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Malaysia Concerned Over Brain Drain
KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Sunday expressed concern about a brain drain in the country if educational opportunities for non-Malays were restricted, and said Chinese and Indians should have access to more places in educational institutions.
But he stopped short of saying whether the country's quota system - a legacy of a three-decade-long affirmative action program - would be abolished. He passed that decision on to the 22 million Malaysians - apparently in the form of a nationwide vote on the issue.
"If they choose to reject the quota system, we will do away with it. We do it for the people. If they feel that the government is implementing a bad policy, then the government can abolish it," he said, reacting publicly for the first time to news that 7,168 places in public universities will go vacant because not enough Malays and other indigenous people can meet minimum standards.
He told the country's Malays that if they did not show any interest in education, then more places should be allocated to non-Malays.
"We will face a problem because the intelligent non-bumiputera [indigenous] Malaysians would be wooed by other countries interested in their capability," he said after opening an exhibition.
"There will be a brain drain if we prevent capable people from acquiring knowledge which would be beneficial to the country."
At present, 55% of university places are reserved for Malays, 35% for Chinese and 10% for Indians and others.
It is unlikely that the quota system will be abolished anytime soon.
Politically, such a move could be dangerous for UMNO because many Malays see the preferential-treatment system as a birthright.
UMNO's main rival for Malay support, the Islamic PAS, has maintained the need to continue affirmative action programs.
So there is a better chance of the system being tweaked, perhaps to guarantee top Chinese and Indian students places in any of the 14 public universities, and to allow non-Malays to make up any shortfall on an ad hoc basis.
Mahathir also revisited one of his favorite themes Sunday - that Malay students do not work hard enough.
He said Malays and other indigenous people must accept the fact that if they were not keen to make use of the opportunities given to them, they had no right to play the role of spoilers.
"This is unfair. If they want to study, then do so. Don't just study, to deprive others," he said.
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