The Star Online: Nation
The Star Online: Nation |
- MCA Youth to investigate low Malaysian Chinese acceptance rate into UKM
- Malaysians can apply to vote by post from November onwards
- Dr Chua: Malaysian Chinese aware of DAP, PAS hudud lies
| MCA Youth to investigate low Malaysian Chinese acceptance rate into UKM Posted: 20 Oct 2012 08:03 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth will form a special taskforce to investigate why only 9% of students enrolled in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) this year were Malaysian-Chinese. MCA National Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said it was time for the Government to look into methods of how public universities recruited students. "Even though the Higher Education Ministry has granted public universities the power to make decisions on various issues on their own, that does not mean the institutions can use its own methods to recruit students," he said this before closing the debate during MCA Youth annual general meeting here on Saturday. He said UKM should also explain why they had accepted only 290 Chinese students. Dr Wee, who is also Deputy Education Minister, said the taskforce would carry out its investigation as soon as possible. "MCA central leaders will then deliberate on data collected," he said. |
| Malaysians can apply to vote by post from November onwards Posted: 20 Oct 2012 05:46 AM PDT PETALING JAYA: All Malaysians overseas can apply online from as early as next month to vote by post at the coming 13th general election, Election Commission deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said. To do so, a special version of the "Form 1" application form will be made available for download from the EC website. The Commission will also conduct a public awareness campaign to encourage Malaysians abroad to vote. "Very soon, maybe next month, we will upload the form that can be accessed by Malaysians all over the world who are already registered voters, to request to receive their ballot papers by post," he said. He was speaking when met after attending a forum entitled "Citizens in a free and fair elections" organised by the National Institute for Electoral Integrity (NIEI), a non-governmental organisation. To qualify as an overseas postal voter, one must already be registered with the Commission as a voter and must have returned to Malaysia at least once in the past five years. A Parliamentary Select Committee recommendation that all Malaysians abroad be allowed to vote by post was passed in April. Prior to that, only full-time students and civil servants, as well as their spouses, were eligible for postal voting. Amendments to the regulations and forms needed to register as postal voters would not require any amendment to the Federal Constitution, and is expected to be laid down in Parliament soon. Wan Ahmad reminded all Malaysians abroad that they must first sign up as a voter before they qualify to apply for their ballot papers to be sent by post. Overseas Malaysians who wish to register as voters can do so by downloading "Form A" application that is already available online at the EC's website (http://www.spr.gov.my). The forms, after being filled out, should then be attached with a copy of the applicant's passport or MyKad and then mailed to the respective Malaysian Embassy's assistant voter registrar appointed by the EC. On another matter, Wan Ahmad said six local non-Governmental organisations would serve as observers for the next general election in Peninsula Malaysia, while several more would be appointed to observe polls in Sabah and Sarawak. They are the Merdeka Centre, The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and The Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (PROHAM). Also appointed are Transparency International, Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPs) and the Malaysian Youth Council. A number of local Sabah and Sarawak based NGOs would be appointed as monitor in the two respective states. Each monitoring NGO would be allowed to have three representatives each in all 222 parliamentary constituencies. The observers will not be allowed to issue statements during the polling period but will be allowed to publicise their reports to the public after the completion of the general election. "This move is to increase the transparency and confidence of the people towards our election really follows the rules, because we will be allowing the NGOs to observe the polls, although they will come under certain conditions," said Wan Ahmad. |
| Dr Chua: Malaysian Chinese aware of DAP, PAS hudud lies Posted: 20 Oct 2012 05:44 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: Many Malaysian Chinese are now more aware that DAP and PAS lied about the implementation of the hudud law, said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. He said Malaysian Chinese knew that the promise hudud law would reduce crime was false, among other claims from DAP. "I'm sure the Chinese know this by now. The hudud law affects a lot of things including the investment climate of our country," Dr Chua said after giving a pre-annual general meeting (AGM) briefing for party central delegates at Wisma MCA here on Saturday. He added that the hudud issue was the most popular topic brought up by central delegates during the briefing and dialogue. Many of the total 2,341 central delegates arrived from all over the country on Saturday evening for the party's AGM to take place on Sunday. On the Opposition's proposal in their alternative budget to set minimum wage at RM1,100 a month, Dr Chua explained that an additional RM12bil would have to be spent every year to meet this standard. "This means that the cost of workers for a company will shoot up by about 30%. This will cause companies to downsize their staff and cause unemployment," he said. He said such a policy would cause the country to go bankrupt. Dr Chua went on criticise another proposal by the Opposition to abolish tolls as such a move would eradicate jobs for toll collectors and others. On Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's comment on the importance of mastering Bahasa Malaysia, Dr Chua agreed as it was the national language. "Everybody realises the importance of Bahasa Malaysia but our mother tongues can also be spoken as well as the English language," he said. He said there was nothing racial about the matter, likening the situation to not knowing Mandarin in China or English in the United Kingdom. |
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