Kota Kinabalu: The renewed debate over the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) following Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) defeat in the Sabah Election is an example of unhealthy political practice, said Justin Wong (Sri Tanjong – Warisan).
Wong said efforts to “re-study” the issue are no longer relevant and, instead, the Government should proceed directly with recognising the UEC as a fair and principled step.
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“The UEC issue, which had long been dormant, has once again become a hot topic in the political arena. This development is clearly closely linked to PH’s recent defeat in the Sabah election.
“During the three years PH governed at the federal level, there were DAP leaders who felt that compared to other national issues, the recognition of the UEC was not a pressing matter.
“However, after DAP suffered a sweeping defeat in Sabah, voices from the grassroots began to pressure the party leadership, causing the UEC issue to return to the spotlight,” he said.
A few years ago, he added, some DAP leaders stated that not many among the Chinese community used the UEC certificate to apply for positions in the public service.
“But now, all of a sudden, the UEC is considered extremely important, and PH leaders, including those from East Malaysia, are showing deep interest in discussing it,” he said.
Justin stressed that the recognition of the UEC is part of PH’s election manifesto, and a manifesto is a governing promise, not something that can be taken lightly.
He said this promise was included in PH’s manifesto in the 2018 and 2022 General Elections, and DAP has been part of the Federal Government since then.
“After all this, does the Government still need to continue to ‘study’ and ‘negotiate’?” he questioned.
He explained that when PH formed the Government in 2018, the then Minister of Education, Dr Maszlee Malik, announced the establishment of the PH Manifesto Implementation Action Committee to study the recognition of the UEC.
At that time, he said, the Deputy Minister of Education was Teo Nie Ching, who is also DAP National Vice-Chairperson.
“Where is the report of that committee? When will it be made public?” he asked.
According to him, Dong Zong (the United Chinese School Committees’ Association of Malaysia) was also a member of the Committee.
He also agreed with the view of Dong Zong Chairman Tan Yew Sing that the Government’s failure to recognise the UEC would only cause the country to suffer losses due to the migration of talent.
Dong Zong also maintained its stance that it will not “plead” for the recognition of the UEC, because if the Government truly has the intention, an announcement can be made immediately without delay.
Justin stressed that the recognition of the UEC and the upholding of Bahasa Melayu as the national language are two separate matters.
In Sabah, he said, the official languages are Bahasa Melayu and English, and when Parti Warisan governed Sabah from 2018 to 2020, the then Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, announced the recognition of the UEC at the State level.
“We never saw the State Government at that time saying that UEC recognition needed to be postponed on the grounds of defending the Malay language. This proves that the two do not contradict each other and are not related,” he said.
