by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Penang on Monday, 19th July 1993:
Koh Tsu Koon has lost out to Ipoh in getting Monash University of Australia to establish a private medical college established in Penang
During the debate on the Yang di Pertua Negeri’s speech in the Penang State Assembly on July 24, I had urged the Chief Minister, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon to do all he could to secure the establishment of a prestigious private medical college in Penang by a well-known Australian university, ‘which would be a great asset to Penang as well as a great contribution to relieving the acute doctor shortage in the country.
Tsu Koon denied that this prestigious Australian university which wanted to establish a private medical college in Malaysia and had considered Penang as the venue was having second thoughts about Penang, and said that discussions were still going on.
On Saturday, the Education Minister, Datuk Dr.Sulaiman Daud announced that the Education Ministry had given several private organisations its approval in principle to set up two medical colleges locally.
One is the International Medical College (IMC) in Kuala Lumpur and the other the Asean Medical College (AMC} in Ipoh.
The AMC would introduce a new twinning concept where the first three years of pre-clinical medical training would be in Monash University in Australia ‘while the next three years of clinical training would be at the AMC in Ipoh, making use of Ipoh General Hospital and some government hospitals in Perak as teaching hospitals, where medical students would be exposed to tropical diseases. The medical degrees would be conferred in the name of the Monash University, as the participating university with AMC.
The prestigious Australian university which I referred to in the Penang State Assembly is the Monash University – and it is clear that Penang has lost out to Ipoh to get the Monash University to site its private medical college in Penang.
Taxi Koon should explain why he has failed in his efforts to persuade Monash University to establish the AMC in Penang and why Penang has lost out to Ipoh.