Lo Khere Chiang: Meritocracy Must Prevail in Malaysia’s Education System

suppadmin | September 24, 2025

Batu Kitang assemblyman Dato Ir Lo Khere Chiang has called for fairness in Malaysia’s higher education system, stressing that cases like that of top STPM scorer Edward Wong highlight deep flaws in admissions policies.

“When Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim travels abroad, he speaks as a statesman of principle about fairness, justice, equality and inclusivity,” Lo said. “But at home, the reality paints a very different picture, starting with the foundation of every nation: education.”

He pointed to the case of Edward Wong, a STPM graduate with a flawless 4.0 CGPA and a near-perfect merit score of 99.9 per cent, who was denied entry into the accountancy programmes of all five public universities he applied to.

“Almost immediately, prestigious universities abroad offered to welcome him with scholarships. What does this say about our priorities?” Lo questioned.

He criticised the imbalance between matriculation and STPM students in university admissions, noting that matriculation — a shorter and less rigorous route — produces thousands of perfect scorers each year, while STPM, equivalent to the A-Levels, produces only a handful. Yet matriculation candidates dominate entry into top courses such as medicine, pharmacy, law and dentistry.

“If even the most outstanding STPM student cannot secure a place in his chosen course through UPU, what confidence can others have in the fairness of the system?” Lo asked.

Addressing claims that Wong’s rejection was due to his not taking STPM Mathematics, Lo clarified: “For accountancy, the requirement is only a credit in SPM-level Mathematics — which Edward already achieved. At STPM, he went further by taking Accounting, Economics and ICT, scoring straight A’s across all subjects.”

Lo also linked the issue to Malaysia’s declining university rankings. “Universiti Malaya was once among Asia’s best, but today it struggles to maintain its standing. This decline mirrors policies that undermine merit and discourage perseverance,” he said.

In contrast, he praised Sarawak’s approach under Premier Abang Johari. “From 2026, Sarawakian students — irrespective of race or religion — will enjoy free tertiary education in selected courses. The state has also recognised the UEC, opened its universities to deserving UEC graduates, and provided hundreds of millions of ringgit in support for Chinese schools. Through UNIFOR, unity across faiths and communities has been strengthened,” he noted.

“This is how a society is built — by encouraging excellence, nurturing scientists, technologists, doctors and engineers to become world-class leaders, and inspiring them to serve Sarawak and her people,” he said.

Lo stressed that Malaysia must not close its doors to its brightest students. “If we continue to shut our doors to the nation’s best and brightest, others will gladly open theirs. A country that abandons fairness in education abandons its own future,” he warned.