From: tloh@husc8.harvard.edu (Teck Loh)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean
Subject: Re: scholarship: a joke ? ( was: UM )
Date: 30 Sep 92 20:41:03 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Sep30.164105.15977
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

In article <28500@life.ai.mit.edu> wslee@almond-frost.ai.mit.edu writes:
>In article <3276@peking.gdwb.oz.au>, mlt@gdwb.oz.au (Mee Teng) writes:
>|> ...... [other stuff deleted] ........                  Talking
>|> about scholarships ? huh what a joke ! How many non-bumi have
>|> that previlege ? not reading newspaper advertisements ? That is
>|> even a greater joke !! The number of scholarships for non-bumi are 
>|> extremely limited if any !! More often than not it's through some
>|> 'connections' that the non-bumi get any scholarships !!  
>
>	[ this is not a flame, I just thought that people deserve to
>	  hear both sides of the story ]
>
>	I went to UM with 16 of my high school classmates.  We shared a house 
>in PJ, so we all know each other very well.  All 16 of us are chinese.  11 
>were doing engineering, the rest medicine/dentistry.  All but one were supported 
>by scholarship or a loan.  The one who wasn't, was eligible for a Kojadi (MCA) loan.
>None of us had any connections, as far as I know.  Of course, some may comment
>that these are just isolated cases ... but if so, we must have been a darn lucky
>bunch .... all 15 of us from the same high school.
>
>If you are refering to government scholarship, yes, my cousin in UKM was supported
>by a Penang government scholarship.  Yes, two of my juniors went to UK on JPA 
>scholarship.  All of them chinese.  I have no evidence if they had connections, but 
>I think my cousin did not.   
>
>	For overseas studies, me and my brother came here on a scholarship, 
>given by the school.  My other brother went to Virginia on a scholarship.  
>I don't think we had any connections.  None of us got 5 A's in STPM.
>
>	IMHO, it is true that scholarships are hard to get nowadays. Very hard
>indeed.  But I do agree with Othman's reasoning to some extent:
>
>In article <1992Sep26.073622.11497@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg>, 
>eoahmad@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg (Othman Ahmad) writes:
>|> How come these students do not get scholarships for overseas studies, whereas
>|> some who are not as qualified can?
>|>	One reason is that they do not even apply or read newspaper 
>|> advertisements for scholarship application. This actually happened in one
>|> case quoted by a bumiputra colleague.
>|> 	How about Kwok Scholarship, Colombo Plan etc.? What other criteria
>|> is required for eligibility? I thought 5A is the highest possible. Who wants
>|> to have more? 
>
>	To elaborate on that, I think many of us do not take the trouble to
>find out possible resources.  Eg. many of my friends tell me how they envy
>me for getting a scholarship to go abroad, but what were they doing when I went 
>through every page (yes, all 3000+ of them) of the Baron's College Guide to
>find schools that potentially provide financial aid ?  What were they doing
>when I spent sleepless nights writing and re-writing my application essays ?
>Yes, Mee Teng, it is very very hard to get a scholarship nowadays, but IMHO,
>it is still possible, given enough effort.
>
>	I think that some of us tend to blame it all on the government, 
>on "the system" ...  it may or may not be true, I don't know. It seems all
>too easy to point fingers.  But I recall a saying in chinese: "when the horse dies, 
>you go forward on foot".   The question is, IF the horse is really dead,  
>are we going to move on, on foot,  or sit on the horse and curse till it revives ?
>	
>	With regards to why some who are less qualified do get financial support
>while some who have 5A's don't,  I have to ask for Othman's definition of
>"qualify".  In UM, "qualification" refers to paper qualification, ie. who has 
>more A's.   Overseas, esp. USA, however, "qualification" may cover a wide
>spectrum of things.  The admission (and financial aid) decision depends on
>many aspects, so if one is exceptionally good in some areas (mathematics, music, arts, 
>sports, leadership etc etc) , there may be a good chance of one being awarded
>admission even he/she has relatively lower paper qualification.
>
>In article <3276@peking.gdwb.oz.au>, mlt@gdwb.oz.au (Mee Teng) writes:
>|> Please check out your facts if anyone wants to flame me !!
>	
>	I hope my experience qualifies as "facts", though I may not
>be able to produce black-on-white evidence ...
>
>In article <1992Sep27.030622.19370@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au>, 
>ins877s@lindblat.cc.monash.edu.au (Mr Tan Teong Hooi) writes:
>|>  >There are a lot of questions and inconsisistencies about the chinese students
>|>  >in Malaysia. I hope someone can clarify them for me.
>|>  >How come these students do not get scholarships for overseas studies, whereas
>|>  >some who are not as qualified can?
>|> 
>|> You tell me!!!
>
>	It is interesting to note that I am one of the less qualified ones, as
>compared to many of my classmates who got 5 A's in STPM.  But I came here on a
>full financial aid package. Don't ask me why, I don't know either ..
>Perhaps they just liked me ??
>
>|> >	One reason is that they do not even apply or read newspaper 
>|> >advertisements for scholarship application. This actually happened in one
>|> >case quoted by a bumiputra colleague.
>|> 
>|> No way! Most of them (at least those I know) tried every possibility to go
>|> overseas to further their studies. Even my friends who have got 5As and
>|> doing Medicine or EE in UM, are hoping to go abroad.
>
>	I think Othman has raised a very reasonable question here. I 
>personally transfered from EE in UM.  It is possible.  Again, I have to
>ask for what Hooi means by "every possibility" .... I assume it is only
>a figure of speech ?
>
>	On the other hand, with regards to the advertisements, there do exist 
>certain such advertisements that say "only bumitras need apply" , a sad
>reality .... 
>
>
>
>Whay S. Lee.
>


I cannot really agree with you. You and your friends may be the lucky one.
All I know is that my friends and I tried all possible ways to find a
a scholarship either to study in local U or go oversea. I think most 
schools will tell you what are the scholarships available. 

I have written before that I have been rejected many times applying
different scholarships starting from primary school to high school. All
I know is that my  skin color is different from the "lucky one". As a
chinese brought up in the slum area, top in the class, doing fairly
well in sports should make me more qualified than my  Malay friends in
my  class. I don't believe that I am so unlucky.

JPA scholarship?? Are you joking?? Look at the requirements and tell me
about it. I congratulate your cousins for being able to get it. All
I know was that even the Japanese government scholarships which is
given by the Japanese government, half of the places are for the 
bumiputras and the other half (about 5-6 palces) has to be divided
among the bumiputras, chinese, and Indians.

I was in Japan for many years. I was actively involved in the students
activities over there. One of the activities was to welcome new students
from Malaysians every year. This includes scholarship holders and 
private students. Out of the 200 JPA students that come annually, 2 are chinese
(vacational students only), 1 is Indians. Don't you think that something
is wrong. I know most of the scholarship holders fear to express their
real feeling because of the scholarship. I hope you do not belong to
this group. Showing you gratitude to your sponsor is a good thing but
we should not allow this type of discrimination law to continue. This NEP
policy which is intent to be good has gone out of hand. How come we cannot
work together and help all the poor irrespective of their race.

If you think that they are  a lot of scholarships available, why not 
post it out for the benefit of us. How about the requirements for
bumiputras and other races for the same scholarship? I challenge you
that the government will not have the guts to release the figures
or statistic regarding the scholarships. If they ever release or available,
I believe most of us will look at it with disbelief.

T-P Loh