Heartbreak: Dr Wee listening to the student’s heart-wrenching account of getting rejected from her first choice. — Photo courtesy of Dr Wee’s Facebook page
PETALING JAYA: Another bright student with a perfect CGPA of 4.0 has come forward with a heartbreaking story of rejection from her dream course.
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the story of 19-year-old matriculation graduate, known as Lee, is not just shattered dreams but about fairness and Malaysia’s promise to its youths.
He said it also showed serious flaws in the university admissions centralised system called Unit Pusat Universiti (UPU).
Dr Wee said Lee, who is from Melaka, has also a total merit score of 100 for co-curricular activities but was denied a place to study law at Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) despite her stellar results.
Dr Wee, in a Facebook post yesterday, recounted how he had on Saturday night met Lee, alongside Klebang state assemblyman Datuk Lim Ban Hong and state exco member Ngwe Hee Sem.
“All three universities rejected her. Instead, she was offered a place in accounting at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) – her fourth choice, far from the dream she had worked so hard for,” he said.
Dr Wee said the girl had explained to him that in her situation there were only three options to enter a public university to study law – UM, UKM and UUM via the UPU system.
Under the UPU pathway, fees are significantly lower than the university’s open intake channel – Saluran Terbuka Universiti Awam (Satu) system.
Dr Wee said Lee had told him that she included other courses in her application because she was required to fill up all 12 choices provided by UPU, adding that she was not allowed to appeal against UPU’s decision.
“She told me: ‘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?’
“She said: ‘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 burden on my parents. Perhaps I must accept my fate, give up on studying law, and settle for an accounting course. But this will remain the greatest regret of my life’,” Dr Wee quoted Lee as saying.
“In that moment, I had no words. 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,” he said.
Dr Wee also asked if UM, UKM and UUM will allow Lee to study law through the costlier open intake channel in the coming days.
“The catch is, while it’s still admission into the same programme, the tuition fees through direct intake amount to RM90,000 – 10 times higher than through UPU!”
He said Lee was also not allowed to make an appeal to UPU as she was offered her fourth choice to study accounting.
“Looks like she can only wait for a miracle to happen.
“It seems that today, Sept 14, will be the turning point in Lee’s future. I wish her nothing but success ahead!” said Dr Wee.
On Sept 8, STPM student Edward Wong Yi Xian, who achieved a perfect CGPA of 4.0 and a near-perfect 99.9% overall merit score, claimed that his application for an accounting course was rejected by UM.
He raised his grievances to Dr Wee after his applications for accounting courses to public universities via UPU to UM, UKM, UPM, UUM, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) – were rejected without an interview.
He was instead offered a place in a management course at USM, his fifth choice.
