by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday, Nov 19, 1985:
DAP commends Abdullah Badawi’s statement that the government will hot ban students from going abroad for studies as ‘good sense prevailing’
DAP commends the Education Minister, Datuk Abdullah Badawi, for his statement that the government has no intention of banning students from going abroad for studies, Good sense has prevailed, for any such ban will do great harm to the country and the nation-building efforts as well.
When the Barisan MP for Pulai, Datuk Mohamed Rahmat, suggested at last weekend’s UMNO dialogue in Johore Bahru that the government should stop Malaysian students from studying in Singapore, and the Education Minister promised to study the matter, Malaysians were shocked.
This is because firstly, many top Barisan Nasional leaders sent their children overseas for primary or secondary studies, including Cabinet Ministers.
Secondly, the root cause why Malaysians send their children overseas for studies will not be solved by imposing a ban. The real reason why Malaysian parents sent their children overseas
For studies, sometimes with a crushing financial burden, is because of the lack of confidence in the Malaysian education system. The parents are particularly concerned that their students would not have a fair and equal chance to have tertiary educational opportunities in their own country, and if they are to have a better chance to pursue tertiary education abroad, then logically their children should receive their primary or secondary education abroad.
I fully agree that the crisis of confidence in the Malaysian education system should be resolved, but this is not done by banning students from studying overseas. The only way to resolve such a crisis of confidence in the education system is to reform the education system whereby parents do not feel it necessary to send overseas for studies, as their educational aspirations could be achieved locally.
I would call on the Education Minister, Datuk Abdullah Badawi, to study the root causes of this crisis of confidence in the education system, and take immediate steps to correct and reform the system to remove the defects and shortcomings to win back the confidence of the Malaysian people in the education system.
Why is the Government afraid of a parliamentary debate on the Ahmad Nordin BMF Inquiry Report?
The Finance Minister, Daim Zainuddin, in reply to DAP MP for Seremban, Dr. Chen Man Hin, said the government does not intend to submit the report on the BMF loan scandal to Parliament for debate.
I want to ask Daim Zainuddin why the government is so afraid of a parliamentary debate on the Ahmad Nordin BMF Inquiry Report? The Finance Minister should realise that $2.5 billion BMF loans scandal is the largest banking scandal in Malaysian history, and the sum involved is not chickenfeed. In view of the magnitude of the public monies involved, the colossal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds, the government should convene and emergency meeting of Parliament to debate the Ahmad Nordin BMF Inquiry Report once it is submitted to Bank Bumiputra and the government.
I call on the Finance Minister to give an assurance that the BMF Report would be released to the public once it is submitted to the Bank Bumiputra and the government, and that there would be no undue delay between the submission of the BMF Report and its release to the public.