantan and Terengganu. Here is the incentive works. In most cases, voters are more likely to support political candidates and policies that provide them with net personal benefits. Conversely, they will tend to oppose political options when the personal costs are high relative to the benefits provided.
That means, the people will choose the most benificial option.
(No offense. Just a little bit of sarcastic sentences...). Do you guys still remember the 'Promised University' in Pengkalan Pasir by-election in Kelantan?

Anonymous said...

Thanks Tony for the update. Do you know that it is even worse at postgraduate levelUSM ASTS/ASHES 2001-2004. Anyone have data for other local public universities. Let's put it here.

Anonymous said...

To add on what "psd my foot" just said, do check out on the comment given by A non bumi ASTS recipient posted at this blog some time ago.

Anonymous said...

I think its very clear that there is a quota which is grossly unfair...can the blog owners kindly add statistic for petronas and telekom malaysia scholarship too? ...from anecdotal evidence, petronas seems to be more fair while telekom, worst, in the scholaship allocation.

Anonymous said...

i have very little respect for petronas scholars. i know too many recipients who should never have been given these privileges. i personally know quite a few who were given full scholarships to 2nd-tier UK universities but yet was not able to even pass at the undergrad level. and subsequently having to come back with nothing. it is that sad.

Anonymous said...

I knew of a petronas scholars who failed in his first year undergrad in an australian uni.

Anonymous said...

Tony,
Do you know that there is the so call token JPA scholarships given to top gov. servants?

Anonymous said...

Let me clarify on the 'token JPA scholarship to top gov servant' as mentioned above. Yes, JPA did have the 'in-service scholarship' for government servants; which include bumi, non-bumi, to local and overseas universities (for the post-SPM scholarship, the conotation is pre-service scholarship). The scholarship is open to all (not only to top officer) provided that the candidate fulfill the requirement. For example, you can go to UPM (engineering, biotechnololy department) and ask some of the young (fresh Ph.D) lecturers, you can easily get a bunch of non-bumi graduated from Imperial, Oxford, Cambridge.
I think the question posted here is the 'fairness' - equal opportunity to all qualified candidate to pursue their education.

Anonymous said...

Yes if you are qualified you should be given as reward for your contribution as a gov servant.

But the question is:
1. You only got 4-5 As in SPM?
2. You were awarded an overseas scholarship?
3. Financially you are rich as a foreign diplomat?

Does the above justified for overseas scholarship by using tax payer money?

Anonymous said...

Tony, like you, I am also a former ASEAN scholar who has returned to Malaysia. And, yes, as highlighted by Oon Yeoh many times, there are not many like us.

Mnay things recently, especially since after Abdullah took over, (like the above you've posted above) have made me doubt whether my decision to be back in KL was the correct one.

From my own brief research, every year through their ASEAN scholarship, Singapore easily grabbed at least 75% of our top cream of each cohort. 25% will probably continue their tertiary education overseas (out of Singapore) after finishing their A-level. The remaining 50% continue their education in Singapore and most likely will stay and settle down in Singapore. And only probably fewer than 1% actually come back to Malaysia after finishing their tertiary education.

I won't be surprised at all this brain-drain. Does Malaysia have any hope at all?

Have you regretted coming back to Malaysia?

But since your company is listed in SESDAQ, I guess you always have the choice to station permanently in Singapore if things grows worse. For me, I'll probably start looking to get a job in Singapore.

Anonymous said...

Tony, like you, I am also a former ASEAN scholar who has returned to Malaysia. And, yes, as highlighted by Oon Yeoh many times, there are not many like us.

Mnay things recently, especially since after Abdullah took over, (like the above you've posted above) have made me doubt whether my decision to be back in KL was the correct one.

From my own brief research, every year through their ASEAN scholarship, Singapore easily grabbed at least 75% of our top cream of each cohort. 25% will probably continue their tertiary education overseas (out of Singapore) after finishing their A-level. The remaining 50% continue their education in Singapore and most likely will stay and settle down in Singapore. And only probably fewer than 1% actually come back to Malaysia after finishing their tertiary education.

I won't be surprised at all this brain-drain. Does Malaysia have any hope at all?

Have you regretted coming back to Malaysia?

But since your company is listed in SESDAQ, I guess you always have the choice to station permanently in Singapore if things grows worse. For me, I'll probably start looking to get a job in Singapore.

Anonymous said...

I personally feel that JPA is extremely unfair in awarding its interviews, not to mention the scholarships. I applied for it two years ago but did not even get the interview. My results weren't sterling, 8A1, 1A2(Moral Ed), 1B3(Chinese) and A2 for 1119. But I felt that it was good enough to warrant an interview considering there were people with less than 7As who got the scholarship. I applied for engineering as my first choice and I was very active in co-cu. Represented my school in various competitions and held numerous positions in clubs and societies. Furthermore, I had A1s in all the relevant subjects for an engineering course. At that time, I felt that they were terribly unfair to not even give me the opportunity to be interviewed.

Now, I feel that it was a blessing in disguise despite my perceived injustice. I don't understand why JPA would send its scholars to places like Indonesia, Russia, India, Ukraine and the Middle East for professional courses like medicine when there are better options elsewhere and even locally. If I were to award a scholarship, I would send my scholars to places like Europe or US where they'll get better quality education and have the potential to yield better returns.

Never heard of Singapore scholarships being awarded to these countries...

Anonymous said...

I have also read your other entry in which you advised "A very frightened Malaysian abroad" to come back to Malaysia so that "every other person working together towards the same objectives will help make the goals more achievable."

How can we work together, with all this sh*ts around, and seems like getting worse each day and beyond our control.

Now that you have your own baby girl, would you worry for her education in future?

Or you would probably put her in RGS in Singapore?

Anonymous said...

As a current JPA scholar in one of the government-owned prepatory colleges, I find it difficult to stomach the statistics that non-bumis only make up 20% of all JPA scholars. In my course, which prepares students for medicine and pharmacy, non-bumis constitute somewhere between 35%-40% of the student population. In fact, there is one class with 20 students, and it only has 4 bumis!

Nevertheless, there is a clearly uneven playing field. The standard for bumis required to enter my programme is around 9 1As, while for non-bumis it is minimum 10 1As. Nevertheless, I think you'd agree that it is not that big a discrepancy.

Unofficially though, it is very evident that a quota exists for civil servants, regardless of your race. Out of the 20 students in my class, about 18 have at least 1 parent in the Civil Service. However, I disagree with the notion (Anonymous Wed May 17, 09:31:35 AM) that scoring 5 As and having a civil servant parent will get you a scholarship (and being a foreign diplomat doesn't make one rich. You still exist on the Perkhidmatan Tadbir dan Diplomatik payscale). As I've mentioned above, the minimum standard for bumis is 9 1As, and for non-bumis its 10 1As.

We should also note that JPA is strict when dealing with scholars who cannot make the cut. For instance, if you are doing your A Levels (medicine), the minimum grade is BBB, or 85% if you're in the Australian Mat programme. There are many cases of bumi students failing to make the grade, and JPA has never discriminated between bumi and non-bumi students who did not attain the minimum grade.

So, it doesn't sound THAT bad, does it?

clk said...

I took my SPM back in the 80s and the situation then was probably worse when probably less than 20% quota was in place. It was something closer to <1% based on my personal observation. None of minorities in school talked about JPA scholarship. We just eyed for either:

a) Parents savings (i.e. private education) or
b) STPM or
c) ASEAN Pre-U

Top students then eyed for either MTC (BATCO today) or Sime scholarship if I recalled then amongst premier ones based on STPM results. Only those with >4As in STPM dreamt of those scholarship. Forget about SPM ones...

Today, we can talk and debate about it openly and hope for the 20% allocation...a step better but still a long way to go.

Anonymous said...

Well, JPA needs to be transparent in its dealings.
Currently they actually have a special fasttrack programme, sending a select bunch of students DIRECTLY to Vanderbilt University.

This selection is totally undisclosed - its like a lottery inside JPA. And suprise, suprise : all selected participants are the princeofthelanders.

This is severely unfair -
1. They did not even take the SATs nor apply for it [ essays, forms.. etc]. Which really raises the issue of whether they are qualified or not in the first place - as Vanderbilt is one of the top 20 universities as listed in the USNews report.

This also raises other questions - like how come such an arrangement was made possible. Was there elements of understanding involving monetary transactions, a la Mahathirs 1.2 million white house visit ?
[ do note that for private universities, generous sums of donations CAN BUY you places ]

Anonymous said...

I think Singapore has given me more opportunities than Malaysia has. Nuff said...

Anonymous said...

Scholarship quotas?? DUH, what do you think?? I think it is silly to discuss this actually. No offence.

Anonymous said...

I agree that Petronas scholarships are even poorly administered. They also discriminate based on "titles". It's quite ridiculous that rich son of Datuks are given these "prestigious" scholarships and having to shamefully return cause they can't make the grade.

Anonymous said...

Do you all believe minimum standard for bumis is 9A1s? What a big joke. I think he/she is too young and naive only see what in her college.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to Bolehland,... Pejam mata, semuanya OK !!

Anonymous said...

9A1 ? bullshit

Hows this :
--------------------------

Name: ammar
School Name: Federal Islamic 2ndary Skool, Kajang
Country: Korea
Major: engineering
Scholarship Gotten: Jpa
SPM Results: 6 a1,2 a2,2 b3, 1 b4 n 1 c5
---------------------------

Meritocracy? My foot!

Kian Ming said...

Kudos to Tony for putting up this post. You hit all the right points. I'd just like to point out two things.

Firstly the stats for overseas JPA scholarships start only in the year 2000. Some of the more recent JPA scholars that I've spoken to think that JPA opened up more places to non-bumis only after the 1999 elections. If this is true, then even having 20% is an improvement. And not reversing the trend after the 1999 elections is also an improvement.

Secondly, I'd like to suggest a transition plan from the current system to the one that Tony proposed. Instead of immediately transiting to a merit based system with a baseline quota (of 30% let's say for bumis), it makes more sense for JPA to have stepwise reductions in the current 70% quota for bumi students. Reduce that % every year by let's say 4% or 5%. Then it will take between 8 to 10 years to get to the 30% level that Tony was talking about. This way, there will be an incentive for bumi students to improve their performance given the expectations of a more competitive environment. The only problem is that to set these expectations, this kind of policy has got to be made public. And once it is made public, one can imagine how members of certain political parties would react.

Anonymous said...

I was kind of shock when i saw the statistics put up by Tony. Well we had suspected some foul play in the scholarship awarding process all these years, but aren't what they did now is rather bold, as in, revealing the data to the public? Wouldn't this spell out public anger?

Well, i personally think that this is one of their move. Not being transparent, but rather something like, "we are doing these, so what!" I don't think that they even bother about the brain drain issue. Perhaps they want it after all. So all of us should just pack and leave, bringing all our savings together. See what will happen :D

To those heartbroken scorers, there are always opportunities out there. ASEAN, as mentioned by a lot of people, is definitely a good choice, but it will be limited as well. For the worst case senario, get a study loan if you are confident enough to go abroad. Pay back in the future.

Don't ever return to this country again if you are not bonded to any agencies.

Anonymous said...

dracula77 said...
"It is unfair to say that that "all" non-bumi ASTS recipients cannot get full sponsorship for postgrad study or only can get it if they study at local university. I know a few non-bumi scholars who get full sponsorship to do their master and PhD overseas."


Go read what a non bumi ASTS recipient wrote again. He did mention that the non-full scholarship for non-bumi is a recent tweak.


"Who wants to accept offer of RM1729 per month for 5 years (ASTS USM) until you complete your master and PhD? If you work in private sector you can easily get RM3k-4k...:-) And do you want to bond with them for another 7 years with low salary ~3500 with PhD qualification?"

Let's be fair to the government on point 1. The RM1729 allowance received is very good. Remember that during the time of PhD, he/she is still not working as a lecturer. To some people, this is like "gaji buta". Also not to forget RM1729 is still not inclusive on other allowances (sara hidup, sewa rumah, tesis, pakain musim sejuk, tiket perjalanan/penerbangan, insurans dll).

Point no 2: bonding of 7 years. For every year of sponsorship, you have to serve back 2years. Maximum 7 years of bonding. This is fair deal.

Low salary: Yes, i agree that this is one of the BIGGEST "push factor" and seriously need to be revised in order to attract talented and highly intellectual students to join the academic.

Anonymous said...

To Kian Ming

Yes during 1999 election if you still remember lots of bumi voters goes against BM and with the support of non bumi votes, BM only manage to win in quite a number of seats. TDM then open up 10% quota for non bumi in MSRM and matriculation and included JPA scholarship.

As suggested that scholarship being given only after securing to top unis., I think is not possible and unfair to those who are poor. Most top uni had quota for international students and as such many good students may not make it and when this happen where can these students go. They can't afford private uni unless IPTA is willing to take them.

Anonymous said...

While having our sights focussed on the scholarship quotas, many of us forget that there is such a thing as "creative marking" and "results tweaking" for such public exams.

I had heard, years ago, teacher friends who claim that certain students they taught who never seemed to be able to pass their school tests achieved unbelievable A's and B's in the SPM. Tweaking of results banding can elevate B's and C's to A's without actually affecting the true A's achievers. That is the real reason why A's are now a dime a dozen. Where else in the world do you have "O" levels equivalent exams with thousands of straight A's students?

Anonymous said...

Actually Daniel, grade inflation is happening all around the world and not only just in Malaysia albeit to a lesser extent. Singapore is having similar problems with its A-level results as well. And UK is getting worried about the standard of their GCE A level and O level scores.

Nick

Anonymous said...

from a current ASEAN scholar:

Man, all of u says such bad things bout Malaysia..Is Malaysia really that bad? Maybe its because i have not started working yet..but right now..i can't think of myself not going back to M'sia after my tertiary education..hopefully i won't change my mind after a few years overseas.. =)

haha and a sidenote for those of you working or studying overseas..M'sia is a very good place to retire in( according to my M'sian uncle and a few M'sian teachers( Singapore PR) here..all of them are planning to retire in Msia)..haha guess Msia is not such a bad place to live in after all..

btw the food in Msia totally owns the food in SG man..can't wait to go back to Msia during the June hols to satisfy my tastebuds..u really dunno how good Msia food is until u live in SG man..

=>

Anonymous said...

To current ASEAN scholar:

Although there are not many ASEAN scholars who actually go back to Msia, Tony and Kian Ming are both who did. Oon Yeoh is also another one.

I do know of another guy from RJ who has also gone back. He was the GM of Marketing of a listed IT firm.

And I'm also one of the few who did go back.

Although Msia may not be ideal, Singapore too has its own set of problems.

Anonymous said...

I only got third grade in SPM..I wonder why I dont get scholarship?

Anonymous said...

Well sadly, the folks who bullsh*** 9 1As didn't read my post properly. My course is medicine. Don't compare it with engineering. These are 2 different fields.

Anonymous said...

dracula77,

none of the petronas students studying here are employee's children and their results are generally better than the others.
75% of telekom students are employee's children and all are of a same race.

go figure it out.

Anonymous said...

Current JPA Scholar, if what you claim is indeed true then perhaps JPA is starting to place academic criteria higher up their list of priorities. Still, I remain a cynic at heart.

I don't claim to have a solution to the mess JPA makes every year, because while I don't agree with those who say that scoring straight As automatically makes one deserving of a scholarship, neither am I fooled by the claim that the current selection process is in any way meritocratic. I guess you could call me a very objective analyst.

Like yourself, I also did pre-uni in one of the government-linked colleges albeit some time ago, and while I met some really cool people there, I am sorry to say that the academic standard of the Malay JPA scholarship recipients, even among those selected for medical scholarships, was low compared to the non-Malays'. I do not use the term Bumiputera because there were a small number of native Borneans, all of whom had excellent SPM results, and almost all of whom were very good academically post-SPM. I hate to separate my friends, or indeed anyone else, by virtue of their race, but for the purposes of this discussion it has to be done so please bear with me.

There were a number of Malay students who had fewer than your so-called requisite 9 A1s. All these were medical scholarship recipients. In fact I recall one who only had 7 As. I am not one to advocate selection based on grades alone, because while this should always be the main selection criterion, not all straight-A candidates are scholar material. However, a large number of these students couldn't even string together a sentence in proper, grammatical English despite the fact that they had been picked to do a pre-university course taught in English and do medicine in the UK. Not surprisingly, there were a few who didn't make the stipulated grades or receive any offers altogether. These students were then offered places in other countries such as Ireland or India. So, JPA being strict with its non-performing scholars is news to me. Interestingly, I have never heard of a non-performing non-Bumi student selected for a medical scholarship.

Right, on to your next point - the racial composition of the recipients. You forget, or perhaps are unaware of the fact that JPA, for reasons known only to them, prefers to place a larger proportion of its non-Bumi scholars in certain colleges, despite their putative university courses being similar. Thus the total from all the colleges will still reflect the proportions set out in Tony's table.

On another point, people who claim that non-bumis only started getting JPA scholarships after 1999 are mistaken. I know of one Chinese lad who got one in the early or mid-90s. I can also tell you all with much certainty that the first year post-recession that JPA started giving out scholarships was 1998, and that non-Bumis were included, making up roughly 20-30% of the total. For that year, there was no open application, and the minimum SPM achievement to be selected for interview for non-Malays was 9A1s and 1 A2.

Lastly, even if indeed JPA is imposing a 9A1 and 10A1 cut-off, the difference between the good and the undeserving will still remain because of the ease it takes to obtain an A1 these days!

Anonymous said...

To anon fri may 19, 04:15:39 am

JPA scholarship before 2000 are those called "token jpa scholarship" and not open to all.

Anonymous said...

Fri May 19, 09:34:44 AM,

no, there are JPA scholars that are NOT based on civil service requirement such as the case of "token jpa scholarship". i know one who lives near my place who's a jpa scholar in the 80s given a place to UK.

Anonymous said...

There is no 'requirement' for one's parents to be in government service before one can be awarded the scholarship, now or previously. However it is an advantage, all things being equal.
The use of the word 'requirement' is therefore misleading.

As for scholarships awarded before 2000, JPA pre-screened candidates before calling them for interview without the need for application. Many people were pleasantly surprised when letters inviting them for interview unexpectedly came through the mail. I believe this ended in 1999. While perhaps not the fairest way of doing things, it did ensure that only the best non-Malays, in terms of academic results, got scholarships. However, as I have said earlier, academic success should not be used as the sole criterion for selection, although this appears to be more or less what the general public wants.

Anonymous said...

From the discussions in a number of blogs concerning the process how local scholarships (JPA, Petronas, Telekoms, etc.) were awarded over the years, one gets the feeling that it was not transparent and MAS (mana ada sistem). The race factor is of course very important. The rest, your guess is as good as my guess.

So, happy discussions in the dark and based on hearsay!

Anonymous said...

SPM 2002 leavers
Malay 7As, medicine, Russia
Malay 7As, medicine, UK
Chinese 12 A1s, nothing

SPM 2003 leavers
Malay 8As, medicine, UK
Chinese 13 A1s, medicine Indonesia (rejected later)

Why? Figure it out yourselves.

Meritocracy? LOL!!

I rest my case.

Anonymous said...

Wrong

SPM 2002 leavers
Got alsolah chinese 9A1 and 10A1, medicine to Australia and UK. That year more than 10 from Taylors alone. Must be fair alsolah.

Anonymous said...

Anon sat may 20, 07:42:23 pm

For SPM 2002 leavers those who rejected if they had appeal and at the end all 9A1 and above got it. From 2nd batch alone you had 101 non bumi. Thats why you see from tables above 2003 had the most number. This is because GE is around the corner.

Anonymous said...

Francis i know you are disappointed about not getting any scholarships. But I don't think those people who apply for more scholarships despite already having one or two in their hands are wrong. It is human nature that if one gets something good, one would want something better. A JPA scholarship in my opinion is much better than ASEAN. It almost secures you a place in UK universities (if you are good enough you could get into Oxbridge, which is > NUS), whereas ASEAN does not guarantee an overseas placement. If you were him, would you choose to give up a chance to go to the UK just because you already had ASEAN? I think not.

Anonymous said...

SPM 2005

Malays 6As , Medicine, UK
Malays 7As , Medicine, not sure of the country

Chinese 10A1s nothing ( never heard of anyone so far )

Anonymous said...

Um... JPA DOES NOT secure you a place in a UK, US or any uni for that matter. You still have to apply for them with your pre-U grades. If you don't make it, the JPA scholarship will be withdrawn. I've seen a LOT of ASEAN scholars going to Oxbridge, Imperial and Ivies on scholarships and Kian Ming and Tony are just two of them. In my opinion, ASEAN Pre-U is MUCH better.

Anonymous said...

Lol...to the anon May 22, 04:20:48, you obviously aren't a JPA scholar. I speak as a JPA scholar myself who is in the UK now. Once you get the JPA scholarship, 99% of the time if your grades are OK (i don't understand what you meant by 'if you don't make the grades'...it's not that hard to not make the grades unless you get JPA by virtue of anything else except grades)and if you maintain your nerves during the interview (heck even if you do a non medical course, Imperial College doesn't even interview you), you get to go to the UK. You are fully paid. I'm sure you can proceed to a UK education once you've completed ASEAN. The question is...is there guarantee that your UK education will be fully paid after that? Well, no. But JPA guarantees full payment of your UK education provided that you do get the offer. And trust me, non-Oxbridge universities in the UK are very easy to get in. All you need is money. I have seen it happening. So, at the end of the day, it's your choice...a GUARANTEED placement in the UK with full sponsorship confirmed. Or, ASEAN which doesn't guarantee u anything after you've completed your pre-U. Btw, I noticed u mentioned 'ASEAN pre-U'...isn't it blatantly obvious now? So yeah, stop ridiculing JPA and glorifying ASEAN pre-U (notice the 'pre'). You know which is better!

Anonymous said...

GUARANTEED?? Who are you kidding. You mean JPA GUARANTEES you a place in Oxbridge, LSE or Imperial?
Bullshit.

So what about ASEAN Pre-U? Go ask Kian Ming and Tony whether they regretted going to RJ.

I mentioned Pre-U because those who are good enough WILL go to Oxbridge, Imperial and the Ivies on full scholarships. ASEAN Undergraduate is just a fallback to NUS.

Anonymous said...

JPA does not guarantee a University education. You need to score for your pre-U and get into the universities yourself before they sponsor you. There are terms and conditions attached. If you fail or do badly for your pre-U, your scholarship from JPA is withdrawn. You are a JPA scholar, you should know this.

-Nick-

Anonymous said...

If you are a JPA scholar, you must have some quality. How can you not perform in your A levels. Easily can get 4A lah.

Anonymous said...

Well...what I meant was JPA guarantees a full sponsorship after you have done your A-levels or International Baccalaureate. Do you think a JPA scholar would fail to meet the minimum entry into LSE or Imperial? If they did fail, they were obviously not qualified for JPA in the first place.

Stop deluding yourself into thinking that ASEAN pre-U is better than JPA. As the name suggests, an ASEAN pre-U scholarship gives you an A-level cert at the end of the course. Getting a full scholarship to UK universities requires another stage of application. JPA on the other hand, is a one-stage process. Getting it secures you a place in the UK.

Honestly, what do you mean by meeting the grades to get into LSE/Imperial? It is kacang putih to meet the minimum grades. The hard part is to get enough money to pay for the degree. If you can get JPA, go for it instead of ASEAN. Why bother taking the unnecessary risk of not getting a full sponsorship to the UK after your ASEAN when JPA literally says that they would sponsor you thoroughly provided you get accepted (which as I mentioned is very easy).

Anonymous said...

Concur with Anonymous ( May 22,06:57:33 ).When JPA awards a student a tertiary scholarship to UK normally no specific Uni is stated. It is up to each individual to apply to which ever U one is qualified. Of course, most scholars aim for Oxbridge, failing which JPA will also sponsor to other Uni, eg, Uni in Manchester, Liverpool or Newcastle..... The most important part is acceptance to the Uni.

Anonymous said...

Haiya nowadays ASEAN pre-U scholars are not sent to Raffles or Hwa Chong anymore..but instead to the 3rd-8th ranked Junior Colleges is Singapore.

Anonymous said...

Does it matter? ASEAN scholars top those JCs and still go to Imperial and the likes anyway. Anyway, since its so easy to get into Imperial and LSE, doesn't matter where you do your Pre-U.

Anonymous said...

I know JPA scholars who have either not got any offers or failed to make the grades, the course in question being medicine. I would caution against claiming 100% certainty in anything.

The premise that every JPA scholar will make the grades will be true more often than not only if selection is done with a heavy weightage on academic merit, which unfortunately is not the case, hence weakening your argument even further.

As an aside, JPA does require you to be bonded to the government, which many don't want to be, hence I also know of some people who've got JPA scholarships and then rejected them.

Anonymous said...

'I know JPA scholars who have either not got any offers or failed to make the grades, the course in question being medicine'

It does not weaken my argument because:

1. I was comparing the relative ease of getting a UK education via JPA with ASEAN. If these guys failed to make the grades to meet grades for UK universities, do you think they would be able to secure a scholarship after ASEAN?

2. for medicine, the cost of the bond is nothing compared to the RM 750k JPA spend on you. As far as I'm concerned, I have not seen any 'charity' sponsorships (w/o bond) for medicine to the UK unless you are absolutely brilliant.

Anonymous said...

Yes, but you claimed that if they were unable to make the grades they wouldn't have got JPA scholarships in the first place, which I have proven to be patently false.

JPA does offer an easier route with regards to funding, I'll give you that. They seem to be uncharacteristically generous these days, especially if you get into Oxbridge.

As for the cost of the bond, it has now gone up to the full amount expended by JPA, from the previou sum of RM160K. Still better than Singapore, which charges you interest, but hardly 'nothing'!

Anonymous said...

I suppose anon Wed May 24, 07:04:14 AM was trying to say that not all JPA scholars are the most academically capable students in the country, therefore not all of them will make the grade and hence gain a place in a British university.
Rare but does occur.

Anonymous said...

Actually not as rare as one may think, especially for medicine! Funnily enough, instead of terminating the scholarships, JPA then sends them to other countries - Ireland if their results are average or if they don't get offers despite notb eing too bad academically, India if they're dire.

Anonymous said...

yeah... MOE singapore doesnt send ppl to the top JCs (not many, perhaps <20 get into the top 4) .. year 2005 spm takers

life is tough in singapore though, they try v v hard to push you as far as you can go - every year in my JC, about 2 go back after 1st year to complete a levels at taylors. but in the end, results speak for themselves.

on the other hand, if i had gotten jpa i would have accepted (10A1, A2 for bm which sunk me =D )

Anonymous said...

i finished my spm last four years..i'm too a straight A students..i get A1 for all the subjects except Moral(A2)..although i was selected to the jpa interview but i think it's a strange interview.all 10 of us were asked to enter a room and given a topic.we do not even need to introduce ourselves.besides,after u had spoken for once, u cant giv ur opinion anymore even if u were to disagree with the other member...wat kind of discussion is tat?????(other interviews were not like that!!)my fren told me that actually before the interview they already hav the list of selected students.we were asked to go for the interview just because they are afraid that we will make some headlines in the newspaper.my neighbour's both duaghter and son who are not a straight A1 students get the scholarship just because their uncle is a sort of 'important' person.i got the petronas scholarship but dun get my choice.so i took STPM...it's tough but challenging and i had a great fun and sweet memories of my F6..besides if u get a good result there so many good scholarships available.e.g. Shell sch (both overseas and local as well),NUS sch,NTU sch,Tanjong sch,GE sch.....so never giv up.well,it's true that jpa scholarship provides the scholars with lots of money but i think u al better check out about the quality of the education as well coz i heard some of the not so pleasant stories fr the scholars themselves...(but i dunno how true is that)if u r one of the scholar do let me know ya.

Anonymous said...

hi guys, great site, very informative and interesting!
Have a question for you as am doing some reading up on Malaysian education system:
where did u go to get the info and tables on the breakdown of scholarships awarded to bumiputeras vs others?
Are there similiar tables/info available on the overall breakdown of PTPTN Loans? are there any official racial quotas on PTPTN loans? or sector breakdowns?
hopefully there is something online..i haven't been able to find so far.
thanks so much in advance for any help.
best, cheryl

Anonymous said...

With all this talk on JPA scholarships, i was wondering on the fact that one of my cousins "claims" that she's under it though her SPM results were only 3As. Is that somewhat possible or have i been duped? Btw, she's now in UNITEN doing E&E Engineering.

Apologies on the ignorance as i never applied for any scholarship (not much of a brainiac myself plus i'm underqualified), thus i never really care to know any info on it.

Anonymous said...

i am Chew kean hong (keanhong@gmail.com) and i recently just shortlisted for ASEAN Pre-U Scholarship's interview.. so i wanna.. what type of the questions will be out when the interview??

Anonymous said...

i am Chew kean hong (keanhong@gmail.com) and i recently just shortlisted for ASEAN Pre-U Scholarship's interview.. so i wanna.. what type of the questions will be out when the interview??

Anonymous said...

My name is Vincent(vincent_ato@hotmail.com) and recently have been shortlisted for the ASEAN Pre-U Scholarship's interview too. Please do email me to share your experience with me and roughly give me some hints on what kind of questions they might ask. Thanks all. Much appreciation to read and reply to this comment.

Anonymous said...

I went for an interview many years back for a scholarship and the only question they ask me was "Is your father an MCA member?" Obviously I did not get the scholarship.

Anonymous said...

I am a non-Bumi who have been lucky enough to have a JPA scholarship after SPM '99 to study A-Levels and then medicine in the UK.

I scored straight 10A1's. I got an interview but my non-Bumi classmate who also had the same result wasnt even called for one. For my A-levels, I was sent to a secluded private college together with all the rest of scholars (JPA, MARA, Petronas, Telekom, Bank Negara). I had a shock seeing so many Bumi scholars for the first time - there were only about 30/350 non-Bumis.

Of the 180 medic scholars (all going to UK, all under JPA & MARA), virtually all the non-Bumi scholars were straight 9 or 10 A1 scorers. The Bumis meanwhile got their scholarships with about 4-5 A's (not even A1's), and some couldn't even speak English properly. In college, I was quite dissapointed to see a considerable proportion of the Bumi scholars not bothering to work hard (perhaps thinking getting a place in a British uni was a given). Many of the Bumis (around 80) foresaw they couldnt get the grades for British unis so chose to enter Ireland (easier). When A-level results came out, another 10 Bumis (including my ex-chaletmate who got C,C,D) diverted to Ireland (plus do an extra pre-med year), another 5 or so couldnt even get the grades for Ireland and ended up in India or IMU.

In uni, quite a few Bumi medics had to repeat their academic years. A Bumi senior of mine remained in 2nd year for 3 years (and got sacked by the medical school), only then JPA decided to ALLOW him to return to Malaysia. I was seriously impressed with JPA's commitment to nurturing doctors.

I will hopefully graduate in 6 months' time. On one hand I feel very lucky, blessed and grateful for having this scholarship which not only fulfilled my ambition of doing medicine, but at the same time learnt to see things from a different perspective and saw how things work outside my own country. On the other hand, I have come to realise the unfairness and discrimination that non-Bumis have faced (and continue to face). I have become sceptical of the rose-tinted news about the better pay and more transparent postgraduate medical training back home, especially after my recent holiday back home when I did an attachment in a local hospital and gathered first-hand information about the glass ceilings encountered by many non-Bumi doctors.

Based on the current situation, I don't feel like going back home. I know i will be criticised by many for this thought. But all around me, the overwhelming majority of Bumi scholars themselves don't want to return to Malaysia (even though they face no barriers or discrimination in their homeland, or do they?). In fact, many even bring their children and families over to the UK (guess who paid for them?). Quite a few of my non-Bumi JPA seniors who have just started working in UK have received letters demanding them to return. I have heard few, if any, of the Bumi seniors receiving the letters. MARA (who only sponsors Bumis), well, there never really was a bond in the contracts. I bet MARA must be proud of the sizeable contribution of Malaysian Bumi doctors in UK & Ireland (ahh...there goes the Malaysian taxpayers' money).

All this, frustration.

Tan said...

I am a little late but i might as well give my two cents. A lot of the arguments above stem from the fact that there a total lack of verifiable data. Most of the evidence cited are either anecdotal or hearsay and when the truth is known it will all be a little more than hot air.
At the end of the day I am concerned not so much as who gets it but whether the rakyat get their money worth regardless of race. I think the more important issue is whether those scholars are wiling to serve.
I am of the opinion that the ten year bond imposed on JPA scholars is too short and that is why there are so may applicants every year and they have paid salary in that ten years.
If we apply the law of supply and demand JPA should increase the number of year the scholars need to serve until we reach a point of equilibrium where the number of applicants is equal the number of places. I am of course making the assumption that when I say applicants I mean people who have scored more A's than there are fingers on their hands since they now number in the thousands. Therefore we can be assured that quality is not compromised.
In the grand scheme of things a doctor who got only 6 A's in SPM is better than no doctor especially for the folks in the rural areas. By increasing the number of years of service and actually enforcing it we we can ideally also retain a larger number of doctors in government service and when supply increases we can afford to send or induce them to rural areas. In fact people willing to serve in the rural areas can be given shorter services as an incentive.
This all may sound very naive but I make no apologies. Intelligence doesn't entitle you to a free lunch and I am inclined to think that Bumiputeras in the rural areas would rather all the scholarships be be given to non-Bumiputeras who are willing to serve 30 years in rural communities than people who just want a all-expense paid trip to some foreign country.
Please forgive the verbosity.

Anonymous said...

i am currently studyin in singapore, under ASEAN scholarship schemes,
firstly i wanna highlight the fact that i was one of the non-bumi students who studied in MRSM. I heard from the people that the education in MRSM was very good, and i was promised a good future in my studies.
The non-bumi students in my MRSM generally performed very well in the exams. Almost everyone of us were among the top students in my school, and i was dealt a cruel blow when they conducted a talk on schoalrships opportunity, they mentioned about this special course available for MRSM students, its called fast-track, since they based the scholarship solely on your SPM trial exam. The non-bmi hopes were raised up on the mention of this opportunity, but in the end, the teachers informed us that the scholarship is only available for bumis students. So, i was kinda pissed off, since we spend an hour in the hall listening to all those things only to know that we are not eligible for it.
As for my results, i was a perfect scorer for the exam, and guess what? i didn't even get an offer for any interview for the scholarship, including JPA, PETRONAS, and almost all the scholarships available that i can apply for under the government scheme. In the end all i get was an offer for the matriculations, while the rest of my schoolmates, the bumis, the ones that got a mediocre results, 6A1s, and even 5A1s, were offered JPA scholarships, some evn under medical schemes!
I was so disspointed with the outcome, but i still harbor some hope, and i try for the appeal...but i received a letter from JPA who had the guts to tell me that there are no vacancies left! they just simply state the excuse that there were too many perfect scorers! So, i was the unlucky one out!
Now that i am studying in Singapore, i don't intend to go back to malaysia ever again, i will not want my sons and daughter to go through the same fate, if they call this system as meritocracy!!!, i will tell them to kiss my ass!!
But i want to say this, that our country is making a big mistake by doing what they are doing now, every year, can you imagine how many people like me ended up going to singapore to further their education?? how much valuable manpower did they lost? SInce i am pretty sure that msot of them would not relish coming back to Malaysia. Since my country does not help me in my studies, why should i serve my country only to make things better not for myself and for my people, but for the bumis...

Anonymous said...

spm is no longer a good measure of how capable a student is academically imo. believe me there's just a slight difference between an 1A and 2A,and they r very easy to get. u just have to attend those seminars held by tuition centres and the tutors will tell u their 'predictions' of topics which will be covered in the papers. and their tips are ridiculously accurate!besides, the passing mark for an A is altered every year in response to the difficulty of a paper, and also to maintain a sufficient number of students with As. so my point is, it's not fair to say that a student with 12 1As is better than another person with 10 A1s, because their scores of each subject are not known. therefore, to truly differentiate between them their scores must be made known.

Anonymous said...

academic excellence is not the sole factor in determining who deserves a scholarship and who doesn't. passion for ur chosen field of study is important too. i don't see how a student with more A1s has more passion than another who has less. therefore there's no point in all the discussion on 'how a 13 A1 student deserves a scholarship for medicine more than another person with 10A1s or less'. BUT i do think that jpa's( and mara, petronas etc) way of awarding scholarship is simply stupid. malaysia absolutely deserves the brain-drain

Anonymous said...

Looks like this will continue. But do you know that having a scholarship can also entitle the holder to certain perks? I have been told it is easier to find a place in a hall of residence (hostel), etc. If your family can afford it, it might be worthwhile setting up a scholarship fund to channel the money to the student. It is not difficult and in some cases it could be tax deductible (if you do not make it clear it is for your kid alone).Your lawyer should be able to help you establish such a scholarship and your accountant advise you on the tax situation.

Anonymous said...

I understand that JPA scholarship was awarded to 2 students of doctors in Kuching. Why? They are Dr Denis Yu's daughter and Dr Siew's daughter, who are both studying in UK. This is most unfair, as they can aford paying the fees.

Anonymous said...

well..as for me.. i think we should all consider ourselves as a malaysian hence we wont be talking about this. for the non-bumis... i noe it's a hard time for us but hey..do remember...our ancestors long ago were long accepted by the bumis here in Malaysia. I guess its a fact that we shold already be thankful. I wpnder where would I be now if my great great grandparents were not accepted here? even the constitution has stated the priority should be given to the bumis. It should be respected. And yes... maybe true enough that sometimes in some cases they themselves do not make it an advantage through all the priority and privileges given to them and yeah...its politics you guys...mind you.. but i guess.. we have to accept the fact that all countries has that. What more can we say.. Unless you're powerful enough..you wont get what you wish to have even if you deserve it. So lets sum up that...we're fated to have what we have now. So be, thankful.

Anonymous said...

'Anonymous said...

I understand that JPA scholarship was awarded to 2 students of doctors in Kuching. Why? They are Dr Denis Yu's daughter and Dr Siew's daughter, who are both studying in UK. This is most unfair, as they can aford paying the fees.
5/16/2007 10:56:00 AM'

JPA scholarships is based on academic grades and is not a poverty fund, although ideally one would consider both factors in awarding scholarships. As such whether the student is the daughter of a timber tycoon or a ketupat-seller is irrelevant.

If you think awarding a scholarship to a doctor's daughter is 'unfair', may I enlighten you, as a current JPA scholarhip holder who did A-level in a college full of JPA scholars, that there are many more sons and daughters of corporate tycoons in West Msia who are also awarded scholarships and every weekend the chaffeurs or the parents come n pick them up in Ferrari's and cars dat only royal elites can afford.

Anonymous said...

hello,
if you want there is soo many other private companies and institution that offer scholarships (try astro, sime darby etc, etc). Don't bring up this racial issues ok because as a Bumiputra they are born priveleged to get those scholarships awards.

Anonymous said...

To be fair, before we even talk about the quota allocation for scholarship, shall we first look at the number of applicants in each ethnic group and % awarded to each group?

Let say in 2005, if there are 300 non-Bumi applicants and 260 are awarded, compare to 10,000 Bumi applicants and 1040 are awarded, what is the implication then? Is the 80-20% statistic meaningful?

Anonymous said...

a JPA scholar to japan, a bumi and scores 7as, came back Malaysia within two weeks~ because he is unable to adapt.


isn't it a waste?

Anonymous said...

In response to Anonymous of 29th July who stated "a JPA scholar to Japan, a bumi scores 7as, came back to Malaysia within two weeks~because he is unable to adapt.

isn't it a waste?" :

My observation:
I know of a fellow, non-bumi 'cum laude' USA graduate who then received a prestigious UK govt scholarship to study for Masters at a non-Oxbridge uni in UK. This non-bumi person came back to Malaysia shortly after as this non-bumi person was not able to adapt.

Moral of the story:
With bumis or non-bumis as are with all other human beings, there will always be some who are successful and some who are not.

Anonymous said...

i'm a bumi petronas scholar and i totally believe that the government should stop this injustice in our country. to make matters worse, a bunch of govt scholars are actually getting the opportunity through the 'back door' process under the pretext of being a son of politician etc though their spm results suck.as the govt built under the foundation of islam hadhari,justice to all should be emphasized to ensure peace and harmony in our country.many malay students are able to get the scholarship without the quota system.just eliminate those unqualified, and our dignity will be preserved.
i've got this scholarship thanks to my 10A1 SPM result and active participation in CCAs and I really deserve the respect actually.not all of the Malay scholars get their scholarships due to the mere racial 'tongkat' etc.govt should stop this insanity.

Anonymous said...

dear friends
firstly, the allocation system for scholarship is screwed up
the rich gets it, the poor ignored.
the politically connected person gets it, the straight honest person ignored
when your parents serve the government for donkey years with donkey pay its not recognised and their children get shit.
our scholarship has no value simply a pile of valuable dirt. it doesnt build a wholesome individual it porjects a group of kiasu kiasi scholars, dont blame singapore only for this we have our own drastic ones too. seriously, not everyone deserve the tax payers money! what more, they are not coming back, health ministry, get it? deaf, dumb or blind you decide. and now they can do post grad overseas, brilliant idea its like pls stay on dont come back forget what we say earlier cause we are stupid.

Anonymous said...

I think rather than commenting on which race gets more than which race.

Maybe we should help the needy, regardless of their race.

I am a straight A student. High CGPA pointer..and i don't get a scholarship because well, i like to think it as because my dad's filthy rich..and i am a malay.

OR maybe it is because i just don't deserve it...maybe i'm just not smart enough.

But i don't envy my friend who got scholarships..whether they are malay, chinese or indian..some of my friends got into Harvard, Yale,and MIT..most went to Russia, Aussie and of course UK..I felt proud for them..and i hope i will continue to work my ass off so that i will deserve a scholarship one day.

If i don't get it..it's okay..i'll just continue to study here.

It doesn't matter where i'm studying, who i'm competing with. what matters is..i become a well educated girl and an highly intelligent person..all this with hard work..not where i study at.

Vincent said...

so the 07' SPM is over, u SPM leavers better start looking for scholarship opportunities...
u can post any question u want, i'll do my best to help.
btw, i am SPM 06'

Anonymous said...

hye..im new here...diz is a very interesting pg n ye i would 2 comment on diz topic..well based on PERLEMBAGAAN MALAYSIA Perkara 153, memperuntukkan peranan YDP Agong memelihara hak istimewa dan kedudukan orang Melayu serta kaum bumiputra sabah n sarawak

d 'hak istimewa' includes:
1. pose in d public service
2. SCHOLARSHIPS n education helps
3. trades n business licenses

so..there should be a quota in jpa or mara scholarships!!daa??..dont u ever noe bout diz??did u get an A for ur sejarah???

another thing, diz is for anonymous...where did get all those facts??those must b a really big lie...coz who said Malay who get 5,6 7 n 8as can get scholarships?n spcially from jpa...coz its very hard 2 get those...d least result dat ive ever heard was from mara which was 8a's n for jpa??i think its impossible n really2 impossible..n u also state dat there were 2 malays got 7as n fly 2 russia n uk??wth??!!for jpa, they'll only send studs 2 uk n ireland only if they get at least 10as nstraight as!!!n for those who get 9as n below, will b send 2 other countries..n diz is a fact!so mind where did u get those??

Anonymous said...

Great posting. May someone wanna look for scholarship, please visit Scholarship Reviews.

Anonymous said...

Way back in 1976, when I was in lower six... my school mate was granted a scholarship to do her A levels in the US. She told me then that, after her A levels, she was given the option to either go to a uni in the US or UK. And what was her SPM (MCE those days) result? It was either 1 A or 2 As out of a maximum of 8. This is the reason why the Non Bumi population is declining... We hve to fund our own children education which means, we cannot afford to hve too many kids.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

I think the author of this blog has adequately addressed this issue and I really dont need to add anything further.

On a posetive note there some very bright Bhumi academics who are a credit to their community and international authorities in their field. Its a great pity for Malaysia they are working here in Australia.

Anonymous said...

+++Quote+++
Anonymous said...
hello,
if you want there is soo many other private companies and institution that offer scholarships (try astro, sime darby etc, etc). Don't bring up this racial issues ok because as a Bumiputra they are born priveleged to get those scholarships awards.

6/04/2007 04:28:00 PM
+++Quote+++
__________________________________

1st of all, I must point out that it is a must to discuss, issues, even the sensitive one, that cause problems. If not, how are we to solve it and progress...

2nd, so this person is trying to say that priveleges are for Bumiputra. They deserve it. Try this dude, we are MALAYSIAN. YOU yourselves are being sensitive, don't u think? THIS is unfair and unjust, against the foundation of morality.

3rd, this friend of ours is trying to encourage us to apply private scholarship, and IGNORE the government's action? Dude, it is also reasonable to fight for our right.

4th, DO NOT try to think that GM or anything meeting will solve this issue. I stress on this point, it's results are negligible.

- Kevin, 90, Student

Logical criticisms and debates welcomed.

Anonymous said...

Sadly, you've got your facts wrong. 30% is allocated for the CHINESE while about 10% is for indians and lain-lain. 60% goes to bumis. I agree with Kevin. This is MALAYSIA. If you want it based on merits try thinking of the possibilities. One cannot deny that a majority of the population are bumis- Go ahead, do it based on merits and you know how we'd end up? Like indonesia. Riots because the indonesians are unhappy with the Chinese people controlling everything. One needs to sacrifice to achieve social balance and hormony. Besides, do the math. Malaysia has about 20% chinese and about 8% indians. The rest are bumis. You guys are fighting for an allocation of 30% in the big big cake comprising of the whole of malaysia. The chances are fair.

Anonymous said...

you know, actually, the main thing that sparked the issues on quota is actually because the non-bumis believe that they are smarted than bumis. which is not entirely true. there are a lot of clever bumis too. no offense though. just do not think that you race is more superior than the other races.

Anonymous said...

Try looking into other places instead of Singapore, UK, US, Australia ... I was a top scorer for SPM and got a full scholarship to do A-Level in a private college. Then, I was offered a scholarship to study in Hong Kong. I would say that I did not do that well in A-Level but I qualify to get into medical schools. My family was having very bad financial problems but I have this 'I just won't die' attitude and flew to HK. Well, I am actually living based on the idiom 'kais pagi makan pagi, kais petang makan petang' but HK and my uni gave me many, many opportunities and even an all expenses paid trip to one of the top 5 universities in the world. How's that? Though I have a little regret of not applying into universities in the US (I didn't sit for the SAT 'cos no money and also 'cos the application fees are $$$), I have no regrets studying in HK. For all you school-leavers now, the HK gov has recently loosened its policy for international students and also provided full (and renewable) scholarships for them. I should have applied this year (duh) as my scholarship is not renewable so I have to work hard every semester and not only 'fight' with the locals but also the ever-hardworking students from the Mainland.
P/S: there are 8 public universities in HK and HKU, CUHK and HKUST are deemed the best. Well, if you happen to come, do find me : P

Anonymous said...

I come across many Malays here in the UK, most with scholarships from different government bodies. I don't know how they fair previously, but one thing for sure, their grades are horrifying in the university. Many of them have CARS. Just imagine, CARS. How can they afford those luxurious items?! Plus, many of them have the ability to bring their whole family here. Wife, kids, etc. I heard each of the family members are given allowance too! This is so unfair!

Anonymous said...

Quote:
Anonymous said...
you know, actually, the main thing that sparked the issues on quota is actually because the non-bumis believe that they are smarted than bumis. which is not entirely true. there are a lot of clever bumis too. no offense though. just do not think that you race is more superior than the other races.

5/11/2008 01:13:00 PM

___________________________________

Indeed, there are Malays that are clever. We are not superior than any other races.

The problem now is that, many who doesn't have the quality to receive such 'generousity' from the government actually got it.

If the government can release the real ststistic confirmed by valid, independant party, then it will be great.

-Kevin, 90, Student

Anonymous said...

The main advantages of studying abroad is to get a degree that allows you to work abroad. There are many advantages of working abroad instead of coming back to Malaysia. For once, the pay abroad is so much higher than that in Malaysia. For example, a doctor in the US is paid US$140000 to US$150000 a year. The starting pays of Engineers is not less than US$60000 a year.

However, if you applied for a JPA scholarship to study abroad, you are bounded to served the Malaysian Government upon graduation and the government pay you peanuts!

Anonymous said...

lol. of course they will pay you peanuts because they paid for your fees you fool! a cost to study abroad for one student exceeds RM500000. govt pays for you, and you still complain? how ungrateful. and why the salaries in malaysia so low? because those stupiak chinese companies and taukehs pay low salaries to the professionals. if you complain so much about the quota in scholarships that are just privilege (not a must for govt to give scholarship), then why dont you ask your chinese tycoons first to give scholarships! like goh tong, ytl, berjaya and other big chinese-owned companies. do they give scholarships? NO! and like hell you want to abolish quota. plus the fact that you only fight about quota in scholarships. but why didnt fight about the small numbers of non-bumis in govt sectors? in the army? why? got stupid non-bumis also right? why dont those stupid non-bumis go work as armies, or as govt servants?

hidup sarawak

Cibaikia said...

Skin color makes different.
My malay fren who get 3As in Spm was offered Veterinary course in UNIMAS but my another dear fren who scored 13As get nothing,he is chinese la,a poor chinese whose father is a poor taxi driver..

Anonymous said...

Date : 14-8-2008
Subject : Scholarship for Palestinian Student
Sender : Alresalah University Services –Palestine
www.m4serv.com

We have many Palestinian students living at Palestine ( West Bank & Gaza ) seeking to studying BA & Master or PHD at the fields of ( Management – Engineering – Islamic Education – accountant – Etc .
Most of the students faced a bad financial situation under the (Israeli Occupation )
Please tell me if possible to get to them a scholarship , If possible please send to us , what documents needed to apply for Palestinian Students , and what the period of applying ,What the details of the scholarship .
Please reply as soon as possible
Thanks

H. Manager
Abedelwahhab Abo Shamseyah
www.m4serv.com






Alresalah Recruitment & University Services
Palestine –West Bank - Hebron City – Alsehah Street
Abo Rmaileh Complex building
2 floor – Office Number 237 – P.O.Box:( 111 )Hebron
Email : resalahservices@hotmail.com
Tel Fax : 00972-2299474
Mobile :0097059981899

Anonymous said...

Hello!
Can some body please give me some informations about scholarsips at Malaysian universities for foreign students and how/when to apply for them.
Thanks

Layla said...

Dear Tony, Im aware you posted this interesting informative post 2 years ago, and have been getting comments until last month, I hope you didnt get bored of replying to each, because i need your help in kindly referring me to organizations or programs that offer medicine scholarships in Malaysia for internationals from the middle east, IF thats possible. And whats the best university for medicine in Malaysia? Do they offer scholarships based on high GPA in collage? Or based on financial situations?

Anonymous said...

psd scholars? it is only a the stupidest thing i have come across in my whole life. why must those scholars think they are superb just because they are a part of this lame scholarship. i pity them for being treated unfairly.

Anonymous said...

stop this whole thing!!! stop this can't be more useless scholarship!!! it should be given according to qualification!!! everyone deserves to be treated the same!!!

Anonymous said...

once you accept this jpa scholarship, you have basically lost your freedom. you are generally a dog for your sponsor. you couldn't choose not to go to the country and do the course offered. is it something to be proud of? scholars are meant to be like this?

Anonymous said...

hi guys,

i must say that i really think the brain drain is one of the main reason why Malaysia couldnt achieve it's developed country status and this should be overcome immediately with strategic measures. The problem is due to fresh graduates not being paid correspnding to theirqualifications and experiences. I'm writing based on my point of view as a JPA scholar myself. I've been studying Mechanical Engineering in Germany for the past five years and I'm almost done with my Masters Degree here. Currently I'm doing my Masters thesis in the largest automotive consultant company in Stuttgart. As far as I know, the chances of them offering me a job to me is very high because Germany is currently having a shortage of engineers right now. Now this situation really puts me in a dillemma. Should I stay and work for a few years just to gain some experiences and enjoy the high paying salaries or should i go home and contribute to Malaysia straight away. Nontheless I will be going back to Malaysia. See guys, the decision making isnt easy as it seems. As an engineer in Germany u'll be earning between 3500 to 4000 Euros as start. Thats like five times higher than Malaysia. However you cant compare directly because the living standard here is definitely higher. On the other hand no place is better than home. But what ever my decision is, all I know is that i will be coming back to Malaysia and contribute in the pursue of our vision to become a developed country in approximately 11 years time. My point is that by being a scholar you'll have enormous responsibilities you cant even imagine of. You have to make sure your results are superb. Life is not as beautiful as you always picture them to be. With great powers come great responsibilities. Ever heard of that line before?? :)

Anonymous said...

To everybody here in this blog including the writers,

Do you wanna knw why JPA gave little chance of scholarships to the non-Malays...It is because YOU PEOPLE AREN'T THE ORIGINS OF MALAYSIA!!! DON'T U GET IT??!! i knw even though u lived here for wat? a few hundred years?! SO WHAT! The british take you all here to raise the economy..Indian n Chinese (rubber tappers/slaves/fisherman/business) so don't get ur head too big here cause ur not the origins here...why don't u go back where u belong? If u don't like it here GO ON!! GO BACK TO CHINA N INDIA!! STAY THERE N SEE HOW CAN U MANAGE TO LIVE THERE..You can't have enough food to eat when ur there...

Anonymous said...

I dearly hope that the Anon above me is just posting a satirical piece. Sadly it's a fact that a lot of *ahem* people actually think that way. Heck, a lot of the Chinese I know ARE actually moving to China and working there, now that's a wonderful scene.

farah said...

well Coltz I'm glad you freaking Chinese are out of here...the world is a better place than you people...no more black markets,no more piracy, prostitutes ...I only see that the Chinese people bring shame to this world..I'm just gonna say a quote that say non by me but the British " The only thing straight about the China men is only their hair" so....terasa laa skit cina!! memang tak sedar diri..

kalau aku ckp ni engkau semua tak faham...aish.. ape nak jadi duduk negeri org tapi tak tahu nak ckp bahasa kebangsaan...pegi mampos laaa!~

Billgates said...

Woi farah ... ingat duit JPA engko punya bapak punya duit ke? Sedarlah bahawa orang cina menyumbang 90% daripada cukai di Malaysia tau tak.

Sesial cina di Malaysia pun, duit haram cina juga yang cucu cicit engko akan harapkan tau tak.

DeePohttp://kopisejuk.blogspot.com/ said...

Farah..yeah..u r bloody ungrateful bitch....

people like us (im iban if u want to know) pays the tax for u...so that u can get JPA and living luxuriously in UK...

eventhough im iban (consider as bumi sarawak)...dont get any privileges like u.. bcause my religion is CHRISTIAN not a ''binti'' in between...but u have to remember....my dad pays tax too...to feed ur smelly mouth....mulut celupar!

Orang Melayu said...

JANGAN ENKAU CABAR HAK HAK ISTIMEWA ORNG MELAYU DAN BUMIPUTRA.

Anonymous said...

hei,ingat ape???u orang melayu kena balik ke hutan dan terus menjadi warga orang utan kalau tiada cina dan india kat negara ini....u orang dah lah malas macam babi, tak ada otak pula....99% drpd melayu dipercayai belum mengalami revolusi sepenuhnya drpd orng utan...ini adalah kajian drpd OXFORD UNIVERSITY...u berani cabar i dak...saya pasti u pun tergolong dalam katergori tu...ya la...kami pun nak dah balik ni..saya nak tengok u orng buat ape la....boleh menambahkan populasi msykt saje...yg lain x guna dah...dah lah leleki melayu semua x ade kerja buat ape lagi???? 3R(Rempit,Rompak & Rogol)...polisi orng melayu bkn...teruskanlah usaha anda utk mempromosikan polisi 3R ini...

Anonymous said...

hmm.. korang semua kene igt...
sebelum kite dilahirkan kat dunia ni, kite tak penah pilih untuk lahir sebagai sorang bumi ke, non bumi ke, boleh pilih warna kulit ke, lahir kat utara ke, selatan ke, mane ke, semua kita tak pilih.. semua tu ditentukan oleh maha kuasa... tapi semua tu syukur jek la... tapi kalau dapat di beri peluang, pun lebih bagus..
so, kalau la korang ditempatkan kat tempat org lain, ape perasaan korang. pikirkan la..
no offence.

Anonymous said...

Yes,yes,yes, after all not all malay are that bad, there are good maly, espically in PAS, Keadalan,they are the true muslim.