Press Digest - Dong Zong accepts BM final hurdle in gaining recognition

PETALING JAYA: Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association) president Datuk Vincent Lau said SPM Bahasa Malaysia is the final hurdle to getting full government recognition for UEC (Unified Examination Certificate).
He said during its meeting with MCA several months ago, the association had accepted the condition that UEC students must obtain a pass in SPM BM.
MCA Youth chief Datuk Chong Sin Woon, who is deputy education minister, said some time ago that the ministry had dealt with the technical problems regarding UEC and that it was time the Chinese school certificate was recognised by the government.
Speaking to China Press in an interview published today, Lau said that at its last meeting with the deputy minister, Dong Zong had already indicated it was agreeable to a pass in SPM BM for UEC holders be made a condition for the certificate to be granted government recognition.
Only certain details were yet to be finalised, including the issue of whether UEC students should sit for the whole SPM examination or the BM subject alone, he disclosed.
"We hope UEC students need only sit for the single subject (BM) and not the whole SPM examination."
Meanwhile, following the ministry's disclosure that Dong Zong had agreed to the conditions set for UEC's recognition, suspended Mara chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa said in a Facebook posting that he hoped to meet the Chinese education movement to follow up on related issues.
"If what Datuk Chong Sin Woon said about Dong Zong's stand on UEC is true, I feel happy about it," he said, adding that such a development would help Malaysia move towards achieving prosperity and national unity.
On Jan 21, Annuar said Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) recognised UEC as an entry qualification but Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismai Sabri Yaakob, whose ministry has jurisdiction over Mara, wasted no time to deny it.
Last Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said it was time the education minister submitted a report on UEC to the Cabinet.