Soi Lek Blames Anwar for Yen Yen’s Aussie PR

Wednesday, 11 July 2012 10:15

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek alleged today that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s “restrictive” policies while he was education minister had caused many non-Malays to apply for permanent residency in other countries, as Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen’s admission that she had residency in Australia in the 1990s continues to draw flak. Dr Ng, who is MCA vice-president, had admitted yesterday that she was an Australian PR in the 1990s to help her son obtain an education there. However, records show Anwar was not education minister when Dr Ng applied for her Australian PR status. Tan Sri Sulaiman Daud was the minister between 1991 and 1995. Anwar stepped into the role between 1986 and 1991. “Because that time when Anwar was the minister of education, he was very restrictive to the non-Bumiputras and a lot of Chinese cannot get into university,” said Dr Chua, the MCA president, today. “In this country, there are a lot of people who apply for PR for the sake of their children’s education.” Dr Chua did not outline what were the restrictive policies, nor did he comment about MCA’s role as part of the federal government at the time. He was responding to questions on whether Dr Ng had informed the party’s leadership of her Australian permanent resident status while she was still a Senator. “What is past is past. She has already said very clearly, it’s for the sake of education,” said Dr Chua. Dr Ng told reporters she had applied for Australian residency in the 1990s but gave it up in 1995 after her son had completed his studies there. The Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government, with MCA as a component party, has been responsible for executing policies that impose a race quota on university admissions under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, giving Bumiputeras the biggest share of public university admissions. Responding to complaints that there were not enough universities to cater to growing demand, the administration of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad began liberalizing education policies in the 1990s to allow the establishment of more private and public institutions. - The Malaysian Insider