UMNO supreme council member Datuk Khaidirah Abu Zahar @ Dira has ruffled the feathers of some non-Bumiputera netizens following her recent social media statement urging the Higher Education Ministry not to open up Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) to the latter in order “to preserve the dignity and prestige of the tertiary institution”.
The Rim state assemblywoman has expressed concern that should UiTM open its doors to non-Bumiputera, there would not only be a change in the syllabus or the academic culture that has been in place for a long time but may even threaten the position and stability of the institution.
“Don’t be bothered to undermine the status and position of UiTM. Accept and respect UiTM’s role for Bumiputera and how close the institution is to Malays in particular,” Dira who is also the UMNO Jasin Division vice-chief pointed out in a TikTok video uploaded on Monday (May 6).
“After all, there are many other tertiary institutions (20 public universities and 37 private higher learning institutions) which are open to all races with the government having already implemented meritocracy-based intake/admission”.
The daughter to Melaka’s eight menteri besar Datuk Seri Abu Zahar Isnin (1997-1999) was reacting to a tweet by former de facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim that race-based education institutions like UiTM need to open up by enrolling qualified Malaysians.
Good Morning Zambry
I read with dismay the statement by the Higher Education Minister that the entry of non-Bumiputra into UITM cardio specialist’s course is still pending review. Specific fundamental issues have yet to be resolved, Zambry said
There are no outstanding issues…
— Zaid Ibrahim (@zaidibrahim) May 2, 2024
“UITM was started to help the Bumiputera community and should continue to do so. But today, we’ve to recognise that helping non-Malays into UITM is also assisting the Bumiputras by solving the nation’s problem,” opined the supposedly UMNO member with a Perikatan Nasional (PN) slant.
Delving further, Dira stressed that there is no need “to disturb UiTM” which has been functioning well in its role.
“As Malaysians, we should take pride in appreciating the role and achievements of UiTM while supporting the diversity of our education system,” asserted the 40-year-old UMNO politician who crated history by becoming the country’s first actress/celebrity to be made a people’s representative after winning the 2021 Malacca state election.
“At the end of the day, we should look at the overall the improvement in the education level of all communities as opposed to the creation of threat or pressure to anyone considering that the nation stands to gain if the Malay/Bumiputera community is highly competitive for they form both the core and majority in Malaysia.”
Below are some self-explanatory reactions from netizens to Dira’s thoughts (extracted from comments to an article on Dira’s views carried by @TVPertiwi_MY on the X platform): – May 8, 2024
