The writer of this letter has portrayed as if China is being fair to all of its citizens, Han Chinese and other minorities. But China has been oppressive towards the minority cultures, especially the Uighurs in Xinjiang. The Uighurs have been denied being educated even in their mother tongue language.
So I question the writer’s use of Chinese citizen’s educational opportunity as an example in solving our racial issues. Discrimination goes both ways in Malaysia, and while the writer is right in the sense that UiTM students can never use the excuse of their race being underprivileged to restrict its doors to other races, the writer should be more courteous when saying ‘If it engages in fair employment, then you should be proud of your achievements and the fact that your ‘kind’ is the minority should not matter much as you and your colleagues are actually one and the same with regards to your skills – and that is why you were hired’.
That implies as if meritocracy exists in our business environment. As a matter of fact, true meritocracy never existed in the private sector just as it never existed in the public sector.
I know personally of many equal opportunity principles being violated in non-Malay private companies and I did not see the rejected Malay applicants as incompetent. An insider has been notifying me of private colleges which have been manipulating their entrance procedures so that more non-Malays are enrolled in without proper qualifications.
I also know of many of my non-Malay friends who have been denied scholarships. So, discrimination happens to everyone, and I am unsatisfied with the accusation as if discrimination is a one-way street.
There are more than 100,000 UiTM students all over Malaysia, and I am sad to see many non- Malays write their opinions as if the demonstrating students (which I reckon was not even 10% of total population) are representative of typical UiTM students.
During the reformasi era, a lot of vocal UiTM students and lecturers were blacklisted, threatened, transferred or fired under the notorious Auku. We can say that the recent demonstration was cleverly directed by the upper echelon of the politically-linked UiTM leadership.
Democracy and freedom of speech never existed in UiTM. So how can one assume all UiTM students and faculty members (portrayed by media as endorsing the message) are ‘racist’?
If the confrontational stance like the writer’s is being copied by politicians to assuage the Malays to abandon the affirmative action policy, I do not think any constructive solutions can be achieved.
If the writer wants to speak out against racism in the future, speak out fairly and justly, not just by accusing others of being racist and cruel just because they lament on their disadvantaged economic position to back up their assertions of the use of affirmative action.
I also wish those in charge of the public institutions such as UiTM will be less prejudiced to non-Malays, and those in the private sector will employ personnel based on merit instead of race and stop being racist in using certain language requirements as intentional barriers.
Affirmative action must be guided by objectives, road maps and KPIs, and it must not leave certain under-represented minority groups behind (Indians, aborigines etc).
No. 48, Jalan Kemuja, Bangsar Utama 59000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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