Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and his counterpart in the higher learning ministry, Dr Shafie Salleh, bore the brunt of attacks from MCA Youth delegates for their less than savoury remarks at the Umno general assembly last month.

Hishammuddin, who is also Umno Youth chief, was taken to task by Kedah delegate Lo Thiang Chooi for what he called the minister's 'extreme' statement at the assembly.

Hishammuddin was reported to have said, according to Lo, that "the Malays will not compromise as long as the goals under the New Economic Policy (NEP) are not achieved."

"The Chinese community cannot accept this statement because Malays have benefitted from the NEP for more than 30 years. I hope Hishammuddin will realise this," he said.

"Hishammuddin should be satisfied and not be too greedy because the NEP has brought a lot of benefits to the Malays and has strengthen them economically," Lo added.

Perak delegate Lim Poh Kuang hinted that the party leadership should be more active in curbing the "biased" practice in the intake of students at local universities.

"Why do we have to tell our children what to study when they obtained the good results but could not get the course they want (in university)? Is this is the so-called meritocracy system?" he asked.

He said despite a meritocracy system, university intake is still dominated by bumiputera students with over 90 percent.

Lim said he was very disappointed with a minister's statement (whom he did not name) in the recent Umno assembly that "I will continue to ensure bumiputera students have over 50 percent places in local universities."

A step backward

Lo said the Chinese community should be accorded fair treatment and not being neglected like second-class citizens.

MCA Youth vice-chief Hang Chin Pheng joined the fray to criticise the two ministers during his winding-up on the debates later. He revealed that the earlier unnamed minister was Shafie.

"Shafie's statement was a step backward. Why did he choose to make the statement after he lost the (Umno supreme council) seat? I don't know, but he could be trying to act the hero in order to secure his political career," the vocal Hang alleged.

Pahang delegate Chai Kok Lim questioned why the MCA should sponsor the CD-ROM and text books of the Standard One students following the implementation of the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English.

He also claimed that the agriculture and agro-based ministry did not provide sufficient assistance to Chinese farmers in Cameron Highland and this has resulted in them lagging behind in farming technology.

There was lighter moment during the debate when Sabah delegate Yen Kim Wah told the gathering that he has to face 900 times of power blackout in his area last month, but he did not mention where he came from.

"According to a calculation, the population of Sabah will increase tremendously in future if more power outages occur. Why do you expect people to do in the dark at night," he said, drawing laughter form the floor.

On a more serious note, he said the frequent blackout has resulted in students facing difficulty in studying.

"No electricity, how do we carry out life long learning (the latest MCA campaign)?" he asked.

15-point resolution

Consolidation of the party was also a concern among several delegates. Federal Territory delegate Au Kok Huei reminded the delegates should not be infected with the 'AB-type' virus in the next party election.

"We were so sick with the AB-type virus until we were so blur and could not differentiate whether chairs are used to sit or meant to be thrown at each other," Au said.

At the end of the debate, the youth wing adopted a 15-point resolution covering party affairs, government affairs, society, economy and education. Among others, it called for the government to implement the "genuine" meritocracy system and be transparent in students intake in local universities.

The resolution also urged the government to increase allocation for the government-sponsored Public Services Department scholarship and open the new Khazanah sponsorship for all.