From: wslee@almond-frost.ai.mit.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean
Subject: scholarship: a joke ? ( was: UM )
Date: 28 Sep 92 15:26:17 GMT

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.

Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean