THE MALAYSIAN CHINESE ASSOCIATION VICE-PRESIDENT, Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting, dismisses swirling rumours about the MCA-sponsored Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. Ignore them, he says. The RM190 million collected so far is safe in an account called the Huaren Education Foundation under strict government supervision. The public has no reason to fear. It can support Utar in confidence. They should not listen to rumours spread by those irresponsible charlatans who do not share "our vision" of high quality education at affordable rates. It is within reach of the RM200 million to start building it. Utar perhaps needs three or four times that before it is has a full-fledged campus. How much did it cost Utar for the campus land donated by a philanthropist? It is in Kampar for that. He spoke at the Klang MCA fund-raising dinner to collect funds for Utar on Saturday (17 May 2003).

But Utar is registered as a business, with the aim of making money, not provide, as Dato' Seri Ong insists, "high quality education at affordable rates. If push comes to shove, nothing can prevent the shareholders selling this company to anyone it likes. It would create a political stink, but legally the MCA can do nothing. Especially if, as it now is clear, Dr Ling would resign as MCA president shortly, along with his party rival, the deputy president, Dato' Seri Lim Ah Lek. This could be soon, even as early as month-end. But why is MCA collecting funds for a commercial entity to which its links are at best tenuous?

The rumours Dato' Seri Ong spoke of cannot be dismissed out of hand. What rumours? He did not say. But so widespread that it hurts fund-raising. Dato' Seri Ong, who is also local government and housing minister, would not say what they are. He could not and cannot, without incriminating himself. So he does what a politician would when pushed into a corner: wriggle out of any how he can. And when in doubt, mumble. The rumours are so widespread that he cannot hide it any longer.

Yesterday, the deputy prime minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, formally declared the Utar campus in Kampar, Perak, open. He talked of meritocracy in a pointed message to the Malays and bumiputras that they should not except special favours if they do not make the cut. Why? A report that 6.7 per cent of Malays entered Malaysian universities than last year. In other words, if the Malays and bumiputras do not buck up, they cannot expect places. Fewer Malays and bumiputras were admitted than in the previous year. A far cry from the meritocracy Pak Lah talks off. In much the way a swallow does make a summer. It is a far cry from the meritocracy he crows about. But in Malaysia it is. More important it allowed the MCA president to show who is in charge after October. The race is on amongst National Front (BN) leaders to see who can brown nose the prime minister-to-be better than the others.

Dr Ling set the pace for comments to come at Utar's opening: "As you move day by day, closer to the day you take over the mantle of the national leadership, I want to share some of my thoughts. You will come with a style of yours, a character uniquely yours. You will come with values which is a heritage of your parents, religion and teachers. You will lead Malaysia to greater heights." He is gratified with Pak Lah for his love, care and concern for education. We can expect more apple polishing as more focus is on the rumours Dato' Seri Ong talked of. If he does not come clean about it, the high hopes he has for Utar can run adrift. He needs his goodwill if he has to battle with MCA and the Chinese community over who owns Utar.

What about the rumours? Would he address that? Utar is an MCA project. One important faction, that under its deputy president, Dato' Seri Lim Ah Lek, is kept out of it. The rumours are that like the Malaysian Indian Congress's university, the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology, it is not owned by the MIC or its its investment arm, Maika Holdings, so Utar is not by the MCA or its investment arm, Huaren Holdings. It is owned by eight individuals, as AMIST is by three. Two amongst the eight are Dr Ling and Dato' Seri Ong, and not as one as trustees either. MCA headquarters does not want to talk about it. It is, I am told, a rumour spread by Dato' Seri Lim Ah Lek's faction. It does not matter how the rumour started. The confused political fog Dr Ling spreads in MCA gives rumours a life of its own. And there is truth to it. So he must come clean. Otherwise a cloud would hang over the MCA, Dr Ling and Utar. As it does over the MIC, Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu, and AIMST.

Why does BN political parties want to set up universities? The Gerakan president, Dato' Seri Lim Kheng Yaik, talks of one. So, no doubt, the PPP president, Dato' M. Kayveas. It is political one-upmanship so that the public suffers. When the government is uninterested in higher education, and wants its political partners to set them, it is education but commerce that is at the root of it. Private universities are set up so money can be diverted to private pockets and make rip-offs easier and hidden. It is part of the Malaysian dream. It does not matter which educational college or even if politicians are behind it.

Take the joint venture between Monash University and the Prime ministerial crony, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, for a Malaysian campus of Monash. The university it has a joint venture with his Sunway Group. But the Sunway Group Monash entered into an agreement with is a fiction. Monash is fed a lemon, as the Sydney journalist, Mr Ganesh Sahathevan, unearthed. Is anyone upset or bothered about it? Not at all. So much for its stated excellence in education. Let the natives get third grade degrees for all we care, so long as they pay the exhorbitant fees demanded. Though, like the government over the Bukit Tinggi casino, it puts on a brave front, and refuses to answer queries. When business men and politicians venture into education, it is not so it could "provide quality education at affordable rates", as Dato' Seri Ong puts it, but so education can be marketed as a business. When the venture goes bad, these fellows abandon the students and go on to some other lucrative business to rip money off.

Which is why Dr Ling come clean. He looks upon it as a post-retirement bauble, but when his reputation is weakest. He does not see that his sell-by date is long past, and for all his apple polishing of Pak Lah, he has a short shelf-life now in political life. However one looks at it, the MCA is as badly split as UMNO is. One is the aging old guard frightened at the prospect of losing the perks of office pitted against the newcomers who is fed up with the fissures and factions that destroy the political party to throw its future in doubt. Now are the rumours true or false? Who owns Utar and who are its shareholders? Are two of its shareholders Dato' Seri Ling Liong Sik and Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting? Does MCA own Utar? There are others, but these will suffice for now.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my

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Terbitan : 19 Mei 2003

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