SANDAKAN – Sabah politicians are urging the federal government to prioritise helping students in Sabah first before assisting Palestinian students at public universities in Malaysia.
Speaking to Scoop, Sabah Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe said he sympathises with what is happening in Palestine but added that when it comes to educational resources, Sabahans are still receiving unfair and unequal treatment.
“This (the welfare of Sabah students) should be addressed as well. The federal government should really channel proper assistance to our own Sabahans – Malaysian youth and students first before taking care of others,” he said when contacted.
Phoong, who is also Sabah DAP Youth chief and Luyang assemblyman, said that education in Sabah is at a critical level as 40% of males aged 15 to 19 are in the job market. They are supposed to be in schools and in universities.
“We have many young Sabahans still suffering from the high cost of transport – flight tickets to fly to the peninsula to private and public universities,” he added.
Yesterday, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin announced that tuition fees for more than 600 Palestinian students studying at public universities in Malaysia will be waived for one year with immediate effect.
Khaled also said the ministry will hold talks with private universities to waive the fees for more than 200 Palestinian students for a year.
The ministry is also mulling allocating RM20 million to provide monthly allowances to all 800 Palestinian students, both in public and private universities, for a year.
Meanwhile, Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking also opposed the government’s move, stating that there are still thousands of local students who are in need of help in terms of education fees.
“If the Madani government wants to help foreigners like the Palestinians, why not help only after helping Sabahans/Malaysians first?
“I know it sounds arrogant and horrible to some, but for me, if the Madani government thinks this is the way to help the Palestine citizens, maybe the Madani government should do exactly the same to the deprived Sabahans first,” he said in a Facebook post today.
Leiking, who is a former international trade and industry minister, highlighted that there is limited opportunity for Sabahans to pursue higher education as there are only a few higher learning institutions in the state.
For example, there is only one public university for the whole state – Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and its spots are also taken up by West Malaysians due to the shared-entry policy.
He said for many years, Sabahans have been forced to resort to raising funds to send their children to West Malaysia to pursue higher education, and he too was approached by desperate families looking for financial assistance many times.
“When it comes to a government doing away with fees for non-Malaysians, I think we should draw a line, whether you like it or not!” he stressed. – November 16, 2023