Scholarships: Najib copies & plagarises Pakatan (but what is this ‘new category only’ really?)
Tsk, tsk – Najib isn’t able to come up with a single original idea of his own. Desperate to reclaim even an inch of the miles of non-Malay ground that he has lost, he resorts to adopting Pakatan policies.
By Nat Tan
Don’t take my word for it, check out PKR’s 2008 Manifesto, especially the section on education. Some quotes:
Furthermore, scholarships for overseas studies must be increased and guaranteed for students who attain a certain standard of achievement in their examinations. This will allow Malaysia’s best and brightest to reach their maximum potential and pave the way for them to bring back cutting edge skills and experience back into the country.
and
KeADILan’s vision for better education will:
1. Ensure universal access to high quality education by making school from kindergarten to university is completely free of charge for all Malaysians.
2. Guarantee government scholarships for students with a minimum of 4 A’s in their STPM and who are admitted into top international universities. Special attention will be given to poor families and students from rural areas.
Copycat.
Worse yet, he isn’t *really* making scholarships merit based, as the spin doctors would have you believe. Observe carefully:
A new category of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships will be introduced next year based purely on merit, regardless of race.
New category?! What the heck is that?
So, the government will award merit-based scholarships to….. five people? I like how there is absolutely no elaboration on this vague ‘new category.’
The likely truth of the matter – and how Najib is gonna sell this quietly to his dwindling Umno faithful – is that the main body of scholarships will be given out in exactly the same manner as all things NEP: on the basis of race, and to selected cronies at the expense of the poor.
