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Sunday, July 21, 2013

4As, University Entry And The NEP


The annual  season of  anger and tension over the university admissions is here again.  

Non bumiputra students who qualify for admission into public university are again complaining that they have not been given 

i. a place in public universities 
ii. not given a course of their choice 
iii. and for those top scorers they have not been given places in course worthy of their qualifications like medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering and other sought after courses. 

First I would like to say how we should approach this entire issue of admissions into public universities. For the past 40 years it has been very much an 'us versus them' approach ie it has become a 'bumiputra versus non-bumiputra' issue.  

We have actually been putting ourselves into a stupid Malthusian Trap.  (Malthusian Trap is my own concoction ok, someone please write it down).

I have commented about Thomas Robert Malthus (1766 - 1834) in Chapter 42 of my third book "Things In Common". The chapter is titled  : "The Malthusian Church : A Good Example Of Another Bad Religion."   The fact is this one human being has had a greater influence on modern Western predatory behaviour than belief in god, religion, capitalism, philosophy or anything else put together.    And Malthusian ideas dominate Western thinking until today. While at Yale, George Bush received a high "C" in Malthusian thought. (err..this is a joke ok)

Malthusian Confusion  : "I must win, you must lose"

Thomas Robert Malthus preached that there were only so much resources in the world. So if one group of people got some resources, they would deny others the same. Therefore people must make themselves strong so that they can compete and grab the limited resources in the world. In other words the strong must kick ass over the weak.  

Thomas Robert Malthus wrote a very, very famous essay titled : "An essay on the principles of population" which incorporated these ideas that he had. 

Of course Thomas Robert Malthus grew up in an 18th century world where science and technology were still basic. Malthus was born in 1766, just four years before the Steam Age began in Europe. Wealth was still counted by how many acres of land you had or how many head of cattle you had.  At that time the English in England were no different from the Masai in Kenya.

At that time the British East India company had already been plundering the world for 200 years already - since 1600.  Unfortunately in 1805 Thomas Robert Malthus became a  Professor of History and Political Economy at the East India Company College in Hertfordshire where he taught more and more British colonials how to go out and plunder the world for its riches.

Malthusian ideas became extremely influential in England.  Another Englishman who was mesmerised and strongly influenced by Thomas Robert Malthus was a guy called Charles Darwin. I am sure you have heard of him. Here is a picture of Charles Darwin. Darwin wrote another world famous book titled 'The strong shall kick your ass' (Do click on the link). 


We praise Allah (Subhaa-nallaah) who rules over all things that the post Malthusian modern age of science and technology has proven that the development and the application of the human mind can free the human race from an over dependence on natural resources. 

I have to qualify this  a little bit more. Science and technology has given the human being the ability to extract more and more from the same amount of natural resources.  In other words, science and technology have multiplied many, many fold the benefits from the limited 'resources' that were available to Thomas Robert Malthus.  

Science and technology (aka the application of the human mind) will make the earth boundless and a place of plenty. The 'land of milk and honey' is not a place on earth or some imaginary spot in the sky. It is inside the human mind. It is inside our otak. 

Before, we needed thousands and thousands of acres of land to grow rubber. Land is a depleting resource. And our technological capacity was simple. We tapped the rubber, made it into sheets and exported it. That is all the technology that we had. 

Now they can raise chickens, goats and milk fish (in tanks) under the rubber trees. They can plant other crops as well. Rubber trees mature faster and produce more rubber. We make a huge array of products from rubber. Then old rubber trees are chopped down and made into furniture. Or they are pulped down and made into MDF which is also used to make furniture.  

Now we have recycling. We recycle old and used rubber products - making yet more useful products from recycled rubber. It goes on and on.  So from the same amount of "limited" rubber land we are able to produce so much more - all due to science and technology. 

So it is proven - although land is a depleting resource, the increased usage of science and technology can telescope or multiply the benefits that can be derived from the land (natural resources) available to the human race. An acre of land in the 21st century can generate so much more goods and services for the human race than the 18th century of Malthus.  

And also jobs. Through science and technology a one acre size factory can generate a thousand jobs. The same one acre of padi field can only generate four or five jobs. 

Which is why we should never restrict anyone who qualifies for university admission a place in the public university. Especially so the top scorers and the bright students who are the future of the human race - no matter which race or religion they belong to. 

It is totally unwise to deny bright kids from pursuing their intellectual development. If we do that we are actually making our society poorer. Imagine if Thomas Edison never went to school or learnt to read and write. We may not have had the light bulb for a long time. We would still be in the dark.

Yes we must continue with the Affirmative Action in the country. It will be economically unproductive in the long run (and politically disastrous in the short run) if we do not have Affirmative Action in the country. This means Article 153 stays ("special position of the Malays").

The NEP must continue until the time comes when the bumiputras themselves realise that they do not need the NEP anymore. How soon will that be? We have to put more thinking into that so that the "Expiry Date" for the NEP will come closer much faster. (Err it wont be 2020 ok.)

However Affirmative Action does not mean that we have to favour one group of people at the expense of other communities.  It does not mean that if we give one medical seat to a bumiputra we have to deny a medical seat to a non-bumiputra.

There is a great rush for medical seats (and dentistry, pharmacy, engineering etc) in public universities because it is subsidised by the Government.  It costs less than RM20,000 to study medicine at a public university versus anything from RM300,000 - RM1,000,000 at private universities. Hence public universities provide opportunities for those who cannot afford to pay so much money. 

But just how many top scorers are we talking about? Well the numbers vary. For this year 2013 some people say there are only 55 STPM top scorers (the real top scorers ok) who achieved GPA of 4.0.   A few days ago someone else said there were 85 of these STPM top scorers. OK lah even if it is 85, that is not a very huge number.   

Plus the Matrikulasi and the Asasi Sains students, the top scorers with GPA 4.0 increases to 400. 

Bukan sepuluh ribu atau dua puluh ribu. Its only 400 students max. And not all these 400 top scorers want to be doctors. Some want to be dentists, pharmacists, engineers, architects and such. Just give them the places.

If medical seats are limited in public universities, then we have no choice but to increase the number of medical seats in the public universities to accomodate the CGPA 4.0 applicants.  Just put more thinking (and money) into it. 

If Anwar Ibrahim could spend RM1.0 billion for useless FA 18 jet fighters (they cannot fly on any mission without "source code" approval from the United States - that is how dumb Anwar Ibrahim was when he bought the FA18 when he was the Deputy PM in 1993) surely we can spend a few extra millions to recruit a few more medical lecturers and professors, put a few more beds at our teaching hospitals, "approve" a few more teaching hospitals and stuff to accomodate these very, very few  top scorers who want to be medical doctors.  Apa susah sangat? 400 top scorer saja!! 

Surely we can spend a few extra million Ringgit to create a few hundred more seats in dentistry, engineering, law, architecture etc at our public universities? If there are 20 public universities that is a just an extra 20 seats each (total - spread over medicine, pharmacy, engineering, law, architecture, accounting etc). Apa susah sangat?

Folks, there is a verse in the Quran which says this :  

58:11  "O ye who believe! when it is said unto you, "Make room (for people)", then make room. Allah will make way for you. And when it is said, 'Come up higher' go up higher; Allah will exalt those who believe among you, and those who have knowledge, to high ranks. Allah is Informed of what ye do."  -  translation by Marmaduke Pickthall.

In other words, always make room for other people as well - especially for people who are deserving.  Any child who has studied hard and secures a 4.0 GPA deserves to be given a place for which he qualifies.

If we keep insisting 'Your grandfather cheated my grandfather so now I want to get even with you' that is not going to solve anything. And we have to stop talking about our grandfathers. Many of them were not very smart. Some were plain stupid.   

But why do we have to put the whole country into convulsions over 400 top scorers? Pikiaq lah sikit. This issue has been bouncing around in the newspapers and in the Net for the past two weeks. And it happens year after year. It is actually a small matter.  

The other suggestion is to send some of these top scorer students to private universities INSIDE Malaysia - but subsidised by the Government (aka on scholarships). 

Affirmative Action means helping those who are less fortunate.  I dont think anyone will dispute this. In Malaysia we cannot deny that large numbers of the less fortunate are still the bumiputras plus some non bumiputras as well.   I dont think any non bumiputra is going to argue this fact (but I myself cannot agree why a bumiputra millionaire needs a 7% bumiputra discount to buy a multi million Ringgit bungalow or penthouse? That part is a little confusing to me). 

But Affirmative Action cannot mean denying university places for non-bumiputras. That is suicidal in the long run because we do not allow talent from coming up - all talent whether bumi or non bumi. Talent is talent and we must encourage talent for the benefit of our own economy and country. We need light bulbs - no matter what is the race or religion of the inventor. 

This idea that "If my child cannot qualify, then your child also should not get it" or  "Kalau aku tak dapat, hang pun tak boleh dapat" has to be buried with Thomas Robert Malthus.  

The win-win situation is much better.  Everyone can win. It is not a zero sum game.

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