Guan Eng went against Pakatan’s principles by revoking TAR UC's grant , says Muhyiddin

GEORGE TOWN: The move by former finance minister Lim Guan Eng to revoke the annual grant for Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) in 2018 was against Pakatan Harapan’s principles, says former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin acknowledged that Pakatan did not do the right thing and did not deliver on their promises, and created issues that upset both Chinese and Malay communities.

Muhyiddin, who was the home minister then, said he then left the coalition as he felt that the Pakatan-led government had failed to deliver its promises to the rakyat.

In a recent exclusive interview with Sin Chew Daily, he said that TAR UC is here to stay, as it is a higher education institution set up by the Chinese community.

He said when he was prime minister, he insisted on approving the grant for TAR UC.

In the past, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong had persistently put up a strong fight against the removal of the RM30mil matching grant for TAR UC, which has provided quality education for poor Chinese students for more than 50 years.

He had pointed out that MCA did not make any profits from TAR UC and that it was a non-profit educational institution that had produced over 200,000 alumni.

Meanwhile, the report also stated that in 2010, Muhyiddin, who is Bersatu president, had attracted controversy by declaring himself as a “Malay first” rather than a “Malaysian first” in Parliament.

Muhyiddin admitted that he said it but he added that he would not put aside the Chinese community and only help Malays.

He said many Chinese community leaders, who were initially excited with the new government in 2018, became disillusioned when DAP leaders used their power to hit out at MCA constantly instead of governing the country.

The removal of the grant for TAR UC to spite the MCA by DAP’s secretary-general, could not be forgiven, even until now, the report said.