COMMENT | In 2023, a video of a Malaysian graduate giving a powerful speech at his convocation ceremony went viral and touched the hearts of many Malaysians.

He spoke out against the discriminatory racial quotas at Malaysian public universities, recounting a story about how his deceased friend failed to secure a spot in matriculation despite good academic results.

The graduate stressed how the government and public universities should practise meritocracy over divisive quotas.

It is believed the narrative surrounding Malaysia’s racial quotas in education, introduced as part of the broader New Economic Policy (NEP) in the early 1970s, was aimed at promoting economic equality among races.

Yet, preferential practices of selecting Malays for elite administrative roles date back to the colonial period.

These practices were formally recognised in the 1948 Federation of Malaya Agreement and enshrined in Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution.