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PETALING JAYA: Political analysts supported MCA's call for cuts to ties with the two universities founded by the party following the finance minister's warning that government funding of institutions could be affected.
Awang Azman Awang Pawi, from Universiti Malaya, told the FMT that the once-popular Chinese party, which formed the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition with Umno and MIC, was no longer in power.
"The attributions of Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) and Tunku Abdul Rahman University (Utar) will be affected if they are still considered to be related to the MCA," he said.
"Whether they want it or not, to make sure both universities get the stipends, a complete overhaul of their management needs to be done so that they can be perceived as respectful of Pakatan Harapan (PH). ). "
He cautioned against political implications if the MCA continued to be associated with UC TAR and Utar.
"Do not let students be the victims of this rivalry between MCA and PH," he added.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had asked the MCA to break ties with the two universities before the government gave them more credits, adding that politics and education should not be mixed.
"Utar and TAR UC companies should not belong to the MCA," he told President Wee Ka Siong, president of the MCA, about the cuts to institutional funding in the 2019 budget. .
The MCA then defended its ownership of the universities, claiming that it had neither exploited nor politicized the institutions. She also denied taking money from universities for political purposes.
Independent political analyst Kamarul Zaman Yusoff agreed that political parties had no business to own or run universities.
"I agree that universities must be separated from politics, be it MCA with Utar; MIC with the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology; Gerakan with the Open University of Wawasan; or Umno with Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, "he told FMT.
He suggested putting in place a regulation requiring boards of directors to consist of officials or neutral persons.
He also warned the government against accusations of "political revenge".
"The fact that these universities are already operating makes it important that the government not be seen as an obstacle to their progress.
"Revenge is not the best way to attract the support of the people," he said, adding that many Chinese people were also unhappy with the move to cut university funds.
If the situation was not resolved quickly, he said, Mr. Lim and his party, the DAP, were likely to suffer negative reactions from the Chinese community and students.
"A compromise must be made by both parties to prevent the situation from worsening and neither of the two parties is affected by this development."
Oh Ei Sun of the Pacific Research Center, however, disagreed, saying non-Malays would continue to support DAP. He added that he foresaw no racial tension if the problem continued.
"It is only the MCA that makes ineffective sounds," he told FMT.
Political geo-strategist Azmi Hassan of Perdana School, Universiti Teknologi University, Malaysia, urged Lim to show justice, underscoring the need to end government funding for educational institutions superior.
However, he approved the decision to withhold an increase in the allocation of funds, stating that it was obvious that the political ownership of TAR UC and Utar would not be good for academic freedom.
"Institutions of higher education should not be used by political parties to serve their goals," he said.
James Chin of the University of Tasmania further stated that the MCA "pleaded" the case in the hope of eroding Chinese support for the DAP.
He, too, disagreed that this would lead to racial tension.
"This is only a big problem in the Chinese community," he said.
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