The recent hoo-ha over those with many As not getting a PSD (JPA) scholarship is a creation of the racialist Barisan Nasional.

When many Chinese and Indian applicants did not get PSD scholarships, the MCA and MIC started clamouring for more and a few years back, when Umno needed the support of the non-Malays, they agreed that those scoring 10 A1s and above would get PSD scholarships.

This started the race for scoring as many As as you can so that one could get a PSD scholarship.

Now the BN is facing this dilemma because so many applicants have 10 or more A1s and they cannot fulfil this assurance and so they have to think of other ways to ensure that it looks okay to give some with 10 or more A1s a scholarship but not others who have similar results. So the PSD fell back on co-curricular activities, performance during interviews and what have you.

The issue here is not about capable bumiputra with less than 10 A1s getting scholarships (after all, that's what special privileges is all about in our ‘social contract') but why certain non- bumiputra with similar or better results did not get the scholarships.

The answer is pretty obvious. One, within the quota, there aren't enough scholarships to go around for all those non-bumis with 10 A1s and above.

So who then among the non-bumis should be awarded the scholarships if they have similar or more A1s? The answer would obviously be the ones who are true scholars. How does one define a true scholar?

Easy, look at his school record. Is he a consistent performer? Is he active in leadership roles in the school? Is he able to speak various languages well? Is he active in sports?

Such excellence are recorded in the school history of every applicant and should be used together with his performance at the interview. This will clear the air and make hopefuls not merely cram for A1s but be more active as a true scholar - an all rounded student instead.

Secondly, the PSD must look at the background of applicants' families. There are many extremely rich people whose children obviously would do well because of the academic support they get from their parents. After getting scholarships when these students complete their studies, they usually opt out of serving the country by paying back the penalty for not serving the bond.

This has deprived many a poor but worthy student a chance to get a PSD scholarship. Rich people should not deprive the poor of a scholarship and if they want to feel proud that their children also won a PSD scholarship, what the PSD could do is to acknowledge them as PSD scholars but when it comes to monetary payment, they should only get a small percentage of the actual fee.

Their rich parents can very well pay the balance and they need not be forced to serve the government (this is an incentive).

This method must also apply to the quota reserved for the bumiputera also. Let's not kid ourselves that such a reservation of scholarships for the bumiputra exist for even if it is not in writing, it is being done in practice.

I am not against it because of the need for ‘special privileges' to uplift the economic standards of the bumiputeras. What I would like to see is that the really deserving bumiputra get what they truly deserve and not some children of cronies who barely scrape through the SPM getting it.