Be fair to tax-paying Malaysians, Dr Wee tells DAP on public university enrolment issue

The Star

a day ago

PETALING JAYA: Is it fair for tax-paying Malaysians, whose children aspire to enter public universities, to be denied opportunities due to those institutions' commercialisation measures, asked MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Challenging DAP to base their arguments on facts instead of rhetoric, Dr Wee noted that his remarks in Dewan Rakyat were grounded in actual sentiment and concern over the management of public universities.
"It's about educational opportunities for all Malaysians... while public universities expand revenue-generating international intakes through non-transparent mechanisms and commercialise admissions via the open channel," he said in a statement on Friday (Aug 8).
Such practices. He said, resulting in extremely high tuition fees, ranging from RM400,000 to RM500,000, compared to RM15,000 to RM200,000 through the centralised admission system (UPUOnline) for a five-year MBBS course.
"The core of this issue is not about race. It is about access, equity, fairness and accountability,' added Dr Wee.
Dr Wee was responding to Ipoh Timor MP Howard Lee's claims that Dr Wee was trying to paint public universities in a negative light.
Lee had claimed that across the 20 public universities, the total number of Chinese nationals studying undergraduate programmes was 7,930, while Malaysian undergraduates of Chinese descent were no less than 41,176.
Lee, however, did not state the source of these figures.
"Do we want to provide more space for Malaysians in our public universities? Absolutely. Are 41,176 Malaysian Chinese undergraduates enough? Certainly not.
"It will never be enough until the day we achieve universal and free public higher education – and we are still a long way from having that fiscal capacity," he said in a statement.
Lee also wanted Dr Wee to apologise in Parliament for "lying" about mainland Chinese students outnumbering locals in our public universities.
On Wednesday, Dr Wee reiterated his concerns about the sharp rise in the percentage of foreign student enrolment at Malaysia's public universities that is outpacing that of local students, raising red flags about the allocation of placements.
Citing a recent study by the Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (Insap), he said the number of Malaysian students enrolling in public universities increased modestly from 172,719 in 2018 to 191,450 in 2024, reflecting a 10.8% rise and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of merely 1.73%.
In stark contrast, non-Malaysian enrolment surged from 10,003 in 2018 to 19,731 in 2024, marking a 97.3% increase and a CAGR of 11.99%.
While not against the intake of international students, Dr Wee said it becomes an issue when their enrolment seems to be replacing spots meant for Malaysian students.
'We must ensure a balance that respects the educational needs of our own creme de la creme," he said.
Civil society group G25 also stated their concerns about the increasing commercialisation of public services under the guise of "financial sustainability."
They highlighted the trend of prioritising direct intakes in public universities and the privatisation of healthcare, warning that such practices could exacerbate socio-economic divides.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir had also recently responded to Dr Wee, stating that the government continues to prioritise Malaysians, with no compromise on the quotas allocated for local students in public universities.
MCA then urged Zambry to make known admissions data for public universities, adding that the intake of foreign students must not come at the expense of local students.
Zambry's insistence that international students were not displacing locals was insufficient to allay concerns without clear, transparent figures, said party vice-president Datuk Tan Teik Cheng.