Kok calls MCA’s Ti racist in study loan row

By Boo Su-Lyn

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 — Selangor executive councillor Teresa Kok accused MCA’s Datuk Ti Lian Ker today of being racist and hypocritical in his attacks against the state’s education loans.

Kok pointed out that Selangor’s education loans were free from racial quotas unlike the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships and Mara loans.

“MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker’s continued wild accusations that the Chinese have been neglected in the awarding of Selangor state education loans reeks of racism and exposes the hypocrisy of MCA’s support for 1 Malaysia,” said Kok in a statement today.

“The Selangor state government’s education loans have no racial quota imposed, is interest-free and is available to all Malaysians based on academic merit and household income,” she added.

Yesterday, Ti accused Kok of misleading the public over the low number of Chinese students receiving aid from Selangor’s education fund.

He had claimed that the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government dispensed aid from the education fund to “only 12 Chinese students out of 4,000 applicants.”

Kok, however, had refuted Ti’s claims and said there were only 742 applications received in 2010, and not 4,000 as claimed.

Ti had also reportedly said that the low number of recipients showed that Chinese, Indians and other communities still needed a specific group or organisation to protect their interests.

He further said that this was proof the DAP lacked sensitivity and called it a failure as it was not able to protect the interests of its grassroots, who are mainly Chinese.

Today, Kok accused Ti of seeking “cheap publicity” and living in a fictional world of his own.

“This entire episode shows Ti to be living in his own little cyber world, devoid of reality and will make up stories to achieve cheap publicity,” said Kok.

“Ti would truly have something worth boasting about if MCA would only support the abolishment of racial quotas in the awarding of JPA scholarship and Mara opportunities instead of perpetuating Barisan Nasional’s race-based system of governance which continues to divide Malaysians for self-preservation, in which case, MCA would be helping all deserving Malaysians instead of the Chinese alone,” added the Seputeh MP.

Kok noted that Selangor’s approval process for study loans did not have to go through political parties.

She also claimed that Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim had told her he was unaware that there were only 12 Chinese applicants for the state’s education loans, and that the approval rate for the Chinese was 100 per cent.

“Deputy (Finance) Minister Donald Lim had also been critical at first but he later admitted to me personally that he had not been aware that there were indeed only 12 Chinese applicants and that all were successful in their applications,” said Kok.

From January till November 15 this year, there were 677 applications from Bumiputeras for Selangor’s education loans, of which 485 were approved; 12 applications from the Chinese of which all were approved; and 53 applications from Indians of which 28 were approved, according to Kok.

The total applications made this year for Selangor’s study loans were 742 of which 525 were approved, said Kok.

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