Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the opposition stance in promising to abolish the National Higher Education Fund as contained in its general election manifesto was illogical and unrealistic.

tun razak seminar 150607 hishammuddin "If they abolish the fund, what would they replace it with, and also for the free school textbook scheme, milk supplementary programme, and other forms of assistance for students Come on, be realistic. I believe the people can judge for themselves," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said the Barisan Nasional (BN) manifesto in the last general election had been fulfilled, especially the educational development plans.

He said he was proud that all the educational development plans had been put into action and were not empty promises.

"We can take pride that the objectives in the 2004 BN manifesto had been achieved. I am responsible for education and I have observed that what were promised had become a reality," he added.

Hishammuddin said among the achievements in education were the upgrading of national schools, narrowing the gap between rural and urban students, and the performance report.

He said the huge allocation for education each year showed the government was realistic about looking after the welfare of students since independence. while the opposition was thinking about the concept since only recently.

"The government spends RM3 billion each year to assist students, especially those from poor families, and on other subsidies.

"But the opposition does not realise this as they are bent on seeing it as a BN political tactic," he added.

Create a safer environment

ali rustam In a related development, Melaka Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam said the BN manifesto meets the needs of the people.

According to him, the manifesto's slogan ‘security, peace, prosperity' would create a peaceful environment for the government to implement development programmes for the people.

"It is a clear message that the country gives importance to security and peace to continue bringing development for greater prosperity," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

bn barisan nasional election 2008 manifesto The manifesto was unveiled by Prime Minister Abdullah, who is also chairperson of the ruling coalition, yesterday.

The chief minister said the 2004 general election slogan ‘excellence, glory and distinction' was picked because at that time the country was in a transition period and there was a need to strive for excellence to bring the nation to greater heights.

Mohd Ali said four years on, problems cropped up like that brought by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) and opposition parties who wanted street demonstrations while the people wanted peace and security.

"The security issues make us feel not that safe anymore. The government has since recruited 60,000 police personnel and added patrol cars to allay fears.

"We want to create a safer environment that is peaceful, without street demonstrations that scare the people off," he said.

Mohd Ali said BN wanted to inform the people of the security situation so that they would feel safe.