KUCHING, Jan 4: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s clarification on the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC)-recognition issue has given the Chinese community a glimmer of hope.
Federation of the Chinese Association of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Division president Dato Richard Wee said he accepted the prime minister’s words as reported by a web portal today.
Dr Mahathir said he was misquoted by the Chinese media.
“If this is the case, then we welcome the prime minister’s clarification. We hope the government will not take too long to consider all the issues that were mentioned in the PH (Pakatan Harapan) manifesto,” said Wee in a statement today.
“The federal government and the Ministry of Education are welcome to study and emulate the policy of the Sarawak government with regards to recognising the UEC.”
Wee opined that the government should not allow critics and detractors of UEC to use racial and economic issues to muddle the education policies.
“We sincerely hope that the recognition of UEC will be realised as soon as possible, now that the prime minister had clarified this,” he said.
A national news portal reported today that Dr Mahathir never said he rejected the UEC. Instead, he said, “There are sensitivities among the Malays about this matter, and we take into account everyone’s sensitivities, including those of the Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli and others.”
On Jan 3, Dr Mahathir was reported in the media as saying “the government had to consider Malay sentiments and resolve the issue of unequal wealth distribution before recognising the UEC”.
This statement prompted Wee to made a statement that the Chinese felt cheated as UEC recognition was in the PH manifesto for the 14th general election last year. — DayakDaily
