The assertion by our esteemed leaders that they will continue with the so-called meritocracy system is to me the greatest political joke in Malaysian history. Manora is spot o­n to say that the entry by merit is baseless and untrue.

My sister and her friends were lecturers at a local university. They taught matriculation subjects. Sure enough a majority of students were not even o­n par to pass the subjects. I personally took the written part of the exam and aced it when I was in Form Four.

Since I aced it, does this mean I would qualify for the matriculation courses? Do I have to really slice the apple here to reveal the worms?

The best part is yet to come. When senior staff found out that more than 75 percent were unable to attain a passing grade, needless to say they were not at happy. Hence began the 'special giveaway' marks! The first wave began with 10 per cent across the board for all students who did not manage to pass. Then, a special 5 per cent would be given to those with punctual attendance.

If that is not enough for a pass, a special o­ne-on-one 'pleading' session between students and lecturers can nab you another 10 to 20 per cent. Between 15 to 35 per cent in giveaways, it would be harder to fail than pass.

So where is the merit in education that is now shouted about? If a merit system exists, there should not be any matriculation courses at all. Let all students go through STPM and we'll see what true merit really is.

Since election is near, there are no guesses as to why all this meritocracy talk is being beefed up again.