YOURSAY 'It is a real pity that in Malaysia, bright, intelligent and promising students are ‘punished' for obtaining excellent results.'

Kamalanathan gets earful from MIC treasurer

your say Gods Messenger: MIC treasurer Jaspal Singh, you are one of the brave ones who have the guts to question your own comrade. This could not have happened during the rule of past party presidents.

This is the way to go. We should not have leaders who are ‘yesmen' to the coalition. All the other leaders in MIC must follow your example.

Whatever you have raised is for the Indians and it's the duty of the Indian leaders to ensure us Indians are not left out or deprived.

Our younger generation will continue from you, the current leaders, when you retire. You have to set the precedent. What you sow now is what our future generations will reap.

Pemerhati: This type of racial discrimination where Malaysian students who work hard and get excellent results, but are denied places in tertiary institutions because of their ethnicity, is extremely unfair, cruel and a devastating blow to the affected students.

It is also extremely bad for the country because many of these brilliant students will be grabbed by foreign countries and this will result in brain drain and loss of talent.

Because of the extreme racism practiced by Umno, Malaysia does not have a single tertiary institution known for its excellence. This is because the main criterion for recruiting staff and admitting students to universities is not academic merit, but race and religion.

Consequently education standards have plunged and Malaysians and foreigners are extremely wary and suspicious of the quality of the local graduates and professionals.

Hopeful123: It is a real pity that in Malaysia, bright, intelligent and promising students are ‘punished' for obtaining excellent results.

Our education system is really a shameful and terrible one. No one is saying that the Malays must not be given scholarships or places in reputable universities.

Please remember that competitiveness and meritocracy will gradually push the Malays out of the game globally if they continue to be spoon-fed.

The government cannot absorb all the Malays into the civil service either. So do have a level-playing field so that the Malays can also compete in a healthy environment.

Stop telling them that they are useless and will always need help from the government. Indeed, stop shaming the Malays.

Mohamad Abdul Malik: Does everything have to be racial in outlook? If it's done by the Malays, then it's racial. If done by the other races, it's meritocracy.

Other races have the right to be racial but not the Malays? It is this extremist attitude of the other races in Pakatan Rakyat that's allowing Perkasa and Jati to flourish.

It was also this Malay-bashing from some of the other races from Pakatan that resulted in Umno securing the Malay votes. Come the 14th GE, Pakatan will be irrelevant if the bashing continues.

Have the MIC and MCA asked how many Malay students were also denied the courses of their choice? No, because they assumed that only their races were 'discriminated' against.

Anonymous$&@?: If you are really concerned - abolish matriculation which is exclusively for Malays only. Then there is a more level-playing field for students.

Chinniah1954: Kamahl (MIC's P Kamalanathan), as he prefers to be known, do you have a database of all the students who applied, their background, and their family income levels?

Your godfather, former president S Samy Vellu, did a better job at that by visiting every institute of higher learning after the Unit Pusat Universiti (UPU) released the list of successful students. Are you doing that?

Kamikasi: I believe this is up-and-coming developing country does not appreciate and respect its own talented citizens.

It's time for MCA, MIC and other parties to pool their resources, internal or external, and build institutions of higher learning that cater for deserving students.

I believe overseas universities will chip in. This issue has been around for years and is the main cause for people to reject BN. The grand design is to make sure the minorities become second class.

Retnam: Anyway, 1,800 places for Indians are already too much. Did you not hear Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin saying that Indians do not have sufficient grades to enter higher education institutions?

In fact, even these 1,800 seats are given only because the ministry gives a special concession by lowering the entry marks for Indians.

Jaspal, what can Kamalanathan do? He is only a mandore. Why don't you direct your salvo towards Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who really has the power to do things? Do you have the courage for that?

Myop101: Are the Indians that naive to assume that once their children get straight As, they will get seats in whatever course they want?

I have been hearing of this happening to the Chinese long time ago and that is why, most of us just don't bother to apply for a place in local universities.

I recommend they try to get their scholarships from overseas instead. Might as well as they are likely to be treated fairer.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .