PSD REJECTS TOP SCHOLARS

PSD REJECTS TOP SCHOLARS

THE STAR REPORTS:

Two months ago, Ng Ee Liang, Amanjeet Singh Toor, Khaw Chok Tong, Desmond Chee, Chew Yin Dee, and Teoh Wan Ying were feeling on top of the world when they each scored 13 1As and were named Penang’s top SPM scorers. But all their dreams and hopes came crashing down on Monday after finding out that their applications for Public Services Department (PSD) scholarships had been rejected.

"I logged on to the Internet website five times and each time, the words ‘permohonan ditolak’ appeared. I called my father and a friend to countercheck and they confirmed the bad news." "People say boys don’t cry, but yesterday I cried my heart out,” said a dejected Ng, 18, in an interview yesterday. “I do not know what went wrong. I was active in sports and other extracurricular activities. I studied hard so that I could become a doctor."

“There are 25 top scorers nationwide and I am in 14th position. All of us had lunch with Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and received certificates from both the Prime Minister and Education Minister for our achievements." “Yet, the certificates do not seem to be able to support my scholarship application,” said the former student of Chung Ling High School, Butterworth.

According to Ng Ee Liang, one of his schoolmates who scored 9As won a scholarship to South Korea to pursue an engineering course, while another with 10As had the chance to pursue a biotechnology course.

“Besides Chee, Teoh and myself, other top students who were rejected included Pahang’s top student Khaw Chok Tong (who scored 12 1As) and Perlis’s top scorer Chew Ying Dee (who obtained 13 1As),” he said.

Desmond Chee, a Form Six student at Penang Free School, also expressed his disappointment, saying he had expected a “favourable reply” from the PSD. “I’ve always wanted to be a doctor and was hoping to get a PSD scholarship. My father works as a technician and cannot afford to pay the high fees for medical studies,” he said.

Teoh Wan Ying, from Penang Chinese Girls High School, expressed similar sentiments, saying that she had to pinch herself when she saw the PSD rejection. She said she wanted to take up a course in actuarial science and hoped to study either in Australia or Britain.

Read another report by NST:

Two months ago, Amanjeet Singh Toor was on cloud nine when he scored 12 A1s in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination. But the jovial and outgoing former Penang Free School student has become quiet and withdrawn since last Monday, when he learned that his Public Service Department scholarship application had been rejected. The distraught 18-year- old said he had been looking forward to a positive response to his application.

"I really thought I could get the scholarship," he said. "I wonder what went wrong."
Amanjeet (left), who aspires to be a doctor, is currently pursuing his A-levels at a private college here.

His father, Amar Singh, 53, said his son had changed since the rejection. "From a sociable and friendly person, he has become withdrawn and passive," he said. Amar Singh said he could not understand why his son’s application was rejected.

"He cried when he found out that his application had not been successful as studying medicine has always been his dream."

Amanjeet’s mother, Gurjit Kaur, 53, said her son, who received an excellence award from the State Education Department for his sterling SPM results, now spent most of the time in his room.

This is PSD's reponse:

PSD: Half-a-point can make or break
BY SIM LEOI LEOI; JUNE 9, 2005, THE STAR

According to PSD, "Even a half-point matters when students apply for the prestigious Public Services Department scholarships, especially in competitive courses like medicine." [QUESTIONS: but what about those applying for accountancy, actuarial science, etc??? They too, are rejected and they are top scholars???]

PSD public relations officer Hasniah Rashid said applicants were allotted points according to their academic achievement in the SPM as well as their extra-curricular activities, family background and performance during interviews with the department.

"Sometimes, it’s just a half-point difference in their total score. It’s not because they failed in their applications."

"However, due to fierce competition, particularly for medicine, there will be those who won’t be awarded the scholarships,” she said in an interview here yesterday." "Our main constraint, when awarding these scholarships, is the limited number of awards that we give out each year," said Hasniah.

"Secondly, there are just too many people applying to do medicine overseas," she added, when commenting on reports that one of the country’s top SPM scorers, Ng Ee Liang, ranked 14th among the top 25 as well as other high achievers had had their applications turned down by the department.

Hasniah said all candidates who were called for interviews by the PSD had shown their quality and self-potential as well as their admirable personalities. However, she said, the number of applicants who fulfilled the department’s strict requirement of academic excellence had risen this year.

“This has made the selection extremely difficult and competitive.

“We called 4,580 candidates for interviews and offered scholarships to 1,265 who were the best among those academically excellent students,” she said, adding that for medicine 1,189 candidates had named it as their first choice while only 322 places were allotted for the course.

[QUESTION POSER: Dear Cik Hasniah of PSD, there are only 25 top scorers and not everyone applied for medicine, and yet more than 30% of them aren't given any scholarship by PSD. Can you explain it while you said that 322 places were allotted for the medicine course and you can't give places to 25 top scorers??? How is it that those with 3 As and 4 As are given scholarship by PSD when those with 10 to 12 As are considered as NOT-DESERVING??? What if one of the reject is your child?]

Hasniah said a PSD committee carried out the selection. She advised students whose applications were rejected to write in their appeals to the department. As in previous years, the department would consider all appeals based on the number of students who turned down the scholarships and on any additional allocations, she said.

Meanwhile, in a statement here, Hasniah said the courses offered by the department included medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. The others are engineering, computer science, architecture, accountancy and economics.

In Kangar, the MCA said it would try to help the top SPM student in Perlis, 18-year-old Chew Yin Dee obtain a PSD scholarship. Perlis MCA chairman Datuk Chor Chee Heung said Chew, who obtained 13 1As should write an appeal letter to the PSD and forward a copy of the letter to him. “I will bring up the matter with the party president (Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting) to see if we can help her and two other students in Alor Star who scored 12As,” said Chor.

This is the reponse by the Prime Minister and the Education Minister:

Abdullah promises to get PSD scholarships for top students
BY NICK LEONG AND GAVIN GOMEZ; JUNE 10, 2005, THE STAR

Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) top scorers denied scholarships by the Public Services Department (PSD) can heave a sigh of relief, as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has intervened. Education Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein also pledged to do his part. Abdullah told reporters yesterday that he would help the students.

“I will work to get scholarships from PSD for the students to further their studies,” PM added.

Education Minister, Datuk Hishammuddin also showed his determination when he said: “You can tell them that I am fighting for them. You can tell them that their names are embedded in my mind."

Hishammuddin, who sympathised with the students, said he would do all he could to help them, although the granting of PSD scholarships did not come under his purview.

COMMENTS:

Thousands of scholarships are awarded yearly by PSD, and there are only 25 top scholars in the country last year; yet we have more than 5 of them that were reportedly rejected by PSD when many thousands who had scored less than 5 As were granted the scholarship? Where is the rational?

The government says we they had introduced a Performance Measurement System in the Civil Service. So, how is the performance of those in PSD measured? The Director-general of PSD when contacted by Penang CM, expressed shock on hearing the news said he will look into the matter. That shows he doesn't know what is happening. So, is it that the system does not reveal the reality of what had been done by the subordinates, and that the subordinates are allowed to do what they deem fit and in accordance with their whims and fancies???

In the Star report today, Education Minister, Datuk Hishamuddin said Malaysia can be an education hub for pre-tertiary education to attract foreign students. If foreigners knows how the government deals poorly of their very own citizens, what do they think of us?

The response by my Prime Minister Pak-Lah and Education Minister, Datuk Hishamuddin regarding the plight of those PSD rejects was applauding. Datuk Hishamuddin is the UMNO Youth Chief. But why is the Deputy UMNO Chief and the son-in-law of the Prime Minister, kept his silence on this matter? Is it that Khairy is only representing UMNO and Malays; that he doesn't represents Malaysians of other races??? Non-Malays must be worried if their future leaders and those leaders who aspire top government positions are elected to be part of the legislature and who will never represent their interest.

Would the Prime Minister direct the PSD to be transparent and publish out all the receipients of PSD scholarships together with their results, and include those they reject and their results?

Former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamad had repeatedly called the government for the publications of those who received APs. Why not also call for the publication of PSD's award????

The irony is, there were some who had 8 to 9-As and had applied for Singapore govt scholarship and were awarded. Those who had scored 12 to 13 As and who were recently awarded recognition by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi,with a certificate of achievement, were in fact considered not good enough by PSD and thus were rejected for scholarships.

Will we be seeing the future generation of Malaysian, who would grow up to show a total disrespect of the country's leadership? Did we not breed the seeds of incompetencies and racial disparities and are pushing out those young people who are talented and potential technocrats to seek other pastures?

In the words of Marina Mahathir:

"How do we expect our young people to behave with respect to others when their leaders don’t? We get disrespect from many of our leaders when we so much as query what they are doing, so that only sets the tone for our young. If questioned, just give some glib answer and carry on as if the questioner is a little irritating fly. We will never be developed until we learn to respect other people regardless of station and until we become more considerate of others. We have to learn to think of others before ourselves, to put ourselves in other people’s shoes and learn to empathise. We might complain about the so-called decadence of the developed world but then they have more facilities for the disabled and those who are needy than we do. Why is that? Perhaps because to be developed, it’s just not enough to be able to build fabulous buildings and roads, you also need to develop the humanity inherent in all of us. ...We have to be aware that the country which we love is changing, and not in a good way. There are more and more un-elected people making policies in this country, few of which are any good to most of us, and we are letting them do it. Why then do we have elections every five years? I recall that in the last elections, most of us chose a government that promised us more tolerance, more openness and more freedom. We gave a clear mandate to them to do all that they promised because we wanted to be able to express ourselves more, have more opportunities in life, which necessitates more openness and choices. But we are not getting it. Or at least some of us are getting choked even more while the rest of us are simply ignored. The lovely multiethnic, multicultural Malaysia that is our pride and joy is simply crumbling because, and I have heard some people openly say it, there are people who would like to make it mono-ethnic, monocultural and mono-religious. That’s not the Malaysia I grew up in, not the Malaysia I want my children to live in. Not the Malaysia I love." [PERIOD]