The government would have more money to provide education scholarships if it stopped constructing expensive highways, so says an economist .

"We could have another one billion (to spend on scholarships) if we cancel the construction of one expressway," said economist Dr Hoo Ke Ping.

His remark drew a loud applause from the 50-odd audience at a discussion on why SPM top scorers were not given scholarships at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

According to Hoo, bureaucracy is to be blamed for this dismal situation.

"It is the bureaucracy that possess the power, which will not be changed by the federal government...so this problem will continue to exist and this structural problem cannot be solved in eight to 10 years time," he said.

To improve things, he called on the media, political parties and individuals involved (students) to apply collective pressure.

However, fellow panelist MCA Youth Education Bureau chief, Dr Wee Ka Siong, said the problem lied in the balance between the government's limited resources and the ever increasing number of top scorers.

He said every scholarship cost at least RM300,000 and the 200 scholarships given to Chinese students amounted to RM60 million, not including scholarships for medical courses which costs more than RM1 million each.

This is a heavy burden to the government, he added, to which Hoo interjected and quipped that the government should stop building expensive highways.

Flawed selection process

Meanwhile, Wee also explained how the Public Services Department (JPA) selected those eligible for scholarships.

He said besides academic achievement, students were also subjected to an interview session.

"The interview section is the most vital part of the application where a group of six or seven candidates will be evaluated by panel and only one out of four candidates will be short-listed.

"However the interview section is very subjective. It is decided by the personal views of the panel. It is very difficult for the students to understand the whole process" he added.

Wee said MCA Youth has suggested to the JPA to keep a record of the interviews so it can be used as a reference if there are appeals.

He also revealed that JPA categorised candidates who obtain the highest percentage of A1s in their subjects as a better achiever than those with more A1s but with a lower percentage.

(For example, a candidate with nine straight A1s (100 percent A1s) is better than a candidate with 13A1s out of 14 subjects)

According to Wee, JPA admitted that the system was flawed and had promised to improve it in the future.

To stay or return?

Both panelists also exchanged views on why many Malaysian graduates prefered to remain abroad than return home.

Hoo said non-Malay graduates should not return because the dominant Malay government will not appreciate them.

However, Wee disagreed, saying these graduates should return as 'there are still opportunities in Malaysia'.

The MCA politician also stated that the problem of top STPM students not being admitted into local varsities was solved this year.

There were no complaints from students with a 4.0 accumulated point not getting a place, he added.

The discussion themed 'Door closed for helpless top scorers' was organised by Oriental Daily News and moderated by SCAH Civil Rights Committee member, Beh Lih Yi.

Meanwhile, malaysiakini spoke to a JPA medicine scholarship holder, who is now waiting for his A-Level examination results to study abroad.

According to him, the criteria for selection was not known to candidates during the interview session with the JPA panel.

He said during the session, which took less than an hour, candidates and the panelists discussed about current affairs relevant to the courses applied.

Candidates were also required to introduce themselves and state their reasons for choosing a particular course and for wanting to study abroad.

"We were not told why we were short-listed, the reply is simply whether you get the scholarship or not," said the student who declined to be named.