PETALING JAYA: Parliamentary questions are not a formality and must be taken seriously, says MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (pic).
Expressing frustration with the Higher Education Ministry’s responses on two occasions, the Ayer Hitam MP said Parliament has the right to honest, complete and accountable answers.
“They are one of the most fundamental mechanisms of checks and balances in a constitutional democracy. When a ministry chooses not to answer the questions asked, it is not merely an issue of inefficiency.
“It is an affront to the institution of Parliament itself,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.
In the same post, Dr Wee uploaded images of the questions he posed.
One sought data on undergraduate admissions through the open channel at five public research universities from 2018 to 2025, broken down by university, programme, year, nationality, race and admission pathway, such as Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) and matriculation.
He also requested a comparison with the UPU channel.
The ministry responded that the total number of eligible applications and offers for STPM candidates during this period were 97,786 and 38,647, respectively.
For matriculation students, there were 93,614 eligible applications and 61,303 offers. Under the open channel, the total intake of STPM and matriculation students from 2018 to 2025 was 3,962.
“The response only provided overall aggregate figures. There was no breakdown by university, race, year or programme. All the key information specifically requested was simply disregarded,” Dr Wee said.
Another question sought clarification on the difference between the allocations requested and the actual allocations approved for the five research universities.
He also asked whether this shortfall affected the number of UPU places for competitive courses in medicine, pharmacy, engineering and law.
“On this issue, the ministry avoided the question by stating that public universities are statutory bodies that must generate their own income and concluded by asserting that the matter ‘does not affect’ the number of UPU places, without any supporting data, evidence or explanation,” he said.
The ministry’s response stated that research universities, as federal statutory bodies, must generate their own income alongside government allocations.
Annual expenditure planning must rely on allocations approved by the Finance Ministry and projected internally generated revenue while ensuring that the core functions of the universities remain uncompromised.
“Each university has its own mechanism for determining its direction and operations, taking into account available financial resources. This matter does not affect the number of places offered through the UPU system, including for competitive programmes in medicine, pharmacy, engineering, and law,” the ministry said.
