THE academic status of DAP candidate for the Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB) by-election, Pang Sock Tao, continues to be politicised by the opposition in the quest to undermine both the credibility of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and ability of the greenhorn politician in serving a plural society.
Perikatan Nasional (PN) political activist Jauhari Johar contended that while the 31-year-old press secretary to Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming should be applauded for being a “straight As pupil”, doubts arise about her ability to serve the community given her “Chinese national-type primary schools (SJKC) background”.
“This has raised deep questions about her ability to lead a multi-racial and multi-religious community in KKB,” he posted on the X platform.
“It is difficult to deny that the ability of a SJK graduate to communicate effectively and understand the sensitivity of people of different races and religions is much lower when compared to those who study at national schools.”
LULUSAN SJKC PIMPIN MASYARAKAT MAJMUK MERAGUKAN
Kehangatan PRK KKB yang baru sahaja berlangsung sudah dapat kita rasakan dengan pelbagai hujahan oleh penyokong gabungan parti politik masing-masing di media sosial.
Saya terpanggil untuk komen tentang calon pilihan Pakatan… pic.twitter.com/4Wk6kzle0t
— Jauhari Johar (@jauhari_johar) April 29, 2024
Added the opposition activist: “Can Pang really understand the heartache of the Indian community and also the religious sensitivity of the Malay Muslim community?
“I hope Pang can use this campaigning period to show her determination to really understand the people’s disgruntlement and proactively highlight the voices of the people against the Madani government leadership.”
The polemic surrounding academic results of candidates in the KKB by-election surfaced after doubts were cast on PN’s Bersatu candidate Khairul Azhari Saut’s rather “express jump” from SPM to a diploma some 33 years later before obtaining an Executive Master’s in Business Management within a span of two years at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his election profile, the 54-year-old Hulu Selangor Bersatu acting division chief has stated that he obtained an Executive Diploma in Management from Universiti Malaya (UM) in 2019 after leaving SMK Felda Soeharto KKB prior to be conferred his Executive Master’s degree at the Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) in 2021.
However, after Khairul has provided clarity to his seemingly ‘obscured’ tertiary education, PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari then trained his guns on Pang by enquiring details of her primary and secondary education.
This has prompted Pang to furnish evidence of her UPSR and SPM achievements in which she scored 7As and 10 As respectively.
Perikatan Nasional ingat calon Kerajaan Perpaduan-HARAPAN ni cap ayam ke macam calon dia?
Jadi @FadhliShaari jangan sembang je, saya cabar calon PN keluarkan keputusan UPSR dan SPM ok? pic.twitter.com/zYSWrfGSqr
— Adzman Kamaruddin (@adzman86) April 29, 2024
Interestingly, a netizen rebutted Jauhari for having to stoop so low to undermine vernacular schools in the country, alluding to the fact that “many Malay kids are now studying at SJKC”. – April 30, 2024
