No More Herrings, Please

Hmm...I should stop allowing news articles and comments on political issues to dominate my blog. This blog is going to turn into a political commentary. But...cannot...resist. The sheer ignorance: it is bliss.

MCA President Datuk Ong's remarks concerning disgruntled PSD scholarship rejects who surface annually in Malaysia after the scholarship results are released. Taken from: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/14/nation/3903342&sec=nation


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The MCA, [Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat] said, received many complaints where students considered the best in certain states were not selected for the scholarships.

“Instead, the moment they were informed about their unsuccessful bid to obtain scholarships to study overseas, the students were asked whether they would accept offers to study at local public universities or foreign universities based in Malaysia.

“This is a very serious situation where students do not get enough time to consider their decision,” he said, adding that such circumstances must be stopped.

Currently, Ong said, the selection is based on four criteria - merit (20%), race (60%), Sabah and Sarawak citizens (10%) and students from underprivileged groups (10%).

He said if meritocracy was part of the criteria, the students’ co-curriculum activities and interviews should not be included for consideration.

“Meritocracy means it should solely be the students’ results and not any other areas,” he said.

***


I can hardly believe they quoted him right. He talked about everything except the glaring 60% race criteria. Ok, that's to be expected since race is counted as merit according to his party line. But not to use interview results? Co-curricular activities not involved in meritocracy? (ok, I dislike the CCA benchmark too, but a candidate should at least show ability to employ his or her time usefully). What if the interviewee reveals that he or she cannot commit to the bond? Sorry Datuk Seri, but the red herrings you throw out won't make your performing seals clap for you anymore.

This article is an example of the artful arrangement of information which I wrote about earlier, which leaves interpretive gaps for the readers where something cannot be said out loud. Another example can be found in the Bukit Botak investigative report, at:

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/5/14/nation/3840470&sec=nation

It doesn't take much to figure which political party the grassroots leaders belong to as the opposition only recently took over Selangor, and the Bukit Botak fiasco started well over ten years ago. The Star's pretty nifty for an MCA-owned paper. But they still spike columns, sadly. No choice lah. Almost all main newspapers are owned either directly or indirectly by political parties. Almost.