RM30 mil donation gone: Explain why, MCA

Anonymous: Now we will see what the MCA politicians are all about - declining a RM30 million donation. The MCA leadership will have to explain point-by-point why they rejected this offer. Well, what can a layman say? It is all about vested interests.

Mr Koon Yew Yin, perhaps you should come up with other ideas of helping poor families from all races. I am sure your RM30 million can provides scholarships to all the nine-A students who miss out on other scholarships. They can pay back to your fund to help other students. Who cares a damn for MCA political leaders who have bastardised the system by being corrupt like their Umno warlords.

DontPlayGod: Sorry for sounding cynical, but when such things like this happen, quite often, it is always that some fat cat has some monetary designs involved somewhere. Maybe that RM30 million meant for building hostels is a threat to those powers-that-be who are already raking in a handsome amount from rentals of houses in the nearby housing areas? If not, what other reason can there be?

Clearwater: Within the MCA universe, self-interest trumps public interest anytime. If Utar were to accept Koon's offer to build hostels for the good of the students, property-owning MCA members and sympathisers in the vicinity will suffer economic loss; and MCA, their votes. The reason to reject Koon's offer is all too obvious.

Utar students just have to suck it up, they have no say in the matter.

RubyStar: It is unbecoming of MCA to reject an offer of RM30 million donation. Mr Koon has no personal agenda and until the offer was rejected, nobody actually knew of the donation. MCA and its band of financial marauders have perhaps ring-fenced the whole area near Utar to be parceled out among its band of conniving thieves to share the loot.

I remembered when I was studying in Universiti Malaya, the biggest problem a student faced is cheap accommodation near the campus. Mr Koon, you are doing a great and selfless service to the students of Utar. Please keep up your crusade.

Anonymous: Mr Koon, do not give this money to Utar. Actually, their educational standard is very low. Give it other institutions. Or start your foundation in Singapore to help Malaysian students who want to study there. That way, we can be sure they will benefit only on merit. Or start a foundation to channel these funds to opposition candidates in the next general elections.

Yap Chee Seng: Some people built a lot of shops and are depending on the students to rent their rooms. Otherwise these shops will be empty. So there is great resistance to Koon's cheap, affordable hostels!

Hello: Dear Mr Koon, instead of arguing with those MCA idiots and getting them to agree to accept your generous offer of RM30 million, why don't you buy a piece of land in Kampar, build your hostel and rent it out to the Utar students at cheap rates and according to the terms stated by you? Wouldn't that solve the dilemma of everyone, especially those poor students?

Sarawakian: It's obvious that someone is after the land. Once the hostels are built, they cannot sell the land. That's how corrupt politicians think. The students can sleep in the streets for all they care.

Malaysiakini

Hisham wants teachers to be active in politics

The News Straits Times press had on 29 March reported that the Umno newly elected vice president and education minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein had suggested in the Umno general assembly that school teachers to be allowed to get involved in politics.

If allowed and implemented, school teachers nationwide will be actively participating in politics and they will lose focus as educationist. Hishammuddin’s suggestion to allow teachers to take active part in politics is just like asking our children to give up education completely.

We also view Hishammuddin’s suggestion as being political motivated as majority of the teachers in the national based schools are Umno members.

Therefore, once these school teachers are allowed to take active role in politics, the educational needs of our children will be totally neglected as these politician teachers will tend to leave their work behind by taking emergency leave, no pay leave or even medical leave to attend political gathering and functions.

And again, once these school teachers are elected to hold party positions in Umno, will they have the sufficient and quality time to focus on the educational aspects of our children? Will they have the sufficient time to provide quality teachings and guidance to our children in the schools?

The answer is, they will not even have time to provide focus to our children once they are active in politics. With these teachers losing focus on their professionalism to serve their own political needs, our children and the parents are the ones who are going to suffer.

The parents upon seeing their children having insufficient education in schools will resort to sending them to tuition centers to ensure their kids would not be left out. And the children themselves will then feel the pain and suffer due to overstrained and pressure they endured the entire day with lack of proper rest and attention.

So, the consequences are our children are going to suffer the most when school teachers are allowed to take active part in politics. And if this is allowed and implemented, it is going to benefit Umno entirely and as the result the educational qualities is going to lose out eventually.

Umno is trying to make use of our children for their own political gains. This is disgusting and inhumane.

Read more in the Bahasa Malaysia version.