PETALING JAYA: The annual RM40mil allocation from the government to Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT) will continue towards providing affordable and quality education for all students irrespective of ethnic backgrounds, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The MCA president gave this assurance when expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his support of TAR UMT in making affordable higher education accessible to deserving students.
“For many years, TAR UMT has made good use of government funding to provide high-quality tertiary education at affordable tuition fees, and to date, it has nurtured over 310,000 graduates,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.
Dr Wee, who is TARC Education Foundation Board of Trustees chairman, expressed his appreciation for the approval and swift transfer of the allocation which was approved under Budget 2025.
“On Sept 18, when I led the MCA delegation to meet with Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan to present our proposals for the Budget 2025, I specifically mentioned the funding for TAR UMT.
“On Dec 3, before Budget 2025 was read for the third time in the Dewan Rakyat, the Finance Ministry had already confirmed that TAR UMT would receive the RM40mil allocation, which was officially transferred on Wednesday,” Dr Wee said.
Previously, under Budget 2019 presented by then finance minister Lim Guan Eng, who was then DAP secretary-general, the RM1-for-RM1 matching grant – an annual amount given by the Barisan Nasional government to TAR UC to match the funds the university college raised – was cut off.
The institution had previously received between RM30mil and RM60mil in matching grants annually from the ministry.
It was the first time in 50 years that TAR UC – set up in 1969 by MCA for students deprived of the chance to enter public universities – was denied this funding.
In Budget 2020, the matching grant for TAR UC was also not reinstated, with development funds being slashed from RM5.5mil to RM1mil.
The university – with five branch campuses in Penang, Perak, Pahang, Johor and Sabah – started out as a community college in 1969 before being upgraded to university college status known as Tunku Abdul Rahman University College in 2012 and upgraded to TAR UMT in 2022.
