Just like the last time round, PTPTN was made into an issue when the General Election is just around the corner. The previous protest involves interest charges which has since been reduced and its Islamic stance explained, but today another drama was started when a Pakatan Rakyat (PR) politician, Rafizi Ramli sparked the idea that PTPTN should be abolished and the government should instead build a mere 10 new public universities (IPTAs). With the background of working at Petronas, he says that Petronas’s money should be channeled to sponsor the tertiary study fees of all Malaysians, just like how his studies was sponsored.
If we truly understand the vision that comes with the birth of PTPTN, we will not be easily trapped by this narrow minded view of Rafizi’s proposition. We are a growing nation, with an increasing number of young people that must be equipped with tertiary education to match the need for Malaysia to be a developed nation. At the same time we have to balance between the haves and have nots in Malaysia. We are lucky to have Dato’ Sri Najib Razak who sees the bigger picture and thus decided to democratize the tertiary education in Malaysia. With the inception on PTPTN as part of the tertiary educational transformation, the world witnessed an emergence of 500++ new private higher education institutions (IPTS) to complement the 20 IPTAs in Malaysia. The macro planning aspect of why Razifi’s proposal is not feasible has been explained in length by Tun Faisal in his must read blog post (Click Here) following his appearance in RTM’s Bicara Kampus.
The biggest blunder of these PR politicians when proposing to abandon PTPTN is their failure to consider the socioeconomic landscape of Malaysian citizens. Rafizi is either clueless, naĂŻve or simply wants to deceive the public to get political support. All of which is not something we look for in a leader and his lack of educational credentials (Click Here) should not be an excuse either. Let’s wake them up to reality whereby apart from those who are born with a silver spoon, some working parents in the cities have been saving in educational funds initiated by financial institutions or insurance companies. Thus, they can easily send their children anywhere in the world under this painstaking fund known to most Malaysians as FAMA or ‘Father and Mother Association’.
The beauty of PTPTN is that it complements Najib’s vision of making Malaysia an international higher education hub by encouraging collaboration with foreign universities and institutions. The establishment of foreign universities with degree-conferring schools in Malaysia not only provides greater opportunity for Malaysians, but it also encourages foreigners to come study here. Many may not realize that the government sponsors about 90% of the costs (Click Here) of providing tertiary education at IPTAs. By opening Malaysia’s doors via the 1996 Private Higher Education Institutions Act, foreign institutions invested heavily in setting up their schools here. On top of investments in physically building the universities, the knowledge transfer is more valuable. This also provides an option for FAMA students to study locally, instead of spending the whole tenure abroad, whilst the have nots uses the PTPTN to help them study together with them.
To simplify, please refer to the equation below :-
Option Najib – PTPTN + more and equal access to tertiary education for both rich and poor students in Malaysia + investment in monies & knowledge from foreign universities + influx of foreign students + multiplier effect to the economy = enough skilled workers to achieve a developed nation in 2020.
Option Rafizi – No PTPTN = 10 IPTA + Free access to tertiary education for a small number of students = bleak future for Malaysia. *perhaps an option that Rafizi sees possible to match Najib’s option is by making a loan with the IMF.
PTPTN provides not only a loan for students to pay their school fees, but it provides them money to spend on books, food, accommodation, transportation and other expenses. Most students also spend their PTPTN loan on personal things like fancy handphones, on their girlfriends; some save it for the deposit of their first car, marriage; and some even send it to their families at kampungs. By virtue of having spent most of the money for personal usage, is it not realistic that the PTPTN loan be paid back to be used on other students in the future? [Click Here]
Unfortunately, the opportunity provided by PTPTN as a package to shape the society and provide an equal chance for the have nots in Malaysia to grow and progress has been rampaged by irresponsible politicians whose goal is only to instigate people to rebel against a government initiative. It is sad that in this political quest, the society is asked to be selfish and inconsiderate; attitudes that are not a norm in Malaysia’s caring society. Never before in my life, did I think that I would see students camp at Dataran Merdeka to demand to not pay their study loans at a time when I see other Malaysians jubilate the fact that we are generous and willingly to offer our helping hand and money to others in need. PTPTN has indeed made our hearts cold, just as cold as the hearts of PR politicians.
K7L: to be or not to be..that is the question :)
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