Hijacking Cabinet’s final decision, allocation for TAR UC is slashed

I have doubts on the announcement made by Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik on 30 Oct 2018, that the Cabinet has decided to continue with the annual allocation given by the former government to Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC), and to give an allocation of up to RM60 million in the form of a Matching grant, so to support the administrative and development expenditure of the University College. This is because the Pakatan government had in the tabling of Budget 2019 allocated merely RM5.5 million to this hallowed education institution, which is a blatant disregard of the Cabinet’s final decision. 

I also doubt if the Budget tabled was in accordance with the Cabinet’s decision, as allocation for TAR UC may have been slashed just for political retaliation. Education Minister Dr Maszlee had once mentioned about extending the allocation to the University College, but no administrative allocation was stated in the Budget.

I urge the Pakatan government to give an explicit explanation on this. Is it because the Ministry of Education has hijacked the Cabinet’s decision? Now that the Pakatan Minister has again backed out, does the final decision lay with the Cabinet or the Minister?

The Pakatan government has failed to differentiate political parties from the ruling government. Such a move will lead to a forced increase of tuition fees to maintain the University College’s operations. The Pakatan government’s flip-flops in the matter have added insult to injury and also politicised education issues. The ultimate victims will be the students.

In Budget 2019, the government chose not to skim the bloated civil service, and rather pay a hefty RM259.8 billion in administrative expenses and government servants’ salaries, instead of allocating more funds for educational purposes. This makes people doubt the true motives of the Pakatan government in doing so.

Lau Chin Kok
MCA Central Committee Member

-MCA online-