KUALA LUMPUR – The Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) professor who reportedly said non-Bumiputera could be admitted into the university’s postgraduate cardiothoracic surgery programme only meant well, a former vice-chancellor said.
It is also not yet time for UiTM to open all its programmes to non-Bumiputera, added Prof Datuk Roziah Mohd Janor, who said the institution’s mandate to provide education to Malays and the Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak must still be upheld.
Asked to comment on a “black shirt” protest by UiTM’s student representative council (MPP) against a purported “agenda” to open the institution to non-Malays, Roziah told Scoop there had been a misunderstanding over remarks made by Prof Dr Raja Amin Raja Mokhtar of the faculty of medicine, who suggested that the cardiothoracic surgery programme be opened to non-Bumiputera trainee doctors to overcome a shortage of specialists in the country.
“UiTM’s postgraduate cardiothoracic surgery programme was developed in collaboration with the National Heart Institute. While I was vice-chancellor, UiTM’s faculty of medicine was able to develop this programme as we had great experts.
“The issue now is the parallel pathway programme offered by an external (overseas) professional body, which the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) is not agreeing to certify because it (the external programme) is not offered by an academic body or university.
“As most of the students who took the parallel pathway programme are not Bumiputera, Raja Amin’s statement was meant to be helpful, meaning, those students whose qualifications are not recognised (from the parallel pathway programme) can be allowed to join UiTM’s cardiothoracic surgery programme (to be recognised by the MMC),” Roziah said to Scoop.
She added that she was not supporting Raja Amin’s view, and was only clarifying the confusion that had arisen.
Roziah said the misunderstanding could have been cleared up quickly if UiTM had been swifter in issuing an official statement, and likewise, the MMC, to explain the current shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons.
“That’s all really, when he (Raja Amin) suggested to open the way, he meant for those (who have already undergone the parallel pathway programme), the majority of whom are not Malays, to enter UiTM.
“But in the media it was reported as opening UiTM to non-Bumiputera, so that was what many people reacted to; they thought it is for all programmes at UiTM,” Roziah said.
The former vice-chancellor said she still agreed with the mainstream view that UiTM needed to maintain its original objectives, in line with Article 153 of the Federal Constitution on the special position of the Malays and Bumiputera.
“So it is not yet time for UiTM to open all of its programmes to non-Bumiputera. To open up entirely is still not possible, because the Malays and Bumiputera are still facing challenges, not just with other races, but even among Malays themselves in terms of pursuit of education.
“So let UiTM be a space for Bumiputera… it is about wanting to advance Bumiputera who lack exposure especially in new fields of study,” she said.
Raja Amin’s remarks that UiTM did not need legislative amendments to admit non-Bumiputera students into its postgraduate cardiothoracic surgery programme were reported by health news portal Code Blue, and referenced in a statement by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA).
MMA had urged UiTM to consider the greater good and help overcome the country’s shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons by admitting non-Bumiputera into the programme.
A week after MMA’s appeal, the UiTM MPP issued a statement calling on the institution’s students to protest against a purported “agenda” to open the university to non-Malays by using the hashtag #MahasiswaUiTMBantah and by wearing black today.
The MPP’s statement did not mention the current context on the shortage of cardiothoracic surgeons nor MMA’s suggestion.
Last night, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir moved to quell tempers, saying the issue of opening UiTM to non-Malays had never been discussed. He also said the issue was “deliberately raised to incite disputes”.
UiTM vice-chancellor and senate chairman Prof Datuk Shahrin Sahib reiterated the same, and urged students to use their time to study and gain as much knowledge as possible to prepare for the future. – May 16, 2024