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Discriminatory [unclear: FEES]

...And We Slam the Door!

What Price, Higher Education?

On Saturday 9th of June, the [unclear: Prm] minister, Datuk Hussein Onn announced in a [unclear: ma] Policy statement that the Government would [unclear: sure] fair representation of all races in education, and that more places would be absorb the increasing number of applications. However, the following letter tells us in vivid detail how it is to be a student in the queue.

March 20, 1pm - I am in my school with a friend. We go into the office. The results are not released yet. We wait. My class had been small, with fewer than 20 students. Yet we are a determined lot. I was one of them.

We knew our aims. We recognised our problems. We realised the obstacles. We know that entering local universities was very competitive. I had given up participation in the school's relay team, and other activities, just to strive harder in my studies.

I had pressed myself too hard. I had suffered severe headaches. Sometimes, I consulted the doctor once every 10 days. One told me that I had overstrained myself, and advised me to rest. Reluctantly, I followed his advice. Though helpful, it did little good, because I kept worrying about the exams. So, through out my exams, my headaches persisted. I found it very difficult to recall, but I tried my best.

3.40 pm: I accept that I could not have done very well. With this, I go in to get my results. I had Principles A, B, C, and D.

May 19: I have not yet received any reply from Unit Pusat Universiti-universiti (a government body that administers the intake of students to the 5 tertiary institutions), or the individual universities. Some of my friends have, so I go to see them. I notice gloomy faces, so I ask why.

"Two A's, two B's and only a science course," says one of my friends, "what do you think I studied Double Maths for, if I can't get into engineering?" Obviously he is very disappointed.

"And me, this lousy course will probably make me jobless," complains another, who also got two A's and two B's, but was given the science course. I would have been satisfied with a science course. I am aware that I cannot compete for better courses. But for us - those with points between 52 and 57, the shock was yet to come.

May 24: A few of my friends and I have [unclear: ne] unicived any reply regarding our applicatiase to believe versities. We are getting worried all, our qualifications that we might be rejected [unclear: nimum] requirement the are much better than feel uneasy, previous year. [unclear: B]

Friend in Kuala Lumpur and ask him We [unclear: ring] us. There is hope mixed with fear as we to [unclear: fously]. When the answer comes, we cannot [unclear: be-ve] our ears! We have all been rejected! The sudden shock is too great to bear, we are speechless. I feel numb and cannot move for a moment.

It is the greatest blow in my school career. All the distinctions acquired in the LCE, MCE and HSC, they are considered ho good. Refusing to give up hope, we begin to look for alternatives - overseas. One or two of us probably can afford it. For the rest, especially myself, it will be a dream, "We search. May be................just maybe, we can raise the money, we can borrow. Maybe, we can do this, we can do that (by honest means), then go. We are truly desperate.

May 26: We walk into the Australia High Commission. We ask for the forms, but the lady in charge asks us for our letters of rejection. We have not received them, so we tried to explain our situation. However the lady insists, she will not be able to help us without those letters. Disappointed we leave.

As we enter the New Zealand High Commission, we see a number of others already absorbed with the information books available.. I am given an application form. I sift through "Overseas Students Handbook."

There are two others beside me. "What did you obtain?" I ask one.

"A, B, C, D."

"GP (general paper)?"

"Six (subsidiary level)"

"When I first got the results," he continues, "my teacher told me I can just walk in. Now where am I?"

"The kicked us out," a nearby listener interrupted.

"What about you?' someone asks me.

I shake my head. He understood. With my friend I go to the Ampang Park Shopping Complex. We certainly look dejected. A girl approached me.

"Are you the one at the Australia High Commission this morning?" she asks.

"Yes, I saw you there" I reply.

"Well, it seems we are in the same boat."

"Sinking", I added.

I soon find out that she is from Malacca - rejected, and now not sure where to go. Her father had told her to repeat. "This is the first time I have tasted such a thing, I really don't know what to do." She sounds lost. I can see that she is holding herself back with difficulty. I understand how she feels. She must have had sleepless nights. I know, because I experienced it. I am absolutely sure that she cannot take it

At Macee (Malaysian-American Commission on Education Exchange) I am given a card to fill in, a booklet, "Undergraduate Education in the United States" and a book "American College and University Guild." Flipping through the booklet, I come to page 9 - "The costs of higher Education." My heart sinks heavily.

Although I had expected high expenses, by merely looking at the figures, I have to accept that my destination is sealed.

Plus US$800 to US$1,000 to cover expenses during the summer period. Moreover, costs are increasing at approximately 6% annually.

May 31: "Candidates who have been rejected by local universities can still register to re-sit for titter HSC/STP examinations.........if they want to improve their results, although the closing date for the examinations is over." say newspaper reports. It kindles a speck of hope, but one of my friends says he doesn't feel he can sit again. Last year was the second time he did it, after failing to gain entry at this first attempt.

Another classmate also expresses doubt. I am too taken aback to make any decision. Maybe I should do it. On top of it all, there is one major question: How can we know that the same thing will not happen to us again next year?

For us, the future is a blank.

Reprinted from the Star, 12th June '79.

The above letter was written by a HSC holder, expressing his sense of frustration and discontent having passed his examination with above average results and yet unable to enter into any of the 5 universities in Malaysia. He looked for alternatives and soon found out to his shock that the path to a tertiary education overseas is beyond his reach.

This is the typical scene in the education 'chase' in Malaysia. It is also from this pool of 'dropouts' that most of the present overseas students originated. They are not 'dropouts' in the real sense, they are a bunch of top scholars as shown in New Zealand, Australia or the United Kingdom.

Those who can afford would go to countries like USA, Canada or Britain. Precisely due to the lower costs of attending a university in New Zealand, we find most of the overseas students here are not from rich families.

Perhaps, this letter would enlighten those who are unaware, and more importantly, to refute the groundless charges by Mr Muldoon on the overseas students over the past few weeks about the $1,500 fees-rise.