The Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) has recently took to Facebook to announce that it had sponsored 215 students to study in the United Kingdom (UK).
Meanwhile, MARA also boasted that these students will be heading towards the Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh Airport, in addition to the world’s top universities they will be going to, which includes Imperial College London, University College London, London School Of Economics and many more.
However, a netizen had pointed out that the sponsorship programme has a much darker side to it.
215 pelajar terbang ke UK di bawah tajaan Mara. Agaknya dlm ramai² ni brp yg betul² layak? Maaf sy pun under Mara (2014/2015) & waktu tu sy jmp brp ramai anak vip & anak staf Mara sdri tp di bawah tajaan Mara. "Jgn bgtahu org tau." Kata anak² mereka di bumi Australia ketika itu. pic.twitter.com/NucTmnr9zx
— fairuz.dan.alam 🇵🇸 (@callmefye) September 29, 2021
The netizen, called @callmefye on Twitter, shared that he was a participant of MARA’s sponsorship programme to Australia for 2014/2015, and he claimed that most recipients of the sponsorship were either children of VIPs or MARA staff.
In the series of tweets, he questioned the authenticity of these students’ application and claimed that they had misused their parents’ social status to get a free pass to study abroad.
“Some of them had JPA scholarships, while others had parents working as diplomats. They were also proud to show off the tons of money given to them.”
“I was also dumbfounded to hear the staff speaking kindergarten-level English. How did they manage to get a job overseas?”
He then said he was instructed to keep silent on the matter when they landed in Australia.
He also said that this is so wrong and he added that this corrupted practice will only make the poor remain poor.
Meanwhile, a netizen echoed the remarks made by @callmefye and she claimed that she was part of the cohort sent to the UK. She then revealed that that not all came from the B40 group.
Another netizen expressed her frustration of having to go through a long-winded process for the scholarships, to only know that the spot had been booked for the VIPs.
This is what i meant about the scholarship controversy. It’s not that the lower income class aren’t competent; no. It’s bcs we unknowingly went to interviews for an already booked slot for the VIP’s babies to make it look like they’ve work for the spot. Were swept and dusted. https://t.co/4FSG5Cpg6C
— sarah – 🏴 (@Saralysis) September 29, 2021
The matter had even caught the attention of the former Education Minister, Maszlee Malik, where he commented “The painful truth…”
Hakikat yang penuh kepahitan… https://t.co/tBiWQELYmI
— Maszlee Malik 🏴🇲🇾 (@maszlee) September 29, 2021
What do you think about this? Share your thoughts!
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