PM Abdullah Promises

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Abdullah promises to get PSD scholarships for top students

BY NICK LEONG AND GAVIN GOMEZ

PUTRAJAYA: Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) top scorers denied scholarships by the Public Services Department (PSD) can heave a sigh of relief, as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has intervened.

Education Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein also pledged to do his part. Abdullah told reporters yesterday that he would help the students. “I will work to get scholarships from PSD for the students to further their studies,” he added. Hishammuddin also showed his determination when he said: “You can tell them that I am fighting for them. You can tell them that their names are embedded in my mind. “I have asked (Deputy Education Minister) Datuk Hon Choon Kim to get all their particulars.”

Speaking to reporters after chairing the ministry’s post-Cabinet meeting yesterday, the minister said he had read a report on the students’ plight in The Star on Wednesday and decided to help them.

The report highlighted the plight of Ng Ee Liang, Desmond Chee and Teoh Wan Ying, who were among top SPM performers denied PSD scholarships.
Other top students who had their scholarship applications rejected included Pahang’s top student Khaw Chok Tong, who scored 12 1As and Chew Ying Dee who topscored in Perlis with 13 1As.

Hishammuddin, who sympathised with the students, said he would do all he could to help them, although the granting of PSD scholarships did not come under his purview. PSD public relations officer Hasniah Rashid was reported as saying yesterday that applicants were allotted points based on their academic achievement, extra-curricular activities, family background and performance during interviews. “Our main constraint, when awarding these scholarships, is the limited number of awards that we give out each year. “Secondly, there are just too many people applying to do medicine overseas,” she had said.

Top scorers fail to get scholarships

BY ZARINAH DAUD

BUTTERWORTH: Two months ago, Ng Ee Liang, Desmond Chee and Teoh Wan Ying were feeling on top of the world when they each scored 13 1As and were named Penang top SPM scorers. But all their dreams and hopes came crashing down on Monday after finding out that their applications for Public Services Department (PSD) scholarships had been rejected.

Logged on to the Internet website five times and each time, the words ?I>permohonan ditolak?appeared. I called my father and a friend to countercheck and they confirmed the bad news.

Ng looking dejected as he stands behind the certificat he received from the Prime Minister and a photograph of him receiving an award from Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, in Penang on Tuesday.People say boys don't cry, but yesterday I cried my heart out,?said a dejected Ng, 18, in an interview yesterday. Do not know what went wrong. I was active in sports and other extracurricular activities. I studied hard so that I could become a doctor. There are 25 top scorers nationwide and I am in 14th position. All of us had lunch with Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and received certificates from both the Prime Minister and Education Minister for our achievements. Yet, the certificates do not seem to be able to support my scholarship application,?said the former student of Chung Ling High School, Butterworth. The boy said one of his schoolmates who scored 9As won a scholarship to South Korea to pursue an engineering course, while another with 10As had the chance to pursue a biotechnology course. Besides Chee, Teoh and myself, other top students who were rejected included Pahang top student Khaw Chok Tong (who scored 12 1As) and Perlis top scorer Chew Ying Dee (who obtained 13 1As),?he said. Chee, a Form Six student at Penang Free School, also expressed his disappointment, saying he had expected a favourable reply?from the PSD. He always wanted to be a doctor and was hoping to get a PSD scholarship. My father works as a technician and cannot afford to pay the high fees for medical studies,?he said.

Teoh, from Penang Chinese Girls High School, expressed similar sentiments, saying that she had to pinch herself when she saw the PSD rejection.
She said she wanted to take up a course in actuarial science and hoped to study either in Australia or Britain.