GEORGE TOWN – MIC will speak with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on meritocratic admissions of students into public institutions of higher learning.
Its deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said Anwar may not have been informed that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had then granted “exceptions” to Indians from poor families to ensure the community could also have a high number of graduates.
Saravanan was responding to the recent outcry surrounding Anwar’s apparent dismissal of a query from an 18-year-old Indian student at a Penang matriculation college regarding the said admissions issue.
The prime minister was quoted as telling the girl that there is a “social contract” to uphold on the matter.
Saravanan said that while the situation is not new in the country, what is truly important is seeking solutions to the need to offer more options for higher education.
He reminded Anwar, who is Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, that the current ruling coalition should not replicate Barisan Nasional (BN)’s mistakes prior to the 2008 general election, where BN lost its two-third majority in Parliament for the first time.
“Do not take Indian votes for granted. Yes, for now, voters from the community are considered a fixed deposit for the PH-BN unity coalition, but if their plight is not well addressed, there might be another uprising from the community.”
Saravanan stressed that Indians still make up the nation’s third largest community.
On another development, former Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P. Ramasamy took to social media to pen his take on the matter, saying that Anwar was unclear on what “social contract” meant, and by most accounts, the student became confused by the latter’s rebuke.
“What was the social contract that Anwar referred the student to look into?”
Anwar did not spell out what he had meant by “social contract”, and did not indicate whether it was a written document or part of the federal constitution.
“I am sure the student did not understand what Anwar meant by ‘social contract’ and why it was relevant to discussions on admissions to public institutions of higher learning.
“I think that the social contract mentioned by Anwar referred to inter-communal understanding between the Malays and the non-Malays in the Alliance Party on the eve of political independence in 1957,” said Ramasamy in a Facebook post.
“Essentially, it meant that the non-Malays accepted the political dominance of Malays, the place of royalty in the country, the special position of Malays and the status of the national language.
“In return, the Malays would allow citizenship for the non-Malays, their vernacular schools system and their right to worship their religions and practise their custom and culture.
“It was an inter-ethnic bargain and compromise that allowed for political stability in the country.”
Ramasamy highlighted, however, that this compromise between the Malay and non-Malay elites “was not a written document”, but one that “was predicated on the spirit of compromise and understanding for the preservation of political stability in a deeply divided society”.
He also wrote about the inclination to have more controlled policies or politics as a form of dominance in the higher education system, and questioned if it was worthwhile. – The Vibes, August 8, 2023
