JPA Scholarships

The controversy regarding the JPA scholarship has emerged again, with a few alleged top scorers complaining of not getting overseas scholarship despite getting more A1s. From my limited knowledge, they were given a local scholarship instead. They were upset that their peers who obtained less A1s were given an overseas scholarship. Without knowing whether they are applying for the same course (note that medical scholarships have higher academic requirements than other courses) or whether the SPM subjects that they took correlates with the course that they are applying for, we can’t make any conclusion and therefore place our trust in our beloved champions of our respective races (be it MCA, DAP or MIC), ironically in the midst of a new political climate.

The JPA scholarship is indeed a prized scholarship within the medium to lower class non-bumiputera students who aspire for an overseas education. Since the cap on SPM subjects has been taken away in 2000, more students are taking more subjects in order to improve their chances of scoring as many A1s as possible to secure that scholarship. Like myself, many of them do not know that other scholarships and financial assistance do exist to help them further their studies elsewhere.

Many of them like myself many years ago, may have not been exposed to academia well enough to appreciate the wide variety of undergraduate courses available, be it of liberal arts or the sciences. We were just told by our teachers, parents, seniors and friends that the only way to go is JPA. And the only way to get it is to eat our Pelangi textbooks and regurgitate them out into the exam paper, besides going for tuition classes for every subjects that we are taking from the best tutors in town (nevermind that they suck in teaching at school).

It is also interesting that there is a growing sense of entitlement for those scholarships, with many claiming that they deserve that scholarship. Not any type of scholarship but an overseas scholarship for their many A1s, regardless of their co-curricular achievement, communication skills or socioeconomic background. This is particularly reflected in Sdr. Lim Kit Siang’s call for automatic grants for students achieving 9A1s and above. “Why must deserving students BEG for scholarships?” our politicians lament.

While it is probably a political suicide not to harp this issue among the non-bumiputera community, I feel that it is a bit too much to promote a sense of entitlement. The very people who are championing the removal of some special rights, are the very people who are advocating a new form of rights; “the Special Rights of 9A1s”. This right should be served by the nation by drawing upon the almost unending national reserves, regardless of the economic crisis nor pure common sense. As long as these rights are served and the money invested on tuition classes brings returns, anything goes.

Without putting a check, an unhealthy sense of entitlement may justify the removal of the 20% allocation for Sabah and Sarawak students and students with special needs, who may not necessarily meet the 9A1 mark to be entitled for this right. Perhaps students whose parents earn less than RM1500, who can barely afford to gain 10A1 may have to give way for their peers who get 13A1s, 14A1s, 15A1s or more, in the ever increasing competition to fight for the limited number of scholarships, all in the name of the Holy Meritocracy. With the trend of increasing A1s, thanks to the rat-race kiasu mentality of some urban middle-class Malaysians, the poor and the disadvantaged may be marginalised.

Who cares for the poor and disadvantaged? They are lazy and too bad they have learning difficulties, says some. Personal responsibility and hard work is the key to success, and certainly the passport to gain the “Special rights of the 9A1”. The survival of the fittest is the way to go, who cares about bad genes, post-colonial displacement, socioeconomic disparity, urban-rural divide and unequal opportunities?