Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 13. June 11 1979
Why we are Here?
Why we are Here?
[ unclear: Aerseas] student's viewpoint.
[ unclear: e] announcement by the New Zealand [ unclear: goment] to increase the present tuition [ unclear: fee to] $1500 on each private overseas [ unclear: stu-den] except students from South Pacific) [ unclear: coxg] to New Zealand next year have [ unclear: call-se] such concern among the students as [ unclear: wees] various other sectors. Already ' [ unclear: Anti] es Rise' campaigns organised by [ unclear: va-ri] student groups are underway.
[ unclear: e] response so far to this campaign is [ unclear: ncouraging] in view of the keen [ unclear: parti-] on from the overseas as well as the local [ unclear: nts]. As well as publicising the position [ unclear: of erseas] students, it is also very important [ unclear: s] to understand the basis of our campaign [ unclear: o] be clear about the justification of our [ unclear: s] At this stage it is also good for us to [ unclear: dis-] with our fellow students and to under— [ unclear: sta] the root causes of our being here.
[ unclear: he] reasons that led the students of [ unclear: dif-] [ unclear: t] nationalities going overseas are comp [ unclear: nd] different. However a common [ unclear: fea-] [ unclear: is] that most overseas students are from [ unclear: nderdeveloped] Third World countries [ unclear: ying] in the developed Western [ unclear: coun-] In this article I will try to explore the [ unclear: e] of the Malaysian students going overseas.
Economic Deprivation
During the nineteenth century, Malaysia (comprising Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah) became British colony. Under colonial rule, large quantities of our natural resources and wealth were being plundered. In fact, before Second World War, 10-15% of Malaya's national earnings was expropriated to Britain annually for several decades. With this ruthless exploitation, economic and social development of our country was impossible.
After the War began the period of intensifying national liberation movements of the local people throughout the world against the colonial rules. The British realised that it was impossible for them to continue their direct rule of Malaya and the two states of North Kalimantan. Thus 'independence' was granted to Malaya in 1957. Prior to giving independence to Malaya, Britain had taken great pains to train and educate an elite class to care for and protect their vast economic interest. This period marked the beginning of students going overseas, at that time most of them were from the Malay aristocratic class or wealthy businessmen. The notable ones were Tengku Abdul Rahman (former Prime Minister of Malaysia) Tun Abdul Razak (late Prime Minister of Malaysia) and bee Kuan Yeuw (present Prime Minister of Singapore). Under the rule of this elite class who largely served the British interests, it was not surprising to find that the vast economic interests of British remained intact even after independence.
Today, 22 years after independence, the Malaysian economy still bears the prominant features of foreign domination. According to the Third Malaysia Plan, in 1975, foreign companies continued to own some 60% of our country's productive assets. Foreign domination in major sectors of the Malaysia economy results in massive outflow of capital as repatriation of profits and dividend payments. It is significant to note that in the period of 1957/75 1500 million pounds in profit were expropriated from Malaysia and Singapore, an amount almost enough to pay for the running of 130 universities for one year. Thus foreign domination of our economy has led to a general shortage of funds for the development of more institutions of higher learning. Till today only 0.1% of Malaysians have the opportunity to attend tertiary institutions
Racial Discrimination
During the colonial rule, a 'Divide and Rule' tactic was adopted by the British. 'Malay Special Rights' were given to the Malays. After independence of Malaya, similar tactic was used. A consequence of the Malay privileges was the creation of a bureaucratic (mainly Malay) class during the period 1957/1969.
This Malay bureaucratic class had the personal ambition of profiting from the capitalist system adopted by the then government. However, their attempts to make in-roads into the established capitalist sector controlled by the foreigners and Chinese were largely failed. The May 13th 1969 incident marked a turning point of their effort as Tun Abdul Razak representing the interests of the new Malay bureaucratic class were able to replace Tengka Abdul Rahman who represented the aristocratic interest. Other than trying to increase the employment, trade and industry opportunities for the Malays, the new government also viewed education as one of the opportunities for the Malay bureaucratic class to become rich as well as gaining social status.
Thus after the implementation of New Economic Policy by the government in 1970, there was a drastic decrease in opportunities for the non-Malays in all sectors, including educational opportunities. For example, the intake of Malays to tertiary institutions have increased from 49.7% to 65.1% in 1975 whereas the Chinese decreased from 42.7% to 31.1% in the same year. This deprivation of educational opportunities are one of the main causes of Malaysian Chinese going overseas.
Thus, we see that the two major causes of the large exodus of Malaysian students going overseas are due to: Firstly, shortages of educational facilities as a consequence of past colonial rule and the present government serving foreign interests. Secondly, racial discrimination due to racial policy of the present government.