Mixed up? Messed up?

Students denied varsity places because of mixed parentage
Sunday November 1, 2009
The Star


KUCHING: Three bright students were denied places in university matriculation programmes because they are of mixed parentage.

Awang Adrian Awang Kasumar scored 10As in last year’s SPM and was active in school activities.

Although his father is a Malay, Awang Adrian does not enjoy bumiputra status because his mother is a Chinese convert.

Another SPM top scorer, Marina Undau (9As), also had her matriculation programme application rejected by the Education Ministry because she is a product of mixed parentage.

Marina, from Sri Aman, has an Iban father and Chinese mother.

Awang Salleh said his son’s application for the matriculation programme was rejected four months ago, and that the Public Complaints Bureau of the Prime Minister’s Department had given the reason that Awang Adrian did not have a bumiputra status.

The contractor said he was shocked to learn that as a bumiputra himself, his son was not.

“This is not right as the biological ethnicity of the father must be a dominant factor in determining the status of the child,” he told The Star yesterday.

He wanted to highlight the case of his son after reading about Marina’s plight in local paper Borneo Post.

He urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to look into the issue in line with the 1Malaysia concept.

Meanwhile, Malaysianmirror on-line portal highlighted the case of Daniel Ibau, who failed to get into the Labuan Matriculation College although he was one of the top students in SMK Wira Penrissen in Kota Samarahan.

Daniel, of Kayan-Chinese descent, is a Science student who scored 10As and 1B in last year’s SPM.