Press Digest - Dong Zong unfazed over Perkasa's threat

PETALING JAYA: Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association) secretary-general Poh Chin Chuan is unfazed over Perkasa's threat to sue the government should Putrajaya recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), saying "the Malay right-wing group does not speak for the Malay community".
He said what matters is the decision of the Cabinet and not what Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali has said, China Press reported today.
"It is up to the Cabinet or the Higher Education Ministry (to decide whether UEC should be recognised).
"Ibrahim Ali has no right to speak on behalf of the Malay community. As such, we (Dong Zong) do not have to take him seriously," said Poh when asked to comment on Ibrahim's remarks at a roundtable meeting on UEC organised by Perkasa's education and human capital development bureau in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
Ibrahim had said if the Cabinet recognises UEC, Perkasa will drag the government to court to get it cancelled regardless of the justification given for its recognition.
Meanwhile, bureau chairman Sirajudin Mohd Salleh, a panellist at the meeting, said the government must take into account the Federal Constitution, the laws as well as the nation's interests when deciding on UEC.
Poh said some people with extreme views like to harp on attempts to get UEC recognised but "there are those who believe that the country will gain from recognising UEC", (the standardised test for Chinese independent high school students, organised by Dong Zong since 1975.
In a report by Nanyang Siang Pau, Dong Zong president Datuk Vincent Lau said he is confident UEC will eventually be granted government recognition despite it being politicised.
He said those who are opposed to UEC's recognition do not understand the principles and aims of Chinese independent high schools in Malaysia.
It has been reported that the Higher Education Ministry was willing to consider recognising the UEC for entry to public universities if it meets certain conditions.