Dayan

Perfect scores also no Jalan .... Quote. Last night in Melaka, together with MCA Vice-President and Klebang state assemblyman Datuk Wira Lim Ban Hong and Melaka EXCO Datuk Ngwe Hee Sem, I met a young girl whose story broke my heart — 19-year-old Lee. Lee is not just any student. She is a Matrikulation graduate who achieved perfection — CGPA 4.0, full marks for co-curricular activities, a total merit score of 100. By every standard, she represents the best of the best. Since young, she dreamed of becoming a lawyer. With that goal in mind, she applied through UPU to the only three public universities where a local Chinese student can study Law — Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and Universiti Utara Malaysia. She was shortlisted and attended the interviews. She walked in with confidence, knowing she had given her all. Lee, who had previously represented his school in state-level storytelling, public speaking, and poetry recitation competitions and won medals, is certainly unafraid of any stage performance, and was quite confident after attending the interview sessions with UM, UKM, and UUM. But when the results were released, her world came crashing down. All three universities rejected her. Instead, she was offered a place in Accounting at Universiti Putra Malaysia — her fourth choice, far from the dream she had worked so hard for. “YB, for Chinese students there are only 3 options to enter a public university for the law course. I listed all of them and attended all three interview sessions at UM, UKM, and UUM. Unfortunately, I failed in all three choices, which were my true ambition. Yes, it’s true, I was offered the fourth option, which is the Accounting course at UPM. But I was required to fill up all 12 choices provided by UPU. “That’s why I included courses other than law just to make up the 12 choices. Now, I’ve been offered Accounting, which was my fourth choice, and UPU does not allow me to make an appeal. What else can I do? My goal since childhood has been to pursue law……” “YB, I gave everything. I scored full marks. I handled the interviews well. I truly believed I had a chance. But now my dream is gone. I wanted to be a lawyer since I was a little girl… Why was I not chosen? Were all those who got in also perfect scorers? If not, how is this fair? “My family is not wealthy and I have other younger siblings. Private university is simply impossible for us as I do not want to add more burden to my parents. Perhaps I must accept my fate, give up on Law, and settle for Accounting. But this will remain the greatest regret of my life.” In that moment, I had no words. Her story is not just about one girl’s shattered dream. It is about fairness, about justice, about the promise we owe our young people. When even a perfect scorer is denied the chance to pursue her calling, what message are we sending to the next generation? Education must be a fair playing field in this country. If our system is broken, then it must be fixed. Lee’s story is not hers alone, it belongs to every hardworking student in Malaysia who dares to dream. I can only guess that the Ministry of Higher Education and the three universities would give this as the only “reasonable” reply: Lee’s interview performance was poor, and that’s why she wasn’t admitted. 😭 In the coming days, will UM, UKM, or UUM allow Lee to pursue her dream of studying Law through their direct intake channels? The catch is, while it’s still admission into the same programme, the tuition fees through direct intake amount to RM90,000 — ten times higher than through UPU! Lee has obtained the perfect results. However, not only did she not get her preferred course in law, she was not allowed to make any appeal since the Ministry of Higher Education has offered her her fourth choice in Accounting. Looks like she can only wait for a miracle to happen… It seems that today, September 14, will be the turning point in Lee’s future. I wish her nothing but success ahead! facebook.com/share/p/17XvnoF…