The Organising Secretary of the DAP, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, today called on the government to withdraw the $10 million it has pledged to contribute to the MCA College, and contribute to the Merdeka University proposal instead.
In an interview with the Sin Chew Jit Poh, Mr. Lim said that it was wrong and improper for the government to make use of the public funds for a political project intended purely to win back votes for the MCA in the next elections.
Mr. Lim pointed out that none other than the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Inche Senu bin Abdul Rahman, had admitted publicly, at a meeting of UMNO in Kedah recently, that the MCA College was meant to win votes for the MCA.
Mr. Lim pointed out that the Merdeka University, unlike the MCA College proposal, is non-political and a genuine people’s effort to contribute to higher education in this country. It is definitely more deserving of support compared to the MCA College.
The government had many times complained that the private sector had not made sufficient contribution to the cost of education in this country;
But here in Merdeka University, we have a genuine private-sector contribution to higher education? Why did the MCA and the Alliance condemn it?
All that the government and the MCA has said in justification for their opposition to the MCA College is that the College is communal and chauvinist. But they could not give one reason to prove that this is so.
Sponsors of the Merdeka University have declared that the Merdeka University will use multi-lingual media of instruction and will accept students from all racial streams.
Is this communal. This is definitely not communal, because it is not confined to any one race or one language.
The real reason why the Alliance and the MCA are opposed to the Merdeka University is that fundamentally, they are opposed to the achievement of a multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-racial society.
We urge the government to re-consider its stand on the Merdeka University, and give it full support because we are convinced that the project can make a valuable contribution to nation building in Malaysia, and in ushering Malaysia into the modern industrial and economic era by training more professional and technical personnel.
The sponsors of the Merdeka University should press on with their good work, and if they succeed in their endeavour, they deserve the gratitude, not particularly from those of the Chinese-educated stream, but also from the whole nation.
As for the MCA College, we are not opposed to the setting up of the College. What we are opposed to is to use public funds to support a self-confessed political project to win votes for the MCA.
As the MCA College was proposed in view of the forthcoming general elections, who can guarantee what will become of the proposal after the elections? The MCA and the government are very cunning in trying to bluff the voters through the MCA College. A cent to the MCA College fund is a cent to the MCA election campaign fund. I am sure, however, the people will not be so easily misled.
Audited on 2021-04-21.