Misplacing priorities, govt neglects high-tech R&D as well as grooming of students

Teo Nie Ching, Deputy Minister of Education, has confirmed that the MyBrain15 scholarship programme, which sponsors local master's and doctoral programmes, has been suspended and closed for new applications since the beginning of last year, even though the 2018 Budget has given MyBrain15 a plan an allocation of RM90 million. 

Teo Nie Ching also said that there are two MyBrain programmes under the Ministry of Education, ie MyBrain15 and MyBrainSc. The latter sponsors pure science students with aims of cultivating young scientists who hopefully can one day win the Nobel Prize.

I am puzzled as to why the government has suspended the scholarship, which shows a misplacement of priorities here. This is because science and technology are the driving force of country’s productivity, and are also promoting social progress and helping the country to explore the high-tech arena.

The allocation for this year’s budget is out, although it has yet to reach the Ministry of Education, it cannot be used as an excuse to suspend, even if the allocation is only sufficient for one semester or half a year course.

As the new government helms the administration, with Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Education Minister Teo Nie Ching belonging to the same party, why can’t they use DAP’s strength to help postgraduate students with ambitions to secure the well-deserved sponsorship, so that Malaysia can be a high-performance, high-productivity country?

Many years ago, neighbouring country Singapore government already commence its commitment towards cultivating 100 scientists. In recent years, researchers from Western countries have been heading towards China due to the friendlier working environment for researchers, huge resources and funding, world-class laboratory facilities. Not to mention that China’s research funding is increasing over the years.

While other countries are committed to cultivating postgraduate students and doctoral students, the new government is doing the reverse. The government can continue to provide sponsorships with assistance from the private sector instead of suspending it altogether. In doing so, the ambitious postgraduate students and doctoral students can continue their research and further studies despite having financial problems.

Many corporations have sponsored students to study abroad; the Ministry of Education should act as a bridge to recommend the talented and ambitious students, so that Malaysia’s ambition to be an advanced country will not be blocked even if the government’s sponsorship programme was suspended.

Nicole Wong Siaw Ting
MCA Youth Vice Chairman

-MCA online-