Wee disputes ministry's '85 seats' in STPM top scorer's case

MCA president Wee Ka Siong has delivered his latest salvo against the Higher Education Ministry, with the lawmaker questioning the figures the ministry cited in its statement addressing grievances on STPM top scorer Edward Wong.

In particular, Wee highlighted that while the statement yesterday claimed Universiti Malaya (UM) only offers 85 places for its accounting programme, official data from the nation’s top university on the number of its graduates casts doubt on the figure.

Citing information he sourced from UM’s records, Wee said that in 2011, the university produced 169 accounting graduates, followed by 195 in 2012, with the number averaging at about 150 up to 2024.

“Why is the Higher Education Department, which oversees all universities in the nation, saying that UM only offers 85 spots when (the university’s) records from 2011 to 2024 show that there are way more graduates?

“Who is not being honest? Are there hidden lanes which are producing these large numbers of (accounting) graduates?” he questioned in a press conference today.

Yesterday, the ministry, in explaining why Wong did not secure a spot in UM’s accounting degree programme, said there were only 85 spots available.

The figure refers to spots made available for admissions via the centralised university admissions system (UPU) and does not include admissions through other means.

Higher education director-general Azlinda Azman reportedly said yesterday that even though Wong obtained a CGPA of 4.0 with a merit of 99.9 percent, his application ranking in the accounting programme was far behind other candidates who had a merit of 100 percent.

The ministry later issued a statement by its Higher Education Department on the matter, reiterating the figures Azlina mentioned while assuring that the UPU system is based on meritocracy and other requirements.

Do other criteria exist?

Wee’s latest questioning of the matter was echoed by UM’s Association of New Youth (Umany), which referenced similar figures based on testimony from student representatives.

It also urged the university to clarify the selection mechanism and criteria considered behind the selection of only 85 candidates from the 1,127 applicants with “perfect scores”.

“When all applicants have already attained the highest possible scores, what fair and consistent mechanism is used to rank them further? Does the system truly reflect a just and transparent evaluation?” Umany asked in a statement today.

Wee also argued that even if UM only offered 85 spots for its accounting programme, it would imply that students for the “critical course” make up “less than one percent” of UM’s enrolment for 2024.

“If it is said that there are plenty of students who scored high marks, where are the 60,000 accountants needed in Malaysia? We only have about 30,000,” he claimed.

He also questioned which party determined that UM would offer only 85 slots for accounting students, querying whether the decision was made arbitrarily amid an influx of high-scoring applicants.

Taking issue with an offer by UM for Wong to enrol for his preferred course via its controversial direct intake system “Satu”, which costs up to “10 times higher”, Wee stressed that the offer shows that the student was qualified for the course, only if he could pay the fees.

The former minister also noted that UM had issued the offer to Wong months before he had received confirmation on his rejected UPU application, thus raising concerns about the university potentially prioritising profits.

Meanwhile, hitting back at Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh’s call for the MCA leaderto issue an apology following the Higher Education Ministry’s clarification on the matter, Wee said he has no intentions of backing down.

“What is there to apologise for? I can show how the data does not tally… why do you want to force me to apologise?

“Some might think Wong is not smart enough, but they are the ones who should be mature enough to look at this issue.”

Akmal earlier urged Wee to apologise for allegedly creating a perception that tarnishes the ministry’s image.

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