Tak kenal maka tak cinta. Jom Kenali Universiti Awam (UA) Malaysia.
UIAM - UiTM - UKM - UM - UMK - UMP - UMS - UMT - UniMAP - UNIMAS - UniSZA - UPM - UPNM - UPSI - USIM - USM - UTeM - UTHM - UTM - UUM

Sunday, May 21, 2006

PSD Scholarships – Disappointments to Most Applicants

Posted by Chong

The years of study paid off: He scored 15 A1s. He also got an A2 for English and a B3 for English for science and technology.

Son of a lorry driver and a factory worker, he dreamt of securing a scholarship from the Public Service Department. The dream was shattered yesterday.
- NST: 15 A1s but PSD turns him down
Another proof that top student (15 1As, one 2A & one 3B) missed 1A in English for Science and Technology (EST). I think he certainly deserves a PSD scholarship the most. However, Public Service Department may have overlooked him since he got a 3B in EST.

That is the reality because we know for a fact that the unsuccessful applicants over the years have moved on. Some will get scholarships from the private sector, some from the colleges they attend; many will move on to Form Six and try again two years down the line.

Some will appeal and some will call upon third parties to intervene. But the majority will quietly accept their fate and move on.
- The Star: Life’s not always fair, but learn to move on
I totally agree that life is not always fair, that is why I have moved on to Form Six.

PSD corporate communications head Hasniah Rashid said that with a record number of 15,000 applications for 1,300 overseas scholarships, there were bound to be many disappointed students.

“Applicants who appeal will be informed by the end of June at the latest whether their appeal is successful,” she said, adding that the closing date for appeals was May 24.
- The Star: Scholarship joy for some, blow for others
The competition for PSD scholarships was really tough! There’s a slim chance that those appeal might be awarded a PSD scholarship. So, please don’t hold out much hope of getting a PSD scholarship through appeal or you will be turned down again.

All citizens should be aware that the Government does not owe any student, despite his or her excellent SPM results, a scholarship.

Scholarship is defined in Websters dictionary as “the position of a student, who, because of merit, needs, etc, is granted money or other aid to pursue his studies”.
- The Star: Government does not owe anyone a scholarship
I come from a poor family; very active in co-curricular activities; got straight As in SPM 2005 and I failed to get a PSD scholarship. However, I realize that my broken English speaking during the interview is the main demerit factor to my application.

Meanwhile, MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting said the party would try its best to help students who failed to get PSD scholarships.

“From what we understand, there are more than 13,000 PSD scholarship applicants this year. More than 4,000 of them were straight A students but only about 1,200 scholarships were offered.”
-The Star: Eight MRSM students caught in a quandary
Yes, I am one of the 4000 straight As students. Can Datuk Ong help those students who failed to get PSD scholarships? It’s really too soon to judge him right now.

The PSD has made it clear that selection of scholars is based on an eclectic array of academic attainment (65 per cent), extra-curricular activities (10 per cent), socio-economic status (10 per cent) and the interview (15 per cent). With little to choose from between the candidates in terms of their SPM results, what seems to make the difference is the performance at the interview and also the choice of courses.”
- NST: Measures of merit
I think Public Service Department should reveal the name list of successful applicants to the public to make the selection process more transparent, e.g. how many percent of the successful applicants is non-Bumi?

Unfortunately, having gone through the process, I must say that the interview format is ineffective in judging a person’s character.

The interview is conducted in groups of up to 10 and lasts between 30 and 60 minutes. We were not even required to write an essay, which may help in the assessment of a person’s aptitude.
- NST: Base selection on merit
This year, PSD has replaced the essay test with a psychological test. In my opinion, the psychological test could assess a person’s aptitude more effectively than the essay test.

The most obvious question then is, why after all these years must the standard of the examinations be such that they produce so many top scorers?

Can’t the benchmarks or grade levels be tweaked and raised much higher, so as to spare the headaches and heartaches? Surely the authorities would welcome not having to deal with the embarrassing cases of 10A or 11A students being denied places.
- NST: Raising the standard may spare many the heartache
I disagree that raising the grade levels will stop this situation from repeating every year. Instead, raising the number of scholarships available is the key solution to this problem. Sending more deserving students overseas could produce more first class mentality.
Liked this post? Subscribe now to read more post like this one!
Comments
7 Comments

7 comments:

  1. have you considered applying for the asean scholarship?

    alternatively, take the stpm, brush up on your english and apply to nus / ntu / singapore management university in singapore? the banks there give out interest free student loans.

    ReplyDelete
  2. No, I didn't apply ASEAN scholarship because my English is not good. I heard that studying in Singapore is extremely tough.

    Thanks for the information.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "raising the number of scholarships available is the key solution to this problem."

    - that is simply selfish of you to make such statement. you have no idea how many students who scored 15 or 18As for that matter turned out to be disastrous when they enter uni. the government has not that much money to sponsor all 10000 students. it's all pure luck.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't agree that scholarship should be something for the 'lucky' ones only, though it is happening in our country.

    A scholarship is an award of access to an institution or a financial aid award for an individual (a "scholar") for the purposes of furthering their education. A scholarship may be awarded based on range of criteria (definitely not luck), which usually reflect the views or purposes of the donor or founder of the award.

    When I say ‘deserving students’, I means the students who are excel in both SPM examinations and co-curricular activities, qualified financial background and last but not least, doing well at the interview. I admit that I performed below average at the interview and thus I agreed that I am not one of those ‘deserving students’.

    This is the reason why I suggest 'raising the number of scholarships available is the key solution to this problem'. If luck is one of the criteria, then it is not scholarship, maybe we should call it lottery-ship. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Complete bullshit...
    Just see what kind of students often appear on newspapers when they fail to obtain a scholarship.
    They're Chinese for that matter..
    There aren't a single Malay complaining, depicting the presence of racial discriminatory
    The non-Malays only get about 20%..
    Certainly the Chinese are far better in quantity and quality....Not that i'm disparaging the Malays...
    Thus, there goes the brain drain to say further..with singaapore fishing our excellent students..
    I got a friend who scored 5As in stpm...get a medical course in a ciplak local uni.. then successfully got into NUS and then be offered by the s'pore goverment to Cambridge...
    Do you really think he will come back and serve in Malaysia?
    Ask Hishamuddin to keep dreaming and kiss his bloody keris!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. come on,,don't be too racialism,,
    don't make a fast fact that non bumis are better,but not chosen..
    it is just equal,,
    many quality bumis are in boarding schools,,
    so it will look like non bumis are much better when you see in your secondary school..
    why the non bumi that fail to get the scholarship appear in the newspaper beccause not satisfied for the result and blaming the "pilih kasih" to the bumi..
    do you know,,there were bumis that failed to have the scholarship but just shut their mouth and try again by appealing..
    please,,don't be racialism,,
    i love my country and hope this kind of things will not ruin the peace of malaysia..

    ReplyDelete
  7. realy? are you sure about that, cause even in the local universities, you can see many bumis who get band 1 or 2 in MUET but make it into science courses that say they require students to get at least a band 4... n the non bumis with band 4 and 5 being offered courses that they never applied for..

    ReplyDelete

Malaysia Students Blog is a team blog on Malaysian major examinations, secondary, pre-university & tertiary education, scholarship Malaysia, student resources, students' thoughts and everything relating to students & undergraduates at schools, colleges & universities in Malaysia - Student Education Malaysia

Comment Policy: Comments posted at Malaysia Students blog should be on-topic, constructive and add value to the discussion. Comments that are off-topic, one-sentence, abusive or offensive will be removed. Please use proper English with correct spelling and grammar in your comment. For general questions, please post them at SPM Student Malaysia. For enquiries, please email the administrator of this blog: Student at Malaysia-Students dot com.

Join over 50,000 people who get FREE latest scholarship updates via email!

Free Scholarship Updates:   

More scholarships available at Malaysia Scholarship Information Centre

Do Not Miss Any Job Offers! Get Student Part Time Jobs via Email!