Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin recently shared that 600 Palestinian students studying in public universities in Malaysia will get to enjoy waived fees for a year with immediate effect.
He is also in talks with private universities to do the same for 200 Palestinian students.
Considering the fact that the government is capable of doing this, Moyog assemblyperson Darell Leiking questioned why underprivileged Malaysians were not given such help and urged the authorities to prioritise locals before giving aid to Palestinian people.
Taking to his Facebook page, he wrote, “Without the benefit of the full details, I personally think this is not right! There are thousands of students who are citizens of the Federation of Malaysia who need help in terms of fees and costs of education (in both public and private universities). They should be prioritised instead of giving (help) away to non-Malaysians.”
“I know it sounds arrogant and horrible to some, but for me, if the Madani Government thinks this is the way to help the Palestinian citizens, maybe the Madani Government should do exactly the same thing for the deprived Sabahans first (who have to go to Malaya to enter universities because UMS in Sabah are not enough for Sabahans to enter because of shared entry for all Malaysians).”
He went on to add that any government should always prioritise their own people before lending a helping hand to foreigners.
“Focus on skilling and academic opportunities for all Malaysians, especially Sabahans as Sabahans have no space locally and have to go to Malaya (peninsula Malaysia) to further their education,”
“So the gist of it is, if the Madani Government wants to help foreigners like the Palestinian people, why not help only after helping Sabahans and Malaysians first?”
What do you think? Should the government prioritise helping Malaysians first before providing aid to others?
Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
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