POLITICALLY VOLATILE QUESTIONS
Mr Anwar’s exchange with the student was captured in a video clip that went viral. The student asked: When will the quota system be abolished and meritocracy instituted? She then brought up her observation that some applicants with top grades had gained matriculation college admission only after appealing, whereas others with much lesser grades received offers straightaway.
While she was pleading for her inquiry to be received in earnest and not dismissed for touching on sensitivities, Mr Anwar rather brusquely interrupted, and delivered a 10-minute lecture that started with a reminder of Malaysia’s “social contract” that renders issues like ethnic quotas non-negotiable.
Public opinion has been divided, with criticisms focusing on his tone and invocation of the problematic social contract notion. But there are more consequential matters. Although the prime minister and the student appeared to clash, both raised some valid and non-contradicting points. Alas, consumed by biases and blind spots, they talked past each other.
The student legitimately complained that quotas detract from merit-based admission. Anwar legitimately argued that meritocracy is flawed for disproportionately benefiting the privileged ones who are better poised to ace national exams.
The student highlighted the plight of high-scoring non-Malays being left out and the unfairness of low-scoring Malays being offered entry instead, omitting Malay entrants who have also attained stellar grades. The scope and mechanisms of merit-based admissions, though, have not been clarified.
Mr Anwar highlighted the plight of the economically disadvantaged Bumiputera student, but what of the disadvantaged non-Bumiputera? Mr Anwar leaned on a morally appealing but logically ill-fitting example of the graduate of an impoverished school to justify ethnic quotas, omitting the many Bumiputera matriculation students who come from well-resourced schools.
If socioeconomic disadvantage is the concern, why not institute policies that expressly take that into account?
In apparent agitation at being asked about abolishing quotas, Mr Anwar admonished students for posing politically volatile questions. He emphasised that his administration cannot touch the quota, but that aggrieved high-scoring students can appeal to the Ministry of Education. As a final word, he appealed for non-Malays to be patient, but did not offer anything new worth waiting for.
Source: CNA
