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Don’t waste time scolding Guan Eng over TAR funding, ex-MCA chief tells Wee

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Ling Liong Sik says the finance minister should be allowed to hear the protests directly from those who are affected by the government’s decision not to give a matching grant to TAR University College.

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Free Malaysia Today
Ling Liong Sik.

KUALA LUMPUR:
Former MCA president Ling Liong Sik has advised present chief Wee Ka Siong not to waste his time “scolding” DAP’s Lim Guan Eng as there are enough people doing that now.

Ling was referring to Wee’s recent statement on the government taking away the matching grant for Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) for the first time in its 50 years of existence.

The matching grant was to ensure the fees remained low and affordable for all, Wee had said.

Ling said the then-TAR College was formed 50 years ago with the help of the Chinese community as an alternative for children who wanted to continue their higher education studies.

Ling, who is honorary chancellor at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, said in the early years, fundraising dinners were held where even hawkers and poor families who saw the opportunity for their children to excel in life donated to the construction of the college.

“But the first thing he (Lim) does is to take financing away from poor children. Something wrong, isn’t it?

“I told Wee to let Lim find out the truth by seeing what others are saying; to see what the hawkers are saying; to hear it from the ground. Let’s not add to the scolding,” he said, referring to Lim who is also the finance minister.

Ling, a former transport minister, was speaking to reporters during a press conference here to announce a competition called Mind Competition 2019 on April 13.

Ling said he advised Wee to instead come up with ways to expand TAR UC, which has 340 courses with 25,000 students.

He said it started with 400 students enrolling in eight courses, adding that in the early years they received 12,000 applications yearly but could only cater to 4,000.

“We couldn’t just keep rejecting young and intelligent minds,” he said, adding that this was why MCA then went on to build TAR branches in Penang, Johor, Perak, Sabah and Pahang.

Stating that TAR UC was open to all races, he said 97% of its students were employed within the first six months of graduation while the remaining 3% pursued further studies.

Lim has insisted that MCA break off ties with UTAR and TAR UC before the government can provide more allocations for the two institutions.

Lim said he wanted to be sure that there was a clear separation between education and politics. He said there could be a different form of allocation for both institutions if they were not owned by MCA.

Wee, however, said the government had merely provided a RM5.5 million development fund for UTAR and TAR UC, but had not provided any matching grant. He argued that the matching grants were vital to help children from poor families.

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