University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

A study of Chinese-Malaysian students' choices to attend a private college, American university transfer program

(USC Thesis Other)

A study of Chinese-Malaysian students' choices to attend a private college, American university transfer program

PDF

Download

Open document

Flip pages

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content INFORMATION TO USERS
This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UM! films the
text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and
dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of
computer printer.
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality o f the copy
submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and
photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment
can adversely affect reproduction.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and
there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright
material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.
Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning
the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to
right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in
one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book.
Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced
xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic
prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for
an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order.
Bell & Howell Information and Learning
300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA
800-521-0600
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
A STUDY OF CHINESE-MALAYSIAN STUDENTS' CHOICES
ATTEND A PRIVATE COLLEGE,
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY TRANSFER PROGRAM
by
John Timothy Denny
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(Education)
May 1999
Copyright© 1999 John Timothy Denny
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
UMI Number: 9933716
UMI Microform 9933716
Copyright 1999, by UMI Company. All rights reserved.
This microform edition is protected against unauthorized
copying under Title 17, United States Code.
UMI
300 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90007
This dissertation, written by
John # _ Timothy _ Denn^...............
under the direction of hi.a Dissertation
Committee, and approved by all its members,
has been presented to and accepted by The
Graduate School, in partial fulfillment of re
quirements for the degree of
D O C TO R OF PH ILO SO PHY
rnduate Studies Dean
Date
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
Chairperson
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to my mother. Although she
passed away in January 1994 and my memory of her is fading,
her unwavering love and caring for those around her is the
thought that will carry me to my death. The memory of her
thoughts and character has kept my desire to finish this
dissertation strong.
i i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This dissertation has taken considerable time to complete,
and in that time, I have incurred numerable debts to
friends and those who have assisted me. I have learned an
enormous amount from associating with a group of fine
people both in Los Angeles at the University of Southern
California and overseas during my data collection periods.
I hope that none of those that have assisted me through
this journey feels upset over the direction my research has
evolved. Many of the ideas for this research stem back to
my early days at Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale, where my former professors and now close
friends have assisted me in innumerous ways throughout the
years.
At The University of Southern California I would like
to thank Professor William M. Rideout for his undying
devotion to his students, the university and his incredible
help and direction throughout the years as an advisor,
mentor and friend. Without Dr. Rideout I would most
probably have not stayed at USC and thus he is a greater
inspiration than words can describe for not only myself but
also for numerous others he has assisted throughout his
time in the profession.
During my time at USC I was fortunate enough to have
had continual financial and scholarly assistance through my
colleagues at the American Language Institute. Without
fail, the focus of the institute has been the articulate
leadership under Professor David Eskey. He has not only
been a strong source of inspiration for my life but for all
of those who are lucky enough to associate with him.
My outside committee member Professor Alexander Moore,
and a whole host of other instructors and colleagues at USC
have given me a chance to excel not only now but also for
the rest of my life. My thoughts and appreciation are with
each one of them.
In Malaysia there are far too many people to mention
that have touched my life through their assistance in one
way or another. To my long time friends, Jimmy, Beng Tat,
Lee, Chris and others I thank you for your support. To the
i i i
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
numerous folks at colleges and universities in Malaysia who
have spent time discussing issues of the day, I have taken
a bit of you with me through our conversations. In
addition, to the students interviewed for this project,
without their support none of this is possible.
I am extremely happy and yet slightly taken aback when
I mention one last person. Dr. Molly Lee of Malaysia has
been a true source of enlightenment and motivation. She is
a rare breed, in the sense that her unceasing efforts and
assistance could never be replaced. I cherish her guidance
and support throughout the years and only aspire one day to
be as diligent as she.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
iv
Table of Contents
DEDICATION..................................................................................................................................II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................................Ill
LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... VH
INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................1
Background............................................................... 1
Perspective on National Language Change Problems............. 5
Demographics....................................................9
Geographic Location................................................ 9
Ethnicity.......................................................... 10
Society........................................................ 12
Malay...............................................................12
The Immigrant Communities..........................................13
Post-Independence Goals and Policies......................... 15
Education..................................................... 17
Accessibility of Education........................................ 20
Emphasis on Development of Rural Areas............................22
Higher Education and National Goals in Malaysia.................. 24
Statement of the Problem................................................. 25
The Research Question (s).................................................26
Definitions..............................................................27
Assumptions of the Study................................................. 32
Delimitations............................................................32
Limitations..............................................................33
Significance of the Study................................................ 33
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE...............................................................................................35
INTRODUCTION..........................................................35
Equality of Educational Opportunity....................................... 37
Equality...................................................... 38
Equality of Opportunity.......................................38
Equality. Education and Opportunity..........................39
Theoretical perspective............................................42
Interpretations of Equality of Educational Opportunity...........43
Application of Intervention Interpretations...................... 45
Equality of Educational Opportunity in other countries....... 49
Equality of Educational Opportunity in Malaysia .............. 50
POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION............................................. 54
What is Political Socialization?..............................55
Use of Politcal Socialization in the USA.....................56
Malaysia as a Case Study in Contemporary Nation Building 57
Pre-independence.................................................. 58
Political Socialization in Malaysia Today........................ 61
Use of Language to Unify.......................................... 66
Student Mobility in Malaysia............................................. 69
Private Higher Education in Malaysia......................................72
v
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Background...........................................................72
Overseas Study.......................................................75
Local/Overseas Private Higher Education...........................77
Linkages............................................................79
Summary..................................................................84
DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY.............................................. 85
Point of V iew............................................................86
Epistemological Bases.....................................................88
Selection of Participants.................................................89
The Interview............................................................92
Inter\'iew Preparation......................................... 95
Data Collection/Recording................................................ 97
Analyses Procedures...................................................... 98
The Interviews/Transcripts................................... 101
FINDINGS AND ANALYSES.................................................103
Introduction.............................................................103
The Research Question................................................... 106
The Situation........................................................... 109
Food...........................................................II2
Religion...................................................... 113
Religion in the Educational System................................117
Language...................................................... 118
Keeping the Chinese Out..................................................122
Quality of Education.....................................................133
ACCEPTABLITY OF DEGREE.................................................. 139
Summary................................................................. 144
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................... 146
Summary and Conclusions..................................................146
Recommendations for Further Studies.......................................151
BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................154
APPENDIX................................................................ 169
APPENDIX A - Question Checklist...................................... 170
APPENDIX B - Internal Security Act....................................174
APPENDIX C - Interview Schedule...................................... 176
APPENDIX D - Interviewee Characteristics.............................. 177
Index for Appendix C and D.................................. 178
vi
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
List of Tables
Table 1: Ethnic groups in Malaysia.........................11
Table 2: Willingness to be friends with non-Chinese.......Ill
Table 3: Reasons for not attempting matriculation to a
government university.................................. 132
Table 4: Perceptions on quality of education...............138
Table 5: Why is an overseas degree more acceptable?....144
vii
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In order to better comprehend the situation in which
this dissertation is framed, it will be necessary to give
ample background and historical information to build a
better understanding of the forces which interplay to
create a situation in which the ethnic Chinese Malaysians
protect their educational endeavors.
Background
Malaysia, being a plural society, consisting of a
multiracial, multiethnic and multicultural people, has seen
some extreme violence in its growth process as a
postcolonial state. The history of Malaysia is a story of
communalism, tied to organizations based on
racial/ethnic/lingual affinity and political ideology, all
propagated through its [unique] process of identity
1
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
building in the quest to form a viable nation. Malaysia
has gained and lost territory, but the over-riding
inhibitor in this process has been, without doubt, the
reluctance of its population to unite based on national
ideological standpoints rather than racial/ethnic
boundaries (Kua, 1987, 1992, 1993).
A highly centralized (top-down) governmental structure
armed with interventionist ideology has been at the heart
of Malaysian nation building at its heart. Through this,
educational reform has been given top priority as noticed
through the following two passages (Fifth Malaysia plan of
1986 and Sixth Malaysia plan of 1991 as cited in Morris and
Sweeting, 1994, p. 149):
...education and training will continue to be
geared towards fostering national unity and
increasing participation of all Malaysians in
National Development.
...the role of education and training in Malaysia
is to produce knowledgeable, trained and skilled
individuals to meet the manpower requirements as
well as the growing social needs . . . [we] require
manpower to be innovative and equipped with
knowledge and training in science and technology,
management, and related skills. Equally important
is the need for the national education system to
9
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
mould disciplined, diligent and motivated
individuals.
These passages highlight the overriding emphasis on
education planning as a means of development of the
industrial/business sector. In turn, this development
stance also translates to mean that Malaysia is taking a
proactive role in directing its social and political
character with education as the stimulus.
Access to education has been a divisive issue in
Malaysia even before independence. The British typically
used education as a tool to separate ethnicities. With the
concept of "divide and rule" the British denied or
developed educational opportunity based on racial lineage-
social classification strata. With divisions in
educational type and opportunity, the ethnicities of
Malaysia were encouraged to grow as separate non
assimilated groups. This divisiveness continues until
today and is of major concern in formulating national
policies. Each consecutive 5-year plan reiterates its
concern in dealing with this problem.
3
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Of major consequence to educational opportunity in
Malaysia has been the issue of higher educational
opportunity/access based on ethnic/racial lineage. Higher
education access has been increased through various
methods, some of which include expansion of facilities,
increasing the number of institutions and subsidy schemes.
If it is taken for granted that a free society might
place increasing emphasis on educational attainment for
upward social mobility, then it is expected that a
corresponding increase in educational participation will be
demanded by the populous. These demands must be met,
either through public or private educational offerings. The
main area of demand in Malaysia has been in post-secondary
offerings, where the supply is far below demand for
matriculation.
Fluctuations in policy objectives with regard to
higher educational offerings have resulted in much
dissatisfaction. As governmental programs do not meet
educational needs, consequently a blossoming peripheral
private sector in higher education has appeared. Thus, this
4
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
paper is focusing on this alternative form of higher
education, and will detail them more subsequent chapters.
Perspective on National Language Change Problems
The history of Malaysia is filled with times of
tension. Tension due both to internal and external forces
including, of course, colonialist intentions. Malaysia has
historically attracted international attention due to its
unique geographical position and immense natural resource
potentials.
On May 13, 1969, Malaysia suffered extensive rioting
centered on inequalities between Malay and other ethnic
groups (mainly the ethnic Chinese). Drastic social policy
changes took place as a result of the widespread rioting.
Among the policy changes, on July 11, 1969, the then
Minister of Education (Tun Abdul Razak) announced that
Public sponsored English-medium schools were to be
converted to Bahasa Malaysia (the language of the ethnic
Malays) one grade at a time, beginning with Standard I (the
first year of primary school), in 1970. This policy stood
5
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
in direct opposition to Article 152 of the Malaysian
Education Ordinance of 1957, of which Section 3 reads:
The educational policy of the Federation is to
establish a national system of education
acceptable to the people as a whole which will
satisfy their needs and promote their cultural,
social, economic and political development as a
nation, with the intention of making the Malay
language the national language of the country
while preserving and sustaining the growth of the
language and culture of the peoples other than
Malays living in the country.
The groups other than Malays strongly opposed the changes
in language of instruction, but have been unsuccessful in
their attempts to convince the policymakers otherwise.
By 1982 language changes had reached the second and
last year of Form VI (end of secondary school) , when
examinations were taken for the Higher School Certificate
(HSC) , (the HSC has since been renamed the STPM [Sijil
Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia] which is equivalent to the A
level exam). The policy to change the language of
instruction from other languages to Bahasa Malaysia
permeated not only lower level education but was also
forced into post-secondary education where the incredible
difficulty of language change is noticed.
6
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Presently the universities require instructors to
teach primarily in Bahasa Malaysia, the paradox comes
through the fact that the libraries are heavily stocked
with English language volumes. Thus, students, in order to
do thorough research, must master English to access
resources.
It is clear that this language policy (and forthcoming
policies) were designed as reactive measures to the need
for nation - building. The stated objective in each major
language policy was to alleviate disparity between the
ethnic groups.
Based on the original schedule for changing the
language of post-secondary instruction in 1983, Bahasa
Malaysia was adopted as the medium of instruction in public
universities. Thus, the impact of this policy now extends
to higher education.
The impact of the 1969 pronouncement was powerful and
the reaction thereto by the Chinese included transfers back
into Chinese-medium primary schools, some emigration, and
for those who could afford it, sending their children
abroad for secondary and/or higher education.
7
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Due to the drastic language changes taking place in
the early 70 's, the Chinese community took the initiative
to establish a stronger hold on vernacular (mother tongue)
based education. With this, they tried earnestly to
establish a Chinese language based university. This effort
was resoundly struck down by Malay politicians each time it
resurfaced (Kua, 1987).
The 1969 Chinese - language university proposal has
not been accepted based on the same issues of linguistic
conformity that were endorsed and reinforced by the New
Economic Policy, the National Education Policy and the
National Culture Policy (Singh & Mukherjee, 1993, p 518 and
Hsu, 1993 , p. 15) . The paradox of this setback to continue
education in the Chinese language is that the Chinese had
the support of the Malaysian Constitution, which shows
support for diversity in culture and education. (Education
Ordinance of 19 57)
In order to better understand the ethnic groups of
Malaysia the next section will detail geographical and
demo graphi c da t a.
8
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Demographics
The following sections will present information on
Malaysia's demography. Before a tally of the groups in this
pluralistic society can be presented, a description of the
countries geography is given.
Geographic Location
The Federation of Malaysia lies on the Southeastern
most section of continental Asia, consisting of 127,3 61-sq.
mi. of tropical mountainous and lowland coastal areas. All
of Malaysia is just a few degrees above the equator giving
the country a sultry hot tropical climate, with monsoon
seasons occurring in all sections of the country. Malaysia
is geographically divided into two distinct parts, that of
West Malaysia lying on the southern half of the Malay
Peninsula which is connected to Thailand by a thin strip of
land in the north, and East Malaysia consisting of
approximately the northern third of Borneo Island. East
9
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Malaysia is where the states of Sarawak and Sabah are to be
found.
Ethnicity
The ethnic diversity in these people is amazing.
Approximately 85% of the population of Malaysia lives in
West Malaysia. The majority are the ethnic Malays with
slightly over 3 5%, followed by Chinese with around 3 5%,
Indians are nearly 10% and the rest of the population
consists of over twenty ethnic indigenous peoples, most of
whom are found in East Malaysia where they are the
maj ority.
It must be noted that in many census calculations
determining ethnic diversity in the country, the minority
indigenous groups are almost always lumped with the Malays,
due to their apparent similarity in ethnic background.
Little can be done to establish a statistically fair
separation between the groups. The Malays are politically
dominant and they benefit from affiliation with the
indigenous ethnic population primarily found in East
Malaysia.
10
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Although much talk of the major groups in. Malaysia
refers to them as the Malays, Chinese, Indians and
Indigenous groups, these classifications only reflect
compartmentalization of the diversity within those major
groups. The following table shows some of the diversity
within these ethnic lineages. The major groups are
represented by the top column showing Malay, Chinese, South
Indians, North Indians and indigenous groups. On a day to
day basis Malaysians may or may not self identify with one
or more of the subgroups listed below, but it is fairly
sure that they will always identify as either Malay,
Chinese, Indian, indigenous or other groups not mentioned.
Table 1: Ethnic groups in Malaysia.
Malays Chinese South North Indigenous
Indians Indians "orang asli"
ethnic Malay Hokkien Tamilian Gujaratis Dayaks
Arabic decent Hakka Keralan Parsis Kadazans
Indonesians Cantonese others Ibans
Mixed Malay with Teochew Others
another ethnicity Hockchew
Hainanese
Kwongsai
Henghau
Peranakan
Others
(adapted from Ward & Hewston, 1985, p.274)
It is further interesting to know where these groups
came from. The following sections will attempt to explain
11
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
the origins of the various ethnicities of present day
Malaysia.
Society
Although the Malaysian society can be defined from
different angles, it is impossible not to take into account
the wide-ranging ethnic groups and their cultural
complexities. The following section is an attempt to map
out the various racial/ethnic groups found in West Malaysia
and their relevant social structures.
Malay
This group consists of one of the first politically
organized groups in peninsular Malaysia. Islam being their
religion, the political-hierarchical structure is attached
to the sultanate (a sultan is a ruler of a Muslim country)
system. The Malays owe allegiance territorially to their
sultans. "Culturally linked to Islam, and most
specifically to a maritime branch of it where Malaysian
12
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
languages were spoken there was a common tradition of
culture, trade and intermarriage among the royal families,
whose rule extended along the coasts of Malaysia, Sumatra
and Borneo and parts of Java and other islands." (Silcock &
Aziz as cited by Ongkili, 1985, p. 1)
The Immigrant Communities
Chinese immigrants created their first footholds in
the Melaka area during the early Christian era, where some
of these early traders eventually settled, setting the
stage for future waves of immigrants. In the latter half
of the nineteenth century, the Chinese were attracted to
the rich tin mining area of Perak and Selangor (two of the
12 states of Malaysia). They eventually created a
stronghold in business through their crafty and sensible
ways. During the later part of the nineteenth century,
vast numbers of Chinese indentured servants were brought to
Malaysia to work in the mines and on rubber plantations
(Ongkili, 1985, p. 5)
13
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Indian immigrants were mostly imported as servants and
laborers on British rubber plantations. By and large they
were recruited from the Tamil regions in the southern part
of India. Unlike the Chinese, the majority of Indians
settled only in West Malaysia and did not create any
sizable communities outside of that region.
While the Chinese and Indians form a significant
presence in Malaysia (together about 45% of the
population), it can not be forgotten that the major notable
force to reckon with was the British community. Although
they were not large in numbers, they did comprise the
foreign administration creating the infrastructure to
direct Malaysia socially, politically and economically
until and beyond independence. Their legacy continues on
long after the British departed Malaysia.
Having a clear awareness of the ethnic groups and the
tensions amongst them leads to a better understanding of
the racially based policies of Malaysia. The following
section will outline some of the major policies enacted
after independence.
14
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Post-Independence Goals and Policies
In 1970 Malaysia introduced the New Economic Policy
(NEP) as a direct consequence of the May 1969 racial riots.
The basic directive embodies the principle of eradication
of poverty among all Malaysians, and the restructuring of
society so that economic function and race are not
synonymous (UNESCO, 1986, p. 13).
At the point in time when the NEP was drawn up, a
close look the ethnic groups would reveal that political
empowerment was defined predominately in ethnic terms by
the Malays, while the economy was said to be held by the
Chinese. Thus, implementation and creating of policy is
surely going to be dominated by inputs from the policy
empowered race. The result being that non-politically
connected groups may not have their opinions and needs
accounted for.
With regard to language policy, the Malaysian
Constitution adopted at independence in 1957 made Bahasa
Malaysia the sole official language. Of noteworthy
significance the constitution did guarantee rights to other
15
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
languages for non-official purposes which includes
education. The policymakers wished for a unified language
policy with Bahasa Malaysia as the sole language of the
country, but seeing that this was not possible, compromises
were accepted at that time in the interest of national
integration and identity. These included linguistic
maintenance (implying continuation of the ethnically
separated schools) and at the same time plans were laid to
encourage a common curriculum and a single medium of
instruction for the future. The overriding consideration
was preparation for ethnic integration and creating unity
amongst the different groups.
The National Education Policy of 1961 established
Bahasa Malaysia, as a compulsory subject in government
sponsored schools, but not necessarily as a medium of
instruction. The obvious implication of a dichotomy in
language policy was to allow and foster vernacular
education. Nevertheless, public school examinations at the
secondary level were given only in Bahasa Malaysia and
English. By 1965 most Chinese secondary schools had
adopted English as the medium of instruction, though a few
16
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
remained independent by teaching in Chinese. These
developments increased access and expanded opportunities
for populations that had been consistently deprived.
During the early post-independence years educational
spending rose substantially, but the share of education in
total public investments dropped slightly, from 15% in 1958
to 13% in 1968. The period of rapid expansion in higher
education came in the 70's and 80's.
Education
Historical ties with Britain and the British education
tradition had previously instilled elitist ideologies. The
elitist tradition held true until recent times when we find
talk of more egalitarian approaches for educational
attainment at all levels. Opposed to the patterns of
elitism in education, the government has calculated
educational developments. They have both increased
opportunity and access for those who otherwise had not
attended but they have done so in a manner which will not
17
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
saturate the working sector with a large number of educated
unemployed.
With the National Education Policy of 1961, Malaysia
has gone forth with great expansion in all sectors of
education. It must be noted that the major stumbling
blocks have included the changeover from the vernacular
languages to Bahasa Malaysia and providing education for
the previously undereducated portions of the populous
(focus on Malays) . As it stands today, all government-
aided secondary schools have fully switched to Bahasa
Malaysia as a medium of instruction, as have the
universities for the most part. The exception would be the
International Islamic University, which uses English and
Arabic as its mediums of instruction.
In primary education, vernaculars are still allowed up
to the equivalent of the United State's grade 6. A student
attending such an institution would be required to take a
"out year" (also called the remove year) before proceeding,
in order to prepare for the Bahasa Malaysia Language
requirement in upper grades (Malaysia Students Department,
1994) . During that year the students intensely study Bahasa
18
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Malaysia to bring their language skills up to par with the
students in the equivalent grade level.
"In developing societies like Malaysia, universities
have been concerned with the training of administrative and
professional elite who will occupy leadership positions in
society" (Marimuthu, 1984, p. 4) . A country devoted to
development, Malaysia must use its resources wisely so that
educational resources meet critical areas of need. Malaysia
uses higher education as a focal point for development.
Thus more effort is placed on "credentializing" the work
force in hopes of creating a world competitive economy. The
absurdity of these policies is that universities serve to
place the elite in positions of authority.
The first Prime Minister's goal for higher education
was to fulfill national needs by producing "...graduates
who possess relevant skills to participate in the
technological and economic development in the country"
(Marimuthu, 1984).
The Malaysian system of education is intensely
centrally organized. Responsibility for educational policy
19
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
falls under the national government (especially regarding
policy and financing) . The Prime Minister's cabinet
includes a Minister of Education, although the office has a
Secretary General overseeing the running and day-to-day
functioning of the organization. Directly responsible to
the Ministry of Education are divisions overseeing various
areas including planning and research., school division,
teacher training, curriculum, examinations, technical
education, schools inspectorate, register of school and
educational media (Malaysian Students Department, 1994).
Accessibility of Education
The public schools of Malaysia are quite accessible to
most. In 1990 the percentage of the primary cohort
attending was 93% up from 87% in 1970. During the same
time period female enrollment showed similar enrollment
ratios, indicating that female participation is not a
problem. Such strong attendance shows that primary
schooling is virtually universal, meeting the Universal
Primary Education (UPE) objectives set by UNESCO. At the
20
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
secondary level, with a 37% reduction in cohort attendance,
enrollment drops significantly.
Schooling in Malaysia is free as stipulated in the
National Education Policy: however, parents are expected to
meet expenses like books, informal school fees, snacks,
uniforms, shoes, transport and supplies.
The continuing objectives of national educational
policy stipulate that free education will be provided, with
preservation of languages and cultures of each community
and a goal of uniting the various ethnicities creating
Bangsa Malaysia (national unity as Malaysians). By and
%
large this policy has progressed well in primary education
where students are allowed to study in their vernaculars.
At the secondary level national policy allows for
government support for only instruction in Bahasa Malaysia,
thereby discriminating against vernacular education while
mocking the objective of preservation of languages and
cultures of each community.
21
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Emphasis on Development of Rural Areas
Due to social/historical dynamics, the rural Malay
population has experienced a comparative disadvantage in
educational and economical advancement. As a consequence,
policies have been trying to compensate for this deficiency
since independence. With this in mind a major policy
objective since independence has been the provision of
rural education in the form of more schools being built in
isolated areas.
Through this initiative, quantitatively, the rural
schools have come up to par with urban schools in terms of
access to lower education. But in reality this says
nothing about the qualitative aspect of education. An
assessment of the great rural expansion can be found in the
following passage
...During these years enrollments rose
rapidly, especially in primary and secondary
schools. From 1956 to 1968 total primary
enrollment increased by 60 percent, while the
English language instruction more than doubled.
Enrollment in Malay-language schools increased by
more than 50 percent and in Chinese-language
schools by almost 3 0 percent. By the mid-1960s
almost all children of the relevant age group
22
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
attended primary school. It was in secondary
schools that the really big increase took place.
Total enrollment between 1956 and 1968 jumped by
over a factor of five, but enrollment in Malay-
language schools jumped by a factor of 45 and
English-language schools by a factor of 5.6.
(Bruton, p. 246)
While the development has been significant, such
development is mostly measured in terms of expansion not
necessarily in terms of quality. As the figures show,
enrollment increases in Malay schools was far above that of
any other category. This indicates that the rural Malay
areas had significantly increased access to education.
Although quantitative expansion was significant, third
world rural underdevelopment could reduce educational
outcomes, as a result of incompetent teaching, poor
supervision, lack of supportive materials and incidence of
multiple class teaching (UNESCO [APEID], 1986, p 15). These
qualitative measures are not evident through enrollment
statistics because, as was earlier stated, promotion is
automatic, thereby negating the indicators of repetition,
drop out rate and student participation.
23
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Higher Education and National Goals in Malaysia
In Malaysia the financing of higher education and
selection into higher institutions raises interconnected
questions of equity, allocative efficiency in the
investment in human resources (and how rapidly to increase
those investments), freedom of choice, and the pursuit of
excellence. The emphasis in Malaysia differs
substantially; however, there is greater expressed concern
in Malaysia with respect to participation in higher
education by the poor and by rural people. This difference
is closely interwoven with an over-riding concern for
greater Malay representation in education, in relatively
skilled occupations, and in positions of greater influence.
Indeed, the position of the Malays relative to the Indians
and especially the Chinese is an issue in virtually every
aspect of political and economic policy. Higher education
occupies an especially critical and a highly visible place
in the efforts to achieve a balanced ethnic participation
by means consistent with the goals of "moderating
24
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
inequality and furtherance of economic progress" (as put
forth in the NEP).
The following sections will detail the statement of
the problem in this study, research questions of the study,
terms needed to be defined, assumptions of the study,
delimitations, limitations and significance of the study
Statement of the Problem
The purpose of this study will be to explore factors
that may contribute to Chinese-Malaysian students'
decisions to attend a private college, American university
transfer program. In this study, I interviewed 20 Chinese-
Malaysian students enrolled in private college American
university transfer programs and 4 government university
students, in Malaysia. The utilized a constant comparative
methodological framework (Bogden & Bilken, 1992, p. 72) to
result in a better understanding of their reasons for
attending such programs and their motives for eventual
overseas study. The study will further demonstrate and
increase awareness of Chinese-Malaysians' opportunities (or
25
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
lack of opportunities) to continue their university level
study partially in country.
The paradigm of research methodology for this study
qualitative. Interviews are chosen for this research
because they are more focused on inductive reasoning, and
thus more suitable for answering the research question.
The Research Question(s)
This study seeks to answer the following questions:
The central and pervasive question,
• What are the factors [social, economic,
political] motivating Chinese-Malaysians' to
attend a private college, American university
transfer program?
The subquestions are:
• What general factors are identified by Chinese-
Malaysians' for attending a private college,
American university transfer program?
• What political factors have influenced Chinese-
Malaysians' to seek a private/foreign education?
• What ethnic influences have influenced Chinese-
Malaysians' to seek a private/foreign education?
• What societal factors have influenced Chinese-
Malaysians' to seek a private/foreign education?
26
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• Is a key factor from the students' perspective,
that private colleges in Malaysia, will provide
access to an institution in the USA?
• Do the participants understand any existing
conditionalities in their future hope to
matriculate into an American university (e.g.,
GPA, SAT (equivalent) , TOEFL, and time to
complete degree factors)?
• How has attending a private college helped
Chinese-Malaysians' to prepare for an education
in the USA (with regard to course content in
Malaysia compared to what is expected in the
USA) ?
• How will a higher education from the United
States improve Chinese-Malaysians' social
mobility?
• What increases/decreases in educational
opportunity are perceived by attending a private
college?
Definitions
The following is a list of terms that will assist the
reader through standardized definitions in this study.
• Access - refers to the probabilities and
opportunities for students who have diverse
backgrounds to enroll in different types of post
secondary institutions and fields of study.
• Accountablility - Refers to a governments ability
to be held responsible for its actions and
policies
27
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• Acculturation - this term can be used, to describe
the process of contacts between people, what
ensues is:
• The modification of the culture of a group
or an individual as a result of contact with
a different culture.
• A process by which the culture of a
particular society is instilled in a human
being from infancy onward.
• American university transfer program (AUTP)- Any
of the programs offered by higher educational
institutes, in Malaysia, leading to transfer
credit towards a degree from a university in the
United States of America.
• Bahasa Malaysia - The national language of
Malaysia. Frequently referred to as the Malay
language or simply, Malay.
• Certificate - A document issued to a person
completing a course of study not leading to a
diploma.
• College - could be considered in a few different
ways:
• An institution of higher learning that
grants the bachelor's degree in liberal arts
or science or both.
• An undergraduate division or school of a
university offering courses and granting
degrees in a particular field.
• A school, sometimes but not always a
university, offering special instruction in
professional or technical subjects. Allowed
to grant an associates degree (2 year
degree).
• Degree - An academic title given by a college or
university to a student who has completed a
28
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
course of study. In the Malaysian case only the
university may grant a degree.
• Diploma - A document issued by an educational
institution, such as a university, testifying
that the recipient has earned a degree or has
successfully completed a particular course of
s tudy.
• Equality - aims at the provision of similar
treatment to individuals and enables individuals
who have different ethnic, race, gender, urban or
rural residency backgrounds: (1) to have the same
opportunity to enroll in school; (2) to benefit
from similar quality and quantity of resources
such as, teachers, school facilities, and
curriculum; and (3) to be able to attain similar
number of years of education. In other words,
equality requires the provision of similar
educational attainment for individuals who have
di f ferent backgrounds.
• Equality of Educational opportunity - A worldwide
ideological commitment, primarily predominate
since WWTI, defined by the destiny to create a
world where educational opportunity and access is
distributed more equitably.
• Equity - the term equity often refers to social
justice or fairness. It is interesting to note
that in the West, the historical roots of
"conception of justice lie in classical
philosophy, the Judeo-Christian religious
traditions, and the theoretical underpinnings of
economic and political arrangements."(Alwin 1992,
p. 565) It is also critical that there can be
many standards used to evaluate fairness or
justice in social life besides the principle of
equity. Indeed, there is often little consensus
about the standards and criteria to be used to
assess the fairness or justice of issues arising
in society. (Alwin, p. 563) Alwin recognizes two
29
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
types of justice: "procedural justice" and
"distributive justice." He further elaborates
that procedural justice refers to "the mechanisms
or decision rules by which reward allocations of
social goods are made, while.distributive justice
is concerned with the resulting
allocation."(Alwin, p. 572) According to Gappa,
equity refers to the "fair and just treatment of
all members of society who wish to participate in
and enjoy the benefits of post-secondary
education. Amplification of the meaning of fair
and just treatment involves the meaning of
access, representation, participation and
barriers."(Gappa, 1977, p.8-12} Gomoron also
emphasizes that the goal of equity requires that
education be used to overcome any pre-existing
difference among students.(Gomoron, 1990, p. 155-
173)
• Higher Education - Worldwide, the term higher
education is being used to define, in a broad
sense, post-secondary education. In some cases,
it is also being used for only universities and
prestigious schools of professional or artistic
training. In this study, the term higher
education in Malaysia covers all educational
institutions, which provide at least two years of
education after secondary education. These
institutions consist of universities, graduate
schools (institutes), higher institutes of
technology, conservatories, and higher vocational
schools.
• Interview - A purposeful conversation, usually
between two people but sometimes involving more
(Morgan, 1988)
• Malay - an ethnic group in Malaysia, defined in
the Malaysian constitution as one who follows the
customs and culture of the Malay people, one who
proclaims Islam as his/her religion and one who
uses the Malay language as his/her native tongue.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• Matriculation program - This a pre-university
program used in place of the STPM. It is
primarily designed to assist Malay students in
their quest to enter a public university.
Generally non-Malays are not allowed to enter
these programs.
• Overseas education - that education which is
obtained in a country other than one's homeland.
• Qualitative research paradigm - Any of the
research methods in which a researcher develops
concepts, insights and understanding from
patterns in the data; rather than deductive
methods where one would collect data to assess
preconceived models, hypotheses or theories.
• Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) - A standardized
test taken at the end of lower secondary
education (form 3). This test regulates entrance
into the STPM or other options including
matriculation programs.
• Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) - A
standardized national university entrance
examination taken at the end of form 5, upper
secndary. This test is similar to the Britsh (A)
Advanced level test. The A levels are still
accepted in Malaysia as an equivalent of the
STPM.
• Transparency - A situation in which information
on governmental policies and operations are
openly accessible by the citizenry.
• University - An institution for higher learning
with teaching and research facilities
constituting an undergraduate division that
awards bachelor's degrees, a graduate school and
professional schools that award master's degrees
and doctorates.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• Vernacular - Refers to any language which is
commonly spoken by a group of people.
Assumptions of the Study
The following assumptions are implicit in this study:
• The students and other informants were accurate and
sincere in their responses.
• The procedures and methods of data collection and
analyses were reasonably reliable and appropriate for
gathering data and to seek answers for this study's
research questions.
• The methods and procedures used were reasonable and
appropriate in this type of study and sufficient to
answer the research questions.
• It is assumed that the respondents were sufficiently
fluent in English to respond appropriately.
De1imi tat ions
Ways in which this study was narrowed include:
• The participants were selected from five private colleges
and two public universities from two distinct areas of
Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Penang).
• The study was confined to interviews with 20 Chinese-
Malaysians' enrolled in private college, American
university transfer programs, and five Chinese-
Malaysians' enrolled in public universities.
32
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• Particular emphasis was placed on the private sector
colleges, and only those students enrolled in an American
university transfer program.
• The interview covered questions mainly leading to student
perceptions about their choice in entering a private
college.
• Only those students identifying themselves as Chinese-
Malaysians' were invited to participate.
Limitations
Potential weaknesses in this study may include;
• In qualitative studies, there is a tendency to over-
generaiize, which must be guarded against.
• The study is limited in scope and depth since it is
constricted to West Malaysia and to only the ethnic
Chinese-Malaysians'.
• The study is limited to those anticipating eventual
matriculation into a university in the United States of
America.
Significance of the Study
A study exploring Chinese-Malaysian students'
rationale for entering a private college American
university transfer program is important for several
reasons. First, understanding the variables that entail
33
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
students' decisions to attend a particular type of
educational program will lead to a better understanding of
Chinese - Malaysian students barriers and opportunities to
attend higher education programs.
Secondly, the study sets the stage for a broader look
at the significance of equality in educational opportunity
whereby racial preference is a key to access, or lack of
access, to particular program objectives.
Thirdly, the study is particularly relevant for
policymakers and private college administrators in
Malaysia, as it will help to guide their decision making
when considering issues of recruitment and retention for
Chinese-Malaysians' entering American university transfer
programs.
34
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER II
Review of the Literature
In qualitative research the literature should be
used in a manner consistent with the
methodological assumptions; namely, it should be
used inductively so that it does not direct the
questions asked by the researcher. One of the
chief reasons for conducting a qualitative study
is that the study is exploratory, not much has
been written about the topic or population being
studied, and the researcher seeks to listen to
informants and to build a picture based on their
ideas. (Creswell, 1994, p. 21)
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will be a review of the literature of
theoretical and empirical research pertinent to issues
faced by the subjects in the study.
It is widely known that Malaysian tertiary level
students face issues of inequality in educational
opportunity. With equality in educational opportunity as a
conceptual framework, the review of the literature will be
a basis for a search for a theory to answer the questions
set forth in this chapter. The review will also demonstrate
35
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
two more areas of study, which will help to induce an
answer to the problem of this study. Those areas are
political socialization and a further look at private
higher education.
At this point, a study of the factors motivating
Chinese-Malaysians' to attend a private college, American
university transfer program has not been done. Thus, there
is a gap of knowledge in the academic understanding of
Malaysian education.
When looking at factors influencing student academic
program selection, it is fair to say that not only does a
student select a course of study, but also a country or
system of education may create a selection process whereby
methods to encourage or discourage students from university
matriculation are used. In the case of Malaysia, the
government has clearly created policy to assist or hinder
based on ethnic affinity.
The purpose of this study, being an exploratory
research to discern such variables as assistance or
hindrance in Chinese-Malaysians' matriculation to a private
college program, will further dwell on the overriding
36
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
principal of equality of educational opportunity.
Hence, the review includes one main area: (1)
educational equity/equality and access with a discussion of
education in Malaysia, supported by (2) a look at political
socialization as it affects this situation, (3) a
discussion of private higher educational programs in
Malaysia.
Equality of Educational Opportunity
It is evident that the concepts of equity/equality,
with regard to educational opportunity have been elusive,
despite the fact that many (Howe, Jackson, Gordon, Jencks,
Wexler and Nagel to name only a few) have attempted to
define the underlying concepts. In common usage, the words
equity and equality have many times been interchanged, but
in fact they are different. Equity refers to evaluation of
fairness and justice primarily applied in situations of
outcome (Alwin, 1994, p. 563). And equality refers to each
person being treated with the same regard under the law.
37
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Equality
Equality can be thought of as an ideal. Many societies
are egalitarian (utopian) in hope, in so much as they wish
for a society of people entitled to be treated equally. In
reality people are inherently different. We have natural
differences in sex, skin color, body size, character traits
and natural endowments. These differences influence, or
determine our inequalities as individuals. On the other
hand, the desire of a moralistic society is a desire for
equality of treatment or opportunity. (Humans desire to be
treated in a similar fashion.) The question remains, in a
situation of inequality, is it correct to create more
inequality to gain equality? This leads us into the
discussion of equality of opportunity and the usefulness of
education in creating desired outcomes of increased social
mobility.
Equality of Opportunity
Jackson (1994) describes equality of opportunity as a
"linchpin of American society". Thus he describes equality
38
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
of opportunity as the central cohesive unit that binds a
nation together. In a sense, it could be called a major
social institution binding our society through political
expression and economic possibilities. It is an ideology
that implies that everyone is afforded the same opportunity
to achieve social, political and economic success. (In
other words, everyone is supposed to have the same chance
at obtaining the resources that may lead to increased
social mobility.)
Equality, Education and Opportunity
In his examination of the concept of equality of
educational opportunity, Jackson (1994) elaborates that
equality of educational opportunity refers to "the right of
everyone to receive an education...". He further says that
the concept of equality of educational opportunity "cannot
truly guarantee that everyone will receive an equal
education or even a quality education..." This was followed
with his postulation that equality of educational
opportunity is "The primary struggle of education in the
twentieth century [which] can be characterized as a
39
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
struggle for equality of education opportunity" (Jackson
1994, p. 661) .
Jackson presents the basic paradox of equality. On one
hand, it is a concept that we wish to achieve, but on the
other hand it is a concept shrouded in only possibilities
for action. It could be said that modern man sees a need
for social justice and thus equality, but overwhelming
social evidence supports the converse of this desire in
that the wish has yet to materialize.
In order to clearly understand educational equality we
must have a framework of understanding for addressing
problems encountered in the quest for educational equality.
Farrel (1982) offers four factors impacting on the
achievment of equality in schooling.
• Equality of access - the probabilities of
children from different social groupings getting
into the school system.
• Equality of survival - the probabilities of
children from various social groupings staying in
the school system to some defined level, usually
the end of a complete cycle (primary, secondary,
higher).
• Equality of output - the probabilities that
children from various social groupings will learn
the same things to the same level at a defined
point in the school system.
40
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• Equality of outcome - the probabilities that
children from various social groupings will live
relatively similar lives subsequent to and as a
result of schooling (have equal incomes, have
jobs of roughly the same status, have equal
access to the sources of political power).
The first three views; access, survival and output can
be considered as measures of the ability of a school system
and society to create an environment which encourages fair
participation. The last viewpoint, equality of outcome,
addresses the problem of equality in one's ability to gain
equal opportunity in one's livelihood.
When framing problems in educational equality we must
not forget that the issue is not only access and retention
through quality education for all. We must also consider
that societal forces may restrict certain groups from fair
application of the education they may have received, thus
an outcome of an equal educational opportunity must include
equal access to life chances thereby insuring social
mobility and reduction in social group based
stratification.
41
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Theoretical perspective
Equality of educational opportunity is embodied in a
much larger framework of social equality. Social equality
could be defined as a quest for giving all members of a
society similar chances to gain access to resources and
outcomes in life. This concept directly relates to equality
of educational opportunity as education (in a 19ch and 20ch-
century perspective) has been seen as the "great equalizer"
by some of our country's most outspoken forefathers of
education (e.g, Horace Mann and Thomas Jefferson) .
Amongst the major works on equality of educational
opportunity written in the 70's, Jencks (1972) and Wexler
(1976) have set forth the argument that the major focus of
sociology of education has in fact been the question of not
only social equality, but they speculate that it is
educational inputs and outputs that direct social equality.
Thus, educational equality, or the relationship between
schooling and inequality, is the framework for this
discussion.
Inequality is expressed in this circumstance as a
42
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
measure of unequal inputs (access, opportunity, quality and
morale) . Inequality can also be measured in outcomes of the
schooling process, whereby access and opportunity to equal
employment opportunities would be a measure of equality.
The concern of social equality reflects a belief that
fairness should exist. "Fairness should govern the
competition for society's resources." (Hallinan, 1988, p.
251) A desire for fairness in a society reflects directly
back upon a concern for equal access to educational
resources. However, for the competition to be truly fair
and society truly meritocratic, access to resources must be
equalized and outcomes of the educational process must
produce similar results regardless of an individual's
background.
Interpretations of Equality of Educational Opportunity
Two competing interpretations of equality of
educational opportunity have been discussed in Howe's book
(1994) , Equality of Educational Opportunity. In his
43
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
attempt to characterize equality of educational opportunity
Howe refers to Nagel's (1991) two basic interpretations;
"negative" and "positive". He further elaborates that
these two ways of reflecting upon equality of educational
opportunity signifies one's perspective or wish for
governmental intervention to create fairness in public
life. If we accept the fact that in a society social
stratification exists, then some will choose to search for
interventionist strategies to correct unequal outcomes and
others will take a hands-off perspective in hopes that
positive outcomes will arise from creating equal inputs.
Thus, the negative interpretation of equality of
educational opportunity is more or less a non
interventionist perspective. Those who follow the negative
interpretation strive for absence of legal barriers in
order to access public education. Thus, they are
noncommittal in terms of outcomes of, but not in terms of
inputs into education. Opposing this view, those who
subscribe to the positive perspective would be those who
wish to see a proactive governmental policy aiming to take
steps to eliminate differences in both inputs and outcomes
44
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
through initiatives intended to create righteous or
corrective interventionist measures (e.g., through
introducing inequality to create equality) .
Rather than framing the issue as "negative vs.
positive intervention" (Howe, 1994), Hallinan (1988)
explains that by "Taking an extreme position, some critics
question the goals both of attaining social equality
through a meritocracy and of reaching equality through the
equal distribution of society's rewards." (p. 251)
Nevertheless, the classic argument on intervention strategy
presents itself as equalization of inputs vs. outcomes
(equal access or equal outcomes?). There are those who
believe that government must intervene to create equal
access to quality education and those who believe that
government must also intervene to insure equal outcomes in
life.
Application of Intervention Interpretations
Both perspectives take stands based on the degree to
which they would allow or disallow governmental
45
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
intervention. At its extreme some might say that the
negative standpoint is hollow, due to its inaction,
regardless of the level of disadvantage that a person
brings to an educational situation. It is certain that
human beings are unequal in various inherent categories,
human beings represent different races, different
mentalities and different motivations. Our individuality
and uniqueness is celebrated, on one hand, and yet it is
also a point of contention as our uniqueness has repeatedly
lead to segregation. It is said that segregation leads to
social stratification and consequently lays the basis for
the formation of inequality.
Hence, the positive interpretation highlights that
"proponents of this approach hold that equal educational
opportunity must be measured by how well students
demonstrate achievement in school" (Jackson, 1994, pg.
662). In terms of educational outcomes, this position
demands mechanisms to assist those with lower-income levels
and minorities to attain a quality education.
This perspective could be distinguished by those who
believe in equity measures that are typically labeled as
46
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
affirmative action. In the United States affirmative action
is an active effort (using preferential treatment) to
improve employment or educational opportunities for members
of minority groups and women. The main criteria for
affirmative action are race, gender, ethnic origin,
religion, and age.
Affirmative action leading to preferential treatment,
based on racial lineage, has been a major point of
contention in American education, having its recent origin
in the Supreme court decision of Brown vs. The Board of
Education of Topeka Kansas 1954. In this decision it was
found that a previous ruling (Plessy vs Ferguson, 1896,
ruled that schools could be racially separate but equal)
allowing racially segregated schools was inherently unequal
insomuch as racially identifiable schools can not provide
an equal educational opportunity. The ruling in the Brown
case showed also that racially segregated schools
demonstrate a feeling of inferiority amongst its minority
students, thus creating unequal outcomes of education.
This ruling was just one of many to come in America's quest
for equal educational opportunity. Soon after the Brown
47
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
ruling, the Civil Rights Movement evolved with a major
focus on educational opportunity as a mode for aquiring
greater social equality. In 1966, The Coleman Report
(Coleman et al., 1966) set the stage for a stronger
educational policy leading towards large scale school
integration.
In 1966 Coleman presented a report to the U.S.
Congress in which he concluded that poor black
children did better academically in integrated,
middle-class schools. His findings provided the
sociological underpinnings for the widespread
busing of students to achieve racial balance in
schools, a practice that met with strong
resistance from parents in many areas. In 1975
Coleman rescinded his support of busing,
concluding that it had encouraged the
deterioration of public schools by encouraging
white flight to avoid integration. (Taken from
Britannica online, Accessed 19 April 1998)
The commitment to equality of educational opportunity,
born of the civil rights movement, remains in tact, but the
means for achieving it fluctuate significantly.
48
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Equality of Educational Opportunity in other countries
It could be said that post World War II (WWII), has been
an age of education. Unprecedented educational expansion
and educational opportunities have been the hallmark of
this era, worldwide. Farrel (1982) has labeled this era of
educational expansion an era of a drive for social
equality.
Since WWII, the general theoretical understanding of
worldwide social equality has undeniably been one of
education as the pathway to upward social and economic
mobility. This ideological perspective was one exported
around the world based on a successful model found
primarily in the developed countries. The educational
expansion model was associated with America especially and
seemed to work there; so thus this expansion of access to
education was seen to be appropriate for national
improvements around the world.
As a result of this view of educational policy,
massive enrolment increases have occurred but the
theoretical perspective debate continues. Early theorists
49
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
tended to try to implant models of American (or other
developed countries) educational and economical expansion
models on the developing world. The fallacy was that these
models had been constructed to address and resolve
educational problems experienced in industrialized nations
(Farrel, 1982) .
In the era of educational expansion was marked by many
theorist intending to duplicate successes in equality of
educational opportunity leading towards greater social
equality (Chai, 1973). Though well meaning, this approach
was foolhardy because they did not consider the uniqueness
of each culture affected.
Equality of Educational Opportunity in Malaysia
Malaysia being a plural society based on multicultural,
multiethnic, multiracial and multifaith mores, has faced
issues of inequalities in social order before and since
inception as a nation in 1957. "For the Malaysian
government, equality among the country's ethnic groups has
been of primary concern..." (Pong, 1993, pg 245) .
50
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
An uncommon feature of Malaysia's ethnic/social
inequalities is the situation whereby the group said to be
more economically powerful does not control the government.
Until recently the politically dominant group in Malaysia
(the Malays) have been economically disadvantaged and thus
disadvantaged with regard to educational opportunity. In
order to remedy this disadvantage in educational
opportunity, National Education Policy (1971) and National
Economic Policy (1971) vigorously implemented Malay
preferential benefits. (Kiltgaard & Katz, 1983, Ahmat,
1987, Ng, 1991, Pong, 1993)
The continuing objectives of national educational
policy stipulate that free education will be provided, with
preservation of languages and cultures of each community
and a goal of uniting of the various races thereby creating
Bangsa Malaysia (national unity as Malaysians).
Bangsa Malaysia is a notion in which the populace,
regardless of its racial, socio-economic, religious and
cultural differences, is united by its loyalty to Malaysia.
(Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, Political Scientist, University of
Malaysia, in an' interview with Loong M. Y. & Chin, N. Star
51
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Publication 1995) . By-and-large these policies have
progressed well in primary education where students are
allowed to study in their vernaculars. At the secondary
level national policy allows for government support for
schools only providing instruction in Bahasa Malaysia,
thereby discriminating against vernacular education while
mocking the objective of preservation of languages and
cultures of each community.
In higher education, strict admissions quotas were
imposed on non-Malays making university admissions no
longer based solely on academic ability. (Wong 1975, Anis,
1991) In 1969 the racial makeup of Malaysia's flagship
university, the University of Malaya, was 21% Malay, 60%
Chinese and 19% Indians (Esman, 1987) . Since the inception
of the preferential policy, the percentage of non-Malays
has steadily declined to approximately 20% non-Malay
enrollment by 1998.
In 1970, Malaysia introduced the New Economic Policy.
The basic directive embodies the principle of eradication
of poverty among all Malaysians, and the restructuring of
society so that economic function and race are no longer
52
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
synonymous. (UNESCO [APIED], 1986. Pg. 13) At the point in
time when this plan was drawn up, a close look at the
ethnic groups would reveal that political empowerment was
held predominately in racial terms by the Malays, while
economic power was held by the Chinese. Thus,
implementation of policy is surely going to be dominated by
inputs from the politically empowered ethnic group.
The NEP, amongst it's many functions, does tend to
create equity programs to alleviate economic disparity. But
this economic alleviation comes at a high price. Recipients
of preferential treatment are sought on a Bumiputera only
basis. In reality, the programs are solely biased in favor
of the Malays, without consideration of their economic
status, but instead with focus on their ethnic affinity.
Some of the programs created through implementation of
the plan include, for the Malays, heavy admission quotas to
universities and secondary schools, scholarships (overseas
and domestic), rural school construction and upgrading of
existing structures. In fact the list of special privileges
is far too long to mention as it covers almost every aspect
53
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
of life, including discounts for car purchases, discounts
on home purchases, interest free loans and more.
Through this series of legislation, the Malays have
established preferential policies aimed at creating equity
in educational allotments, with the hope that
credentializing the Malays will lead to greater social and
economical wealth for that group.
POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION
Political education in Malaysia has generally been a
subject that has not been subject to either active or open
discussion. (Murugesu Pathmanathan, 1994, University of
Malaya)
This section helps to define ways in which a society
may politically orient individuals. The focus will rely on
Malaysia as a case example in the use of political
socialization in order to create a unified nation through a
pluralistic society.
54
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
What is Political Socialization?
Political socialization is a term in which gained
popularity in the 50's and refers to the usage of
political intrusion in society, designed to direct or form
an identity. It can be defined most precisely from a
political science perspective as a "process by which
political attitudes and orientations are formed" (Gecas,
1994, p. 1864). For purposes of this study I will focus on
political socialization as it relates to education and
schooling. (In the field of international development
education, the term nation building is commonly used. )
"Political socialization emerged as a formal area of
inquiry in the late 1950' s . . . " (Dennis & Jennings, 1970).
Early theorists on political socialization tried to
demonstrate that the basis of political socialization lies
in the thought that 'what is learned in early life is most
ingrained in one's character'. Thus, a relationship to
schooling is extremely important as schooling forms the
focus of one's early life in many societies and is as such
55
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
an effective tool for governments to disseminate a unified
social identity.
Use of Politcal Socialization in the USA
The United States in the 183 0s had a greater diversity
in social and economic status, as well as in religious and
moral values, than Puritan New England two centuries
earlier. To this heterogeneity, Mann wanted to introduce
the "common school"-- that is, a school common to all the
people, that would provide a common and unifying
experience.
The common school was a radical idea in 19ch century
America, and would be a radical idea for the rest of the
world until after the Second World War. Europe continued to
have a dual school system, in which, the more prosperous
classes were placed on a track leading to a university
education, while the children of the poor were directed
toward simple vocational training.
Mann wanted to eliminate the religious and class
distinctions implicit in this dual system. The common
56
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
school would be commonly supported, commonly attended and
commonly controlled; its ultimate goal would be
sociological and national unity.
The common school is but one method used in the USA to
create a unified nation. Although, today the government
tends to reserve itself with regards to social culture,
this was not always true. Most recently the Civil Rights
Era, has brought about major political and social values
changes that have helped to create a more humane or at
least aware nation. The following section will discuss some
ways in which Malaysia has used political socialization in
order to direct social culture.
Malaysia as a Case Study in Contemporary Nation Building
The term nation building is used to describe efforts
to unify and create a sense of national unity among a
nation's population. Political socialization dictates
governmental participation in efforts to create
socialization, thus leading to a unified and peaceful
nation. The following discussion will be based on efforts
57
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
seen in Malaysia towards creating a nation out of an
amalgamation of colonial holdings and unifying a diverse
and inflexible plural society through a nation
building/political socialization.
Pre-independence
The British colonials typically used education as a
tool to separate the ethnic groups in their conquests.
With the concept of "divide and rule" the British denied or
developed (educational) opportunity based on racial
lineage-social classification. With divisions in
educational type and opportunity, the ethnicities of
Malaysia were encouraged to grow as separate non
assimilated groups. This divisiveness has continued until
today and is of major concern as elaborated in policy
statements (most notably, five-year plans).
By the year 1960 the Federation of Malaya had achieved
complete independence and they had formed a fully elected
house of representatives. (At that time Malaysia consisted
only of the Peninsular region) . With recognition that the
country would be more powerful if it could join forces with
58
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei a plan was devised by
the British and the first Prime Minister of Malaysia to
unify the British territories of the region. If it were to
succeed, all resources could be shared, therefore creating
a more attractive unified state for foreign investment and
internal stability. The British welcomed the development
of the combined states concept as it would offer
independence and faster stability in the region, then was
expected with individual sovereign states.
By August, 1963, an agreement was finally reached
between Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Malaysia. The former
States, in spite of their unification, would hold special
provision in areas of education and language. Singapore
would retain multilingualism and the Borneo states would
gain special sovereign provisions. Less than two and half
years after the initial proposals for the formation of
Malaysia, the plan was realized, so Britain granted full
independence and support to all territories involved
(Kennedy, 1993) .
This historically unique union contained a combination
of multiple religions, races and ideological components.
59
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Ten million Chinese, Malays, Indians, Ibans, Land Dayaks,
Melanaus, Dusuns, Kadazans, Muruts and Bajaus were combined
to form a new nation with objectives of justice, peace and
prosperity. (Wong, 1974, p. 95) Education was a major
policy issue in the amalgamation of the four constituent
states. "The formation of Malaysia has brought on the
Central Government at Kuala Lumpur more educational
problems than it anticipated: above all, the task of
providing education - primary and secondary - for an ever
increasing school population..." (Wong, 1974, p. 95).
By 1965 tension between the State of Singapore and the
Federation of Malaysia had culminated to such a point that
on August 9, 1965, Singapore and Malaysia separated. The
formation of the Republic of Singapore probably was
inevitable due to the striking differences in handling of
ethnic issues. In view of the fact that, in Malaysia the
Malays took an upper hand in politics, in Singapore it was
the Chinese (Kennedy, 1993, p. 328).
The Chinese, however, held an upper hand in the
Malaysian and Singaporean economies, posing a serious
threat to the future political stability of a Malay
60
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
dominated government. Furthermore, Singapore refused to
extend the Malay preferential treatment policies that were
instilled in Malaysian policy. (Singapore preferred a more
equal opportunity stance.) Although Chinese Singaporeans
continue to prevail, all ethnicites in Singapore have a
honest chance at advancement in Singapore, whereas in
Malaysia there have been serious blocks placed on non
majority participation, especially in the religious,
economic, and political arenas (Kua, 1987) .
Political Socialization in Malaysia Today
Malaysia, being a plural society experiencing severe
ethnic strife has seen some extreme violence in its growth
process as a postcolonial state (Chai, 1977) . The history
of Malaysia is a story of communalism, tied to
organizations based on race/ethnicity/lingual affinity and
political ideology, all propagated through its [unique]
process of identity building in the quest to form a viable
nation. Malaysia has gained and lost territory, but the
over-riding inhibitor in this process has been, without
61
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
doubt, the reluctance of its ethnicities to unite based on
ideological standpoints rather than racial/ethnic
boundaries.
A highly centralized top-down governmental structure
armed with interventionist ideology has guided Malaysia
with nation building at its heart. Through this,
educational reform has been given top priority as noticed
through the following two passages: (Morris & Sweeting 1997,
p. 149, as cited from Fifth Malaysia Plan 1986 and Sixth
Malaysia Plan 1991, respectively)
...education and training will continue to be
geared towards fostering national unity and
increasing participation of all Malaysians in
National Development.
...the role of education and training in Malaysia
is to produce knowledgeable, trained and skilled
individuals to meet the manpower requirements as
well as the growing social needs ... [we] require
manpower to be innovative and equipped with
knowledge and training in science and technology,
management, and related skills. Equally important
is the need for the national education system to
mould disciplined, diligent and motivated
individuals.
Through examination of those passages, one can
understand the overriding emphasis on educational planning
62
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
as a means for develop the industrial/business sector. In
turn, this development stance also translates to mean that
Malaysia is taking a proactive role in directing its social
and political character with education as the stimulus.
More recently, the government of Malaysia enacted a
wide reaching plan called Vision 2020. In a speech given by
the Prime Minister (Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad) the
following ideas were put forth:
"By the year 2020, Malaysia can be a united
nation, with a confident Malaysian society,
infused by strong moral and ethical values,
living in a society that is democratic, liberal
and tolerant, caring, economically just and
equitable, progressive and prosperous, and in
full possession of an economy that is
competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient."
(Pathmanathan, 1994, p. 5)
This far reaching plan-cum-legislation entails nine
central objectives: (http: / /www. smpke. j pm .my/2 020 .htm,
accessed March 12,1999)
• The first of these is the challenges of establishing
a united Malaysian nation with a sense common and
shared destiny. This must be a nation at peace with
itself, territorially ethnically integrated, living
in harmony and full and fair partnership, made up of
one Malaysia' with political loyalty and dedication
to the nation.
63
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• The second, is the challenge of creating a
psychologically liberated, secure, and developed
Malaysian Society with faith and confidence in
itself, justifiably proud of what it is, of what it
has accomplished, robust enough to face all manner
of adversity. This Malaysian Society must be
distinguished by the pursuit of excellence, fully
aware of all its potentials, psychologically
subservient to none, and respected by the peoples of
other nations.
• The third challenge we have always faced is that of
fostering and developing a mature democratic
society, practising a form of mature consensual,
community-oriented Malaysian democracy that can be a
model for many developing countries.
• The fourth is the challenge of establishing a fully
moral and ethical society, whose citizens are strong
in religious and spiritual values and imbued with
the highest of ethical standards.
• The fifth challenge that we have always faced is the
challenge of establishing a matured, liberal and
tolerant society in which Malaysians of all colours
and creeds are free to practise and profess their
customs, cultures and religious beliefs and yet
feeling that they belong to one nation.
• The sixth is the challenge of establishing a
scientific and progressive society, a society that
innovative and forward-looking, one that is not only
a consumer of technology but also a contributor to
the scientific and technological civilisation of the
future.
• The seventh challenge is the challenge of
establishing a fully caring society and a caring
culture, a social system in which society will come
before self, in which the welfare of the people will
revolve not around the state or the individual but
around a strong and resilient family system.
• The eighth is the challenge of ensuring an
economically just society. This is a society in
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
which there is a fair and equitable distribution of
the wealth of the nation, in which there is full
partnership in economic progress. Such a society
cannot be in place so long as there is the
identification of race with economic function, and
the identification of economic backwardness with
race.
• The ninth challenge is the challenge of establishing
a prosperous society, with an economy that is fully
competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.
As a whole the nine objectives clearly demonstrate the
power of state authority in the creation of social
engineering. Of particular interest is objective number
four. In this objective the state directives of religious
indoctrination radiate powerfully. There seems to be no
room for the non-theist or the non-religious in the society
they wish to create (especially section #4). Nevertheless,
these objectives could simply be thought of as objectives
because as of yet, there is no way to enforce each detail
and indoctrinate each Malaysian towards one vision.
The following section describes the use of language
policy with the hope to create a linguistically unified
country.
65
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Use of Language to Unify
Educational policy and the resolution of issues with
respect to language materials (textbooks, curricula,
etc...) and language teaching (research, learning also)
were critical policy areas (Omar 1976, 1979, 1981, Ozog,
1993, Lee, 1993b). The goal of these socially oriented
policies is to create a completely unified school system
with Bahasa Malaysia as the universal language of
instruction. This objective was probably not feasible nor
practical at in the 60's and 70's, as it would and did
create severe divisiveness.
At the time of independence, most secondary schools
were English medium although Chinese medium schools were
also prevalent. The first Malay language secondary school
classes were provided in 1956 at English medium secondary
schools. A language policy needed to be made as national
unity was at stake and in the following quote from
Snodgrass (1960, pp. 142-3 cites Silcock) a strong language
based disparity can evidently be seen.
66
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The English educated Malays could capture
power only by coming to terms with the
Chinese. Having a majority of the
electorate, as well as a greater
participation in the British system of
government, they had superior bargaining
power and they realized that emphasis on
English education would favor the urban
non-Maiays. They could not, however,
press for a completely Malay system of
education without alienating the
essential minimum of Chinese support. As
a result, a mixed system with gradual
pressure toward Malay as a national
language was introduced. (Silcock 1964,
p. 215)
It is with this in mind that the National Education
Policy and the National Language Policy were planned with
great care given to linguistic needs. Nevertheless,
inevitably due to the friction caused by imposition of
ethnic policy and especially due to imposition of language
policies on the non Malays, riots broke out during the
early years if independence in Malaysia (Kennedy, 1993).
On May 13, 1969, Malaysia suffered extensive rioting
centered on inequalities between Malay and other ethnic
groups (mainly the Chinese). In a pre-emptive move without
benefit of popular following, on July 11, 1969 the then
Minister of Education (Razak) announced that English-medium
schools were to be converted to Bahasa Malaysia one grade
67
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
at a time, beginning with Standard I, in 1970. By 1982 this
would reach the second and last year of Form VI, when
examinations are taken for the Higher School Certificate
(HSC) . If pursued on into the universities, this meant that
beginning in 19 83 Bahasa Malaysia would be the medium of
instruction in higher education. Responses to the 1969
pronouncement among the Chinese included transfers back
into Chinese-medium primary schools, some emigration, and
for those who could afford it sending their children abroad
for secondary and higher education. It was at this time
also that a proposal to establish a private Chinese-medium
university was first brought forth. The 1969 proposal
(Singh 1993, p. 518 & Hsu, 1993, p. 15) was not accepted
based on the same issues of linguistic conformity that were
affected by the New Economic Policy. The university was to
be named Mederka in reference to the language guarantees in
the 1957 constitution. In 1971, the NEP (New Economic
Policy) was formulated, with the two main goals of poverty
eradication and correction of economic status related to
racial lineage.
68
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The next section begins a discussion on post
secondary education alternatives.
Student Mobility in Malaysia
In Malaysia the demand for higher education has been
increasing steadily. In fact the demand for higher
education has not only met the entrance capability of
Malaysia's universities but it has created a situation in
which admissible candidates significantly exceed the number
of those who can be accepted into the public system. In
1988 there were 54,557 candidates seeking university
positions, of these 15.7% (8,599) gained admittance into a
local public university (Ghani, 1990, p. 6) . These figures
are indicative of the previous years also, showing that 80%
of university candidates were unable to gain matriculation
into a local program.
The level of demand for higher education in Malaysia
is stimulated by interactions between social, political and
economic factors. In addition, on a personnel level, this
high demand for higher education may be seen as what has
69
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
been called "diploma disease" (Dore, 137 6) . The diploma
disease is further explained by Little and Singh (1992) as
a scenario in which educational certificates are used for
entry into a labor market. Emphasis is more on acquisition
of the certificate rather than on the relevance of an
educational program. It is, consequently, this use of
credentials given, that substantially determines an
institution's viability or usefulness.
Societal desire and acceptance of higher degrees,
coupled with the fact that one who has higher education
will usually be compensated accordingly, have added
immensely to benefits of obtaining a higher degree. In
Malaysia, as noted, the demand for higher education can
also be in part attributed to policies enacted for the
purpose of eradicating social/political disparies amongst
ethnic groups which are exacerbated by inferior levels of
educational achievement which tend to be, or have been,
associated with particular racial/ethnic/religious groups
within the national population.
Encompassing a plan to restructure society through
educational measures, NEP is mainly centered on higher
70
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
education access for the perceived marginalized ethnicity.
The original intent of the policy was to eradicate economic
and educational achievement associated with ethnicity,
through this the plan create equitable measures aimed at
improving the opportunities of those disadvantaged.
The NEP was introduced in the Second Malaysian Plan
for 1971-1975; shortly after its introduction a commission
was assigned to identify the process and structure of
higher education in Malaysia. Based on recommendations of
the commission, measures were introduced to greatly
increase Malay enrollment in local higher educational
programs (Government of Malaysia, 1971) . This enrollment
could be achieved through scholarships, special tuition
fees, preferential admissions, and special matriculation
programs (special programs to assist Malay students to
enter the university) . It is these very same programs that
cause great tension in the higher educational system in
Malaysia today, as they are so heavily weighted in favor of
Malay students at the expense of non-Malays.
71
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Private Higher Education in Malaysia
In this section will be a discussion of privately
funded post-secondary educational opportunities in
Malaysia. Due to the non-allowance of a private degree
granting institution, the Malaysians have created some
unique programs, which are labeled as private colleges.
These and other post-secondary alternatives will be
discussed.
Background
More than anywhere else in the world, Asia has relied
on private initiatives to provide access to higher
education, especially found in countries like Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Private higher
education is a growing phenomenon in Southeast Asia (Lee,
1997) .
The term "private higher education" in the context of
Malaysia refers to the formal privately provided education
that occurs after secondary schooling. In the Malaysian
context this would include institutes that grant
72
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
certificates and diplomas but not degrees. Although in a
general sense many countries would use the definition of
higher education to encompass those institutions offering
degree programs, in Malaysia, as we will see later, there
are only public institutes of higher learning that can
grant degrees. (University and Colleges Act of 1971 states
that the Minister of Education must review all applications
for university programs and grant acceptance to those that
fit the NEP.)
A typical definition of private higher education would
include the fact that they are "non-governmental
institutions that grant officially recognized credentials
(degrees)..." (Geiger, 1991, p. 233). Geiger explains
private higher education as institutes having the ability
to pursue their own chosen goals. Private as opposed to
publicly controlled, allows the institute self-control in
many aspects of administering an educational program. As
Gieger shows, there are three typical systems of mixed
private-public higher educational offerings in a country:
73
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• mass private sectors with restricted public sectors.
Where provision of public offerings are limited and
highly restricted (i.e. Japan, Philippines, and
Brazil)
• parallel public and private sectors. Symmetrical
relationship between private and public offerings.
Substantial government subsidization to equalize
conditions, high national standard for degrees and
existence of varying cultural groups with strong
representation, (i.e.; Belgium)
• Comprehensive public sectors with peripheral private
sectors. In this type of system the public sector
should fulfill all the needs for higher education.
Private institutes are tolerated but not assisted
through governmental aid. As a consequence the
institutes will tend to be associated with filling a
particular need, or clientele, (i.e.; France,
Malaysia)
Of particular interest is the private peripheral type
of system. This seems to best fit the situation in
Malaysia.
The 1980's saw unprecedented levels of degree seekers
heading overseas due to lack of access at home. With
recognition that the country was loosing educational
revenues, which might be better spent domestically, and a
threat of brain drain, the government changed stances and
actively promoted private establishment of educational
institutions.
74
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Starting out in the early 1980's with only a handful
of private higher educational institutes in Malaysia, today
there are some 3 00 programs registered with the government.
The programs cover most areas of study but tend to lean
more toward those programs that generate most student
interest.
Overseas Study
"It has been estimated by the Malaysian Ministry of
Education that for 1987 there were more than 68,000
Malaysian students studying abroad." (Ghani, p. 8) In 1985
there were approximately 65,000 (Tzannatos, 1991, p. 184,
table 5) students studying in domestic (public and private)
higher educational programs while the number of Malaysian
students studying overseas in that same year was 57,464
(Ghani p.12, table 2.4). This shows that approximately 47%
of the total number of Malaysians enrolled in a higher
educational program were studying overseas.
There are very few countries that send their students
overseas for higher education at such a high rate. Lack of
75
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
local educational opportunities could be cited as the prime
reason for students looking overseas to pursue higher
education. Lee (1982) also points out that many times a
foreign degree is perceived as more useful. Even though a
foreign degree is in many cases looked upon favorably, it
still does not explain the extremely high rates of middle
class Malaysians sending their children overseas for a
higher education.
It may be said that higher returns from foreign
degrees in the private sector indicate that such degrees
have superior returns or productivity. This definitely
applies in Malaysia, as we can see historical trends
showing that there has always been considerable interest in
overseas education. It may be that this phenomenon occurred
due to lack of opportunities at home, but the power and
influence that these returning students may impose upon a
culture can not be disregarded.
It also may be that Malaysia's history of overseas
invasions from abroad by both colonial rulers and immigrant
populations, has influenced Malaysians to increasingly seek
international perspectives in part through education.
76
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Nevertheless, it is this very unmeasured and un-
quantifiable desire for education (and overseas education
at that) that may be a major factor in the educational
dilemma that all Malaysians are facing today.
With an overriding desire for attainment of higher
education, those not served by the public higher
educational system in Malaysia have looked to overseas
programs and, more recently, to the many domestically
provided peripheral private programs, (outside of the
mainstream of education, non-accredited and non
governmental ly approved) These programs are becoming a more
and more viable option as overseas study becomes
increasingly expensive.
Local/Overseas Private Higher Education
Malaysia has had a tradition of overseas education
dating back to the colonial period. The reasons for
Malaysians seeking higher education may be found through
further analyses of the human capital theory and society's
ever increasing demands on more education for social
77
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
mobility. Dore (1976) refers to this situation in his book
"Diploma Disease", where we might find an increasingly
overly educated populous in a situation which threatens to
create a class of educated underemployed.
Primarily since the mid-80's there has been a
tremendous increase in the number of private local programs
established offering linkages to overseas institutions of
higher learning. These programs are linked to universities
in Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the U.S.A.
By enrolling in programs such as these, the students
are increasing their opportunities for successful job
placement (assuming they gain the credential sought) . In
reality the programs are creating a form of access to
higher educational opportunities that were not readily
available to some groups who were not considered in
domes tic-governmental ly funded universities and
governmentally funded scholarship programs. Lee (1993, p.
8) reports three categories of students that may seek
private higher educational programs in Malaysia:
• those not placed in a local university or
college,
• those offered position in a local public
78
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
institute but not in a course of their desire,
and
• children of affluent families, seeking greater
emphasis on English instruction and a better
quality of education.
These categories have not mentioned ethnic affinity
and appear to apply to all groups. As mentioned beforehand,
the heavily Malay weighted preferential policies, granting
Malays access to governmental educational opportunities
results in ethnic stratification, delineated by public and
private educational offerings.
The following section discusses the various types
private college to foreign university, linkages available.
Linkages
Primarily, the private institutes realized early on
that their survival was closely linked to their ability to
offer a viable method to obtaining a recognizable degree.
Seeing that the Malaysian government was not budging in its
stance of not allowing accreditation and allowance for
79
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
degrees to be granted in the private sector, they sought
recognition elsewhere.
A unique and creative relationship with institutions
overseas was the solution to their problem. These
relationships took place in the manner of both passive (the
Malaysian institute handles all aspects of the program, the
host institute accepts credit based on a non-participatory
manner) and active (both the Malaysian and the foreign
institute are actively involved (on-site) in the
administration and teaching of the program) . The linkages
mostly follow a model whereby half of the degree program is
done at home and half is done abroad at the host institute.
In these programs the final degree is in the name of the
host institute alone. This model is quite similar, if not
irrefutably closely modeled after, the American community
college model.
Primarily since the mid-80's there has been a
tremendous increase in the number of private local programs
established offering linkages to overseas institutions of
higher learning. These programs are linked to universities
in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, the U.S.A. and
80
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
elsewhere. By 1990 there were more that 60 such programs in
Malaysia; Ghani (pl7, 18) has given a description of the
various types of program linkages offered.:
A. the branch campus model - where an overseas institution
establishes a branch in malaysia to run some of its
programs,
B. the external studies model - where the local institutions
prepare students usually through tutorials for the
examinations set by the overseas institution,
C. the split-campus or twinning model - where local
institutions offer courses for the first one, two or
sometimes, three years of a program provided by overseas
institutions and usually these courses are monitored by
the overseas institutions.
D. the credit-transfer model - there the courses taken in
the local institutions can be used as part of the total
requirements of a higher education program of an overseas
institution,
E. the joint degree model - where a local and an overseas
institution develop a program of courses which may be
offered indefinitely by each institution, and
F. the conversion model - where the qualifications, usually
at the diploma level, from a local institution are
accepted as advanced standing credits by an overseas
institution.
Of these programs A, B and C are not commonly
practiced by American universities in Malaysia. Model A,
81
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
the branch campus model, is the most active model,
requiring active participation from both sides in most
aspects of the program offering.
American institutions most recently employed branch
campus methods with differing success in Japan throughout
the 80's. (At one time there were close to 20 American
campuses in Japan, now only a few remain. The most notable
and long-lasting of these models is Temple University's
Tokyo Campus established in 1984 and still operating).
In Malaysia the tendency seems to be usage of model C,
the credit transfer model, or more typically called
Articulation Agreements, whereby a passive relationship
between the institutes is used. In this model there is an
absence of active participation by either side. An
agreement is drawn up based on credit to be given for
courses completed. The credits are granted only for similar
classes taught at the host institute. This results in much
debate on quality of course offerings as the host American
university has little to do with the curriculum at the
Malaysian college. There involvement simply remains the
82
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
acceptance of credits, similar to our present day community
college model.
Neither the joint degree model nor the conversion
model are practiced by American universities in Malaysia.
In stead they are models which are commonly practiced by
Australian and British universities. American institutions
do practice the joint degree model in others countries
though. And have most recently been exploring the
possibility of using the conversion model to accept
Singaporean polytechnic diplomas as sophomore or junior
standing in various American universities.
By enrolling in programs with linkages such as these,
the students are increasing their opportunities for job
placement (granted they may successfully gain the
credential sought) . In reality the programs are creating a
form of access to higher educational opportunity that was
not so readily available to some groups previously not
considered either for domestic governmentally funded
universities or governmentally funded scholarship programs.
83
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Summary
This chapter reviewed some of the major ideas in three
areas: 1) equality of educational opportunity, 2) political
socialization and 3) private education in Malaysia. As is
with many qualitative research projects the literature
review forms a framework for exploration of further ideas.
Thus this information will lead to better analyses of the
research findings considered in Chapter IV.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
84
CHAPTER III
Design and Methodology
This chapter provides a description of the research
method used to explore the choices Chinese-Malaysian
students made in deciding to attend a private college
American university transfer program. The chapter is
organized to include: a short description of the
researcher's point of view and biases on entering the
study, epistemological basis for choosing qualitative
methods as a research paradigm, the selection of
participants to be interviewed, the interview process, a
description of procedures used to insure validity and
reliability of the study, and finally a section on data
analyses techniques.
This study was conducted in an exploratory/descriptive
fashion with an emphasis on the interview as a data
collection technique.
85
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Point of View
It is impossible for one to say that his or her mind
is a blank slate while starting any research project. In my
case, my past experience with the subject at hand has
influenced my values and caused an undeniable motivation
for conducting this study. With this in mind, I would like
to describe my life relationship to the subject and my
interpretations of personal motivation towards this study.
My childhood was spent in rural America; having been
born and raised in an area relatively isolated from
international events, my curiosity about the world outside
of my own country only grew stronger with age. In graduate
school I made friends with many Malaysian students and
through my close relationship with them I learned about
their lives in a far off land. I vowed to travel to visit
my friends in their home country and since have done so
repeatedly.
My desire for knowledge of Malaysia has remained alive
throughout the years. Through repeated visits, I have been
able to form lasting friendships with many Malaysians from
86
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
diverse backgrounds. Possibly due to my early upbringing
and isolation from human diversity, I have thus focused my
Malaysian knowledge base on humanistic understanding. I
have spent much time, during my trips to Malaysia, trying
to understand the pushes and pulls between the rich and
poor and the light skinned and dark skinned. As reviewed
in Chapter I, Malaysia is a pluralistic society consisting
of multiracial, multiethnic, multi-lingual and thus multi
perspective peoples.
Varying perspectives of these people have generated
much unrest in Malaysia, since and possibly way before,
colonial times. The ethnic groups in Malaysia have
traditionally lived separately, much as we do here in the
United States of America. Consequently, they have lived
with racially based resentments against those from
differing groups.
Extended periods of time spent in Malaysia by the
author provided opportunities to read about and discuss
Malaysian historical and contemporary issues, which
inevitably include those reflecting the ethnic tensions,
which are so evident even to the casual observer.
87
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Epistemological Bases
For this investigation a qualitative paradigm is
preferable over a quantitative design. The purpose of the
study was to explore and understand through categorization
(Polkinghorne, 1991) and theme building, details about
Chinese-Malaysian students' choices in deciding to attend a
particular type of college.
Both research paradigms offer trade-offs in knowledge
generation. Choosing a quantitative design would ensure
mathematical reliability and the possibility of greater
generalizations based on extrapolation theory. The present
methods chosen do not allow such generalizations but
instead allow a different kind of objectivity.
In qualitative procedures, objectivity is based on
patterns of consistency resulting in themes and categories.
Thus, the main data collection procedure used has been the
interview as the interview also provides a method to
88
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
decide, categorize and create meaning out of discussions
with the participants.
Selection of Participants
The study employed a practice of sampling called
theoretical sampling. " . . . theoretical sampling means
selecting groups or categories to study on the basis of
their relevance to your research questions, your
theoretical position and analytical framework, your
analytical practice, and most importantly the explanation
or account which you are developing." (Mason, 1996, p. 93-
94, )
For the purposes of this study, 20 Chinese-Malaysian
private college student participants who were enrolled in
five American university transfer programs were chosen.
Although having only American university transfer students
would address the research question, a selection of five
Malaysian public/government university matriculated
students was added to cross compare answers from the two
groups.
89
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Before starting the interviewee selection in Malaysia,
it was expected that a gender balance could be obtained and
it was hoped that 50% of the participants would be female.
It was found that getting a good gender balance was not an
easy task, as such, 6 of the 20 private college students
interviewed are female, which represents a respectable 3 0%
of the pool of participants. For the government university
interviews, two females and three males, or 40% female
participation was obtained.
Being that this research is not seeking gender
dependent data, it was felt that this representation was
sufficient and insured that gender differences are
represented. Regardless of the gender distribution,
sufficient data were gained through the interviews to
answer the research questions. It could be said that the
reason for not obtaining a perfect gender balance was
linked to the selection process. Speculation might be drawn
based on the interviewer's gender and a feeling of
uneasiness that female participants might have had in
talking to a male interviewer. Nevertheless, as the focus
90
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
of the research was not gender dependent this must be
overlooked as a category.
This selection explicitly excluded those of any
background other than being self-identified as Chinese, due
to the consideration that inclusion of others would create
an extensive and uncontrollable quantity of factors. Thus,
studying only one ethnicity created a more focused and
manageable research.
Participants were sought in two areas of Malaysia, -
from Kuala Lumpur, the national capital and largest city,
and Penang, the second largest city of Malaysia. The
purpose of using two areas was to get a cross section of
category representation from those attending schools in
different sections of the country. The results from this
cross section may or may not appear to be different.
Further, the study concentrates on only areas in West
Malaysia, specifically excluding East Malaysia.
Although qualitative data collection does not dictate
a certain desirable number of participants needed to obtain
understanding, in this study the principle investigator
91
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
decided that 20 participants was sufficient to create a
viable data set.
Therefore, the criteria for selecting participants
were: (a) matriculated private college students, (b)
students enrolled in an American university transfer
program, (c) those calling themselves Chinese-Malaysian,
and (d) 50% female and 50% male. Before starting the
research, with regards to gender selection, it was
anticipated that it would be easier to recruit male
students, as they would be more willing to talk to a male
interviewer. Nevertheless, it was necessary to get adequate
responses from females as their responses might show
different and interesting reasons for choosing a private
college program.
The Interview
Substantial consideration must go into designing an
interview setting in which data can be methodologically
92
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
collected and assessed. The process in which data was
collected is outlined in the following text.
Patton (199 0) discussed three approaches to collecting
qualitative data using the interview. Each approach entails
differing levels of preparation, conceptualization and
instrumentation. The three approaches are:
A. the informal conversational interview,
B. the general interview guide approach, and
C. the standardized open-ended interview.
The approaches primarily differ concerning the extent
of prepared questions versus free flowing question formats.
The informal conversational interview is one in which
questions are essentially free flowing and spontaneous. On
the other hand, the standardized interview entails a more
rigidly designed set of questions, carefully worded and
pre-tested, with a lack of impromptu probing possibilities.
For the purposes of this study, a middle of the road
approach was chosen as it was determined that a general
interview guide approach best fitted the research needs.
In this approach a list of questions or issues to be
explored was prepared beforehand. The issues in the
93
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
question outline need not be taken in any particular order
and detailed probing was allowed. The list of proposed
questions essentially form a guide to the interview session
to insure that relevant topics are covered. The questions
could be better viewed as a checklist than as a procedure
to be followed (Patton, 1990). This allowed greater
flexibility in the interview sessions. The flexibility was
absolutely essential, since the participants were
volunteers and as such it was important not to bore them
with a standardized question-answer session.
An interview checklist (see appendix A) was developed
to keep track of the questions asked and the issues to be
covered during the interview. The checklist was used in a
pilot study and tested on a group of Malaysian students
attending the University of Southern California. A few
changes needed to be made to the original. For each
interview a separate printout of the general questions to
be asked, and a brief demographic account to keep track of
each participant was used as a place to keep memos
(fieldnotes).
94
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The following section discusses procedures used to
insure a productive interview.
Interview Preparation
Prior to the interview an attempt was made to
establish a friendly relationship with each interviewee.
The interviewees were selected by a variety of processes:
• Chatting on the internet - by joining internet
chat groups with a focus on Malaysia, I was
able to locate suitable candidates for the
interview. I would then find a suitable time to
meet them to discuss the project.
• Hanging out around the college area - I was
fortunate enough to have chosen to live in an
area with several private colleges. Thus, this
made it more accessible to meet students on
campus and in local businesses (i.e.,
restaurants, cafes, food courts, etc.).
• Introduction - After meeting one suitable
participant, that participant sometimes
introduced friends who fitted the research
project profile.
The previously mentioned methods for meeting students
worked better than expected and it was found that students
were very willing to be interviewed after a brief
discussion of the study's objectives. Before commencing the
95
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
interview, participants were briefed on the purpose of the
study and the focus of the questions that were to be asked
in the interview. There was no pre-determined length of
time for each interview, but consideration was given to the
participants' schedules.
It turned out that interviews ranged from one to two
hours and the recorded section of the interview was from 3 0
minutes to 1 hour, (these interview procedures/techniques
were in part taken from Siedman, 1995)
Each interview was held in a non-threatening
environment on the students' campuses. In almost all cases
interviews were held in empty classrooms in the students ’
respective campuses. In a few cases interviews were
conducted in a quiet corner of the campus cafeteria.
As sound quality was of utmost importance when using a
tape recording device, care was taken to locate a place
where outside interference was reduced to a minimum.
Therefore, in most cases, reasonably sound-proof classrooms
in the respective private colleges were used.
96
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The following section details the procedures used for
data collection and the way data were handled for further
examination.
Data Collection/Recording
All interviews were recorded on a cassette tape
recorder with a single line microphone. While taping the
interviews the researcher simultaneously used the question
checklist to record memos of the meeting. All interviews
were transcripted and saved as computer word processor
documents. The documents were printed and examined for
coding and category formation. The interview tapes were
transcribed by the researcher and some tapes were also
reviewed by a competent professional.
The following section explains the procedures used to
manipulate the data for use in a discussion of the
findings.
97
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Analyses Procedures
A non-mathematical procedure was applied to produce
the findings from the interviews, along with some limited
observations, and documents pertaining to Chinese-Malaysian
students' circumstances. Through a systematic collection
and analyses of data the researcher constructed an
inductively derived theory of the area under study (Strauss
& Corbin, 1990) which is presented through a narrative of
the situation studied.
When using non-mathematical procedures to evaluate a
case, the researcher must be aware of the few detailed
methods available. Of the approaches designated under
qualitative procedure "the grounded theory approach" is one
of the most prevalent these days. Simply, "Grounded Theory
is but one of the interpretive methods that share the
common philosophy of phenomenology" (Stern, in Morse, pg.
213). These types of methods are used to describe the
relationships between a subject's intrapsychic experience
and the surrounding world. The genre of phenomenological
methods, being detailed and overly concerned with word
98
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
meaning, will not serve correctly in leading to the types
of answers in this study.
In order to answer the questions put forth in this
study a more direct and simpler approach employed the
reasoning of a planned method and yet the ability to employ
changes as needed while the study was in action. Mainly,
the attempt to answer research questions using verbal
material (interviews) is a researcher's interpretive
method, thus a procedure is needed in order to uphold
validity in the research findings. But this procedure
should not be strict as a strict mechanical procedure will
inevitably create gaps in understanding.
The procedure chosen, followed an adaptation of the
basic five steps taken from Charles, "Educational Research"
(1998, p. 166-69):
• Identify topics - compare interview data with
questions, finding topics in the data;
• Cluster topics into categories - scrutinize data
in order to create categories;
• Form categories into patterns - to discover
patterns that hold from subject to subject;
99
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• Make explanations from the patterns - think of
ways to explain the patterns; and
• Use the explanations to answer research questions
- present plausible theories to answer the
questions.
In this study, dependent on verbal data, the data
could be prone to errors due to researcher-bias and
subjectivity of interpretation. In order to combat this
problem initial analysis of data took place immediately
after contact with each participant, as this insured
trustworthiness of the information gathered.
Thus, as soon as the first participant was interviewed
the analyses began. Data analyses and collection in a sense
must be tightly interwoven and occur alternately because
such analyses direct the collection of further data. The
outcome of this back and forth movement between data
collection and data analyses provides an overall theory for
the situation being studied, and resembles Grounded Theory
(Strauss & Corbin, 1990).
The procedure used in this study, not only did it
allow the testing of existing theories relevant to the
study, but in several areas contributions were made by:
100
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
building of new theory, validating that theory, reducing
biases brought about through normal processes of research,
and creating a theory which closely represented the reality
of the participants.
In this study, the intent was to make a discovery, to
build upon knowledge that has not been researched to this
point and to create an understanding (low level theory)
which may be used in subsequent studies to further enhance
our understanding of Chinese-Malaysian students in private
college American university transfer programs. The analyses
herein are an interpretation of reality and should be
viewed as such.
The Interviews/Transcripts
Since the data were in the form of recorded interviews
it was possible to examine them in their transcripted form.
Thus all taped interviews were transcribed with use of a
typist and tape player.
The data, in the form of transcripted interviews, were
coded. The coding, which loosely followed the guidelines
101
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
set forth by Strauss and Corbin (1990) separated sections
of data based on responses to similar questions. Because
the open ended questions asked during the interview process
were mostly the same for all respondents, the answers were
similar enough in many cases to draw comparisons based on
the responses generated by the respondents.
The research did not take a look at word level
analysis, as one of the predominant assumptions of the
study has been the acceptance of answers. The study assumed
that the participants have answered in an honest and
realistic fashion.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
102
CHAPTER IV
Findings and Analyses
Introduction
While watching a recent documentary on Margaret Mead
in Bali and elsewhere, a question was posed "how does this
Balinese baby become Balinese?". The picture on TV showed a
baby emulating the calculated and learned moves of a
Balinese dancer. The answer to the question may sound
simplistic as it could be said to be socialization which
creates the Balinese.
The Balinese baby grows up listening and watching its
elders and the others around. Through time, the baby learns
to imitate, its powers of observation and the long-term
effects of social education transform the baby into a
Balinese. Consequently, in time, the baby will participate
in the culture and become an accepted member of that
society. Thus, the documentary is an eloquent way to
exemplify some particular aspect of human interaction. In a
103
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
fairly homogenous society, like that of Bali, the answer is
more simplistic as the baby will most probably learn to
become a member of that society by emulation of the members
of society with whom that baby comes into contact.
In Malaysia the process of socialization becomes more
complex. Malaysia is a country consisting of multi
ethnic/racial peoples professing and emulating different
ways of life. There is a strong omnipresent struggle which
coalesces Malaysians along ethnic lines rather than along a
Malaysian line. Thus, a Malaysian youth experiences the
pushes and pulls of acculturation to his/her ethnic line,
all the while observing ethnic traditions around him/her
but usually not participating in any but the traditions
that their narrow ethnic identity dictates.
Malaysia, like other pluralistic societies presents a
complex mix of cultural choices in which its youth may
follow. However, there are various ways in which the case
of Malaysia may differ. Being a new nation, consisting of
strong willed ethnic groups, Malaysians have confronted the
need to place national effort on assimilation of
ethnicities, in order to create a harmonious society.
104
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
This dialogue is a reference to state supported social
engineering. The use of blatant social engineering policy
on a national scale is not unprecedented by any stretch of
the imagination. In this particular case we can see a
series of social experiments in forced amalgamation of
varying cultures to create what still remains a segregated
community of peoples as disparate as they ever were. Of
course, the hope of the people of Malaysia, we would think,
would be continued prosperity and harmonious relations
within their community.
Nevertheless, what the astute observer will see is a
people begging for ethnic recognition against the will of a
unilateral policy toward support for one dominant way of
life. It is with these thoughts in mind that a discussion
of the research findings begins. The findings are based
upon in country observations, limited documents and
interviews, leading to an answer to the research question
presented in Chapter I.
105
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The Research Question
This study is concerned with describing and analyzing
factors that may contribute to Chinese-Malaysian students'
decisions to attend a private college, American university
transfer program.
This objective was the focus of the study's research
question, in addition subquestions were planned to clarify
the intent of the main question:
The Research Question(s)
• What are the factors [social, economic,
political] motivating Chinese-Malaysians' to
attend a private college, American university
transfer program?
The Subquestions are:
• What general factors are identified by Chinese-
Malaysians' for attending a private college,
American university transfer program?
• What political factors have influenced Chinese-
Malaysians' to seek a private/foreign education?
• What ethnic influences have influenced Chinese-
Malaysians' to seek a private/foreign education?
106
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
• What societal factors have influenced Chinese-
Malaysians' to seek a private/foreign education?
• Is a key factor from the students' perspective,
that private colleges in Malaysia, will provide
access to an institution in the USA?
• Do the participants understand any existing
conditionalities in their future hope to
matriculate into an American university (e.g.,
GPA, SAT (equivalent), TOEFL, and time to
complete degree factors)?
• How has attending a private college helped
Chinese-Malaysians' to prepare for an education
in the USA (with regard to course content in
Malaysia compared to what is expected in the
USA) ?
• How will a higher education degrees from the
United States improve Chinese-Malaysians' social
mobility?
• What increases/decreases in educational
opportunity are seen from the possibility of
attending a private college?
These research questions were addressed by describing
the results of interviews with students, the use of
supporting documents where it is deemed appropriate and
descriptions from the researchers point of view. This
effort was supported by use of a 'narrative-form'
description of the situation in Malaysia, which is believed
107
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
to have brought about changes that direct Chinese-
Malaysians to private colleges.
Through the process of constantly comparing data and
categorization during and after the data collection period,
topics of major concern emerged from the data. These topics
will be discussed in this chapter. The results of this in
depth discussion will generate answers to the research
question(s) prescribed in the statement of the problem
found in Chapter I.
The remainder of this chapter is organized into
topical sections. Topics build upon each other to create a
better understanding of the situation which forces Chinese
Malaysians to seek alternative forms of post-secondary
education. At the end of some sections will be found tables
which detail questions or topics talked about in the
interviews. The questions/topics are listed on the right
column and responses on the left column.
108
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The Situation
The problem explored in this research, although it may
appear simplistic, has proven to be a very elaborate and
intertwined combination of complex variables based on both
historical and modern ethnic trends in Malaysia. The
following narratives will demonstrate this very point.
For the observer of Malaysian society, the most
striking feature that should appear is that Malaysia is not
the harmonious nation that government pamphlets and glitzy
tourist brochures lead one to believe. Instead one will see
a country where the main ethnic groups (namely Malays,
Chinese and Indians) appear as separate entities or
clusters in which the members live their lives within their
respective communities rather than as members of a nation
of citizens. In fact, the word citizen may or may not apply
here as the basic rights of citizenship, amongst which one
will find access to rights and power, freedom of speech and
equality before the law (Abercrombie, Hill & Turner, 1994,
p. 54), are many times circumvented by the ruling elite's
policies.
109
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The divergences created by ethnic policies reflect
social paths based on socio-religious lines rather than
nationalistic lines. What occurs is a situation whereby
machinations created by the government serve to segregate
the population more than bring it together. Gavin, a male
student in a private college related his feelings in this
way:
It1s true that the Malays in my country have got
special priorities in almost all aspects. For
instance, if one is going to borrow from the bank
to purchase a house, there's gonna be different
interest rates for different races. For Malays,
the interest rates are definitely lower than for
Chinese and Indians. But, surprisingly, Chinese
still manage to survive until now. We (Chinese)
have not been treated equally by our government.
We know about it but we still work in our best
interests. Of course, as far as the Malays and
the Chinese are concerned, the distribution of
wealth is not equal because Malays tend to have
more priorities and special treatments than
Chinese. But, we just do whatever we think is
appropriate
Most of the Chinese associate with only Chinese as do
the other groups with their members (see Table 2). It is
possible that the perpetuation of segregation is due in
part to the substantial numbers in each respective group.
Thus each group can and does support societal activities
110
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
based on ethnic lines. Of major assistance to the
segregation of ethnic groups may be the languages spoken,
feelings of alienation when in a group of different
ethnicities and others reason which serve to keep the
groups from interacting. This is not to say that some
members of each group do not cross the ethnic lines to form
friendships, but by-and-large they do keep their distance
from each other, thus, promoting racial segregation.
The following table reflects the interviewed students
ideas on their wiliness to make friends with those of a
different ethnic group in Malaysia. The students were asked
the question: Do you make friends with non-Chinese? Or a
question similar to that. Their responses are reported on
the right half of the table.
Table 2: Willingness to be friends with non-Chinese.
Exact or similar question asked Response or response rate
Do you make friends with non-
Chinese?
10 of the 20 responded by
explaining that they don't mix
with others ethnicities, 4 said
they don't try at all, 2 said
they have many friends from
other groups
Ill
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Of major importance in the continuance of segregation
in the social arena has been the importance of different
religious mores, eating habits and languages. The following
is an outline of some of the features to draw a better
understanding of the situation. Thus, the next three
sections will be labeled food, religion and language.
These three sections will detail ways in which the people
of Malaysia perpetuate social segregation, thus making it
more difficult for them to unify as a nationalistic
population.
Food
Muslims throughout the world adhere to a diet based on
Haalal foods. This diet, strict in its prohibition of swine
(pork), follows strict preparation guidelines and forbids
the consumption of alcohol. The Malays (all being Muslim)
must follow the Haalal guidelines in order to remain pure
in the eyes of their god (Allah). Thus, this also means
that they do not eat the food prepared by others, unless
they are certain that it was prepared in a Haalal manner.
112
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The Chinese diet has few restrictions. In fact the
Chinese can and do eat any type of food they wish. The only
exception may be those who follow strict Buddhist teachings
whereby they should not eat beef or beef products. This is
similar to the Hindu protection of cows and strict
rejection of beef products.
Food is a big part of any nation's culture, and as
noted there are great obstacles restricting the interaction
of Malaysia's ethnicities with regard to food. The people
are rarely found eating together or sharing their cultures'
foods. Of course the non-Muslims may eat Muslim food, but
there is little incentive to try your neighbor's food if
your neighbor rejects yours. As a result food and the
social interactions invariably associated with eating
together form a strong barrier dividing Malaysia's major
population groups.
Religion
It has been said earlier that the definition of a
Malay (constitutional, not anthropological definition) is
113
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
one who professes Islam as his or her religion, one who
speaks Bahasa Malaysia as a native tongue and one who
practices the cultures and customs of the Malay people. As
one can see, the Malays must follow Islam as their chosen
religion, they have no choice in the matter. In fact there
are some ways which are permitted to covert to others
religions but the process is so complex and demoralizing
that practically none would try it. Instead they may simply
stop practicing Islam, but they would not allow others to
know this, as it would surely lead to ostracism and
possible legal action.
Many Malay youth do not follow the strict doctrines of
Islam as many commit Haaram (sin) on a regular basis. One
can find them fornicating in hidden places, drinking
alcohol and smoking cigarettes, to name a few of the
practices they do engage in. All of these are taboos under
the laws of the Qur'an (the Islamic holy book). This lack
of adherence to the strict rules presents many complex
issues. One must remember that Islam is the State religion
which the government uses to label and segregate races and
ethnicities.
114
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The Chinese follow varying religious traditions —
some from their ancestral homeland and others who follow
the Bible as a holy book. And yet, surprisingly, more and
more seem to be rejecting religion all together and
labeling themselves as freethinkers, agnostics and even
atheists. The students interviewed in this study may be
indicative of Chinese Malaysian youth of today. Of the 23
asked their religion, five answered Catholic, four answered
Christian (of which one is Lutheran, one is Presbyterian,
one is Baptist and the other simply said Christian), five
answered freethinker, four answered Buddhist and one each
answered Taoist and Buddhist/Taoist (see demographic,
educational and religion data found in Appendix D) .
This represents the relative diversity in religious
beliefs amongst the Chinese Malaysian college students.
Most striking is that few self-profess to following their
ancestors' religious doctrines. These students' ancestral
lineage are traced back to the Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonese,
Teo-Chew and various other southern coastal Chinese
provinces. Thus, their ancestral religions may be linked
more to Asian philosophical heritages including Buddhist,
115
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Taoist and Confucian practices, but their modern day
practices are divergent from those heritages.
The Indians in Malaysia generally are free to pick and
choose their religion as are the other non-Malays. Thus
they tend to follow a mixture of religious heritage as do
the Chinese, but in particular they follow the religions of
their ancestors, both Islam and Hinduism.
The indigenous peoples of Malaysia are also free to
follow the religion of their choice, granted that they have
not previously been converted to Islam. Thus they follow
mixtures of ancestral animist and tribal religions along
with some who have been converted to the various Christian
beliefs dating back to the European colonial periods and
the religious values imposed by the colonial rulers.
One may think that there is no religious conflict in
Malaysia because so many religions coexist and the
government professes religious freedom. Nevertheless,
strife is brought about due to the dominating effect of a
state religion imposing its beliefs upon the populace.
Without agreement amongst the minority groups, Islam is
represented as a national religion and receives state
116
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
support in many ways. The result is a hidden tension and
resentment on the part of the non-Muslims.
The values and doctrines of Islam reign supreme and
are visible through the massive Islamic infrastructure
which may seem to be omnipresent at times. Mosques are
placed throughout the land without regard for the local
inhabitants' religious needs. A central feature on all
public university campuses is the Mosque, a place where the
devout may congregate and or socialize when the time is
right. The use of the Arabic language can be seen
throughout Malaysia, as all government buildings and many
private offices are inscribed with Arabic words to
emphasize their religious dominance. This is somewhat
paradoxical as few if any in Malaysia use the Arabic
language, so thus the writing on buildings and elsewhere
are simply symbolic in nature.
Religion in the Educational System
An interesting feature of the Malaysian educational
system is moral education. "The stated aim of the
117
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
curriculum is the development of a 'morally-mature' person
who will be able to make independent judgements in moral
conflict situation." (Mukherjee, 1983, p. 125) Of major
consequence is the fact that Muslim students are not
required to take this course.
The course is designed to indoctrinate the non-Muslims
with virtues deemed unavailable in the non-Muslim moral
values. The course follows a planned sequence of
experiences and activities, both formally and informally
designed to direct students to identify and clarify values
based on religious tradition (mostly traditions from
Islam). Furthermore, the class instills the principles
outlined in Rukunegara, which is the "five pillars of the
nation" (i.e.. Belief in God, Loyalty to King and Country,
Upholding the constitution, Rule of Law, Good conduct and
Morality) .
Language
Language in its simplest form can be thought of as a
way to communicate. Communication works only if the
118
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
parties understand each other's form of communication. In
Malaysia a major divisive issue has been the lack of a
commonly accepted form for communication.
As with all immigrant societies, the new-comers need
to learn the language of the new land in order to succeed.
In Malaysia, after time, the immigrants were able to form
large enough communities to circumvent a need to
communicate in any language but their native tongues. The
groups were able to perpetuate their cultures and conserve
their mother tongues with efficiency. This obviously has
created a society in which linguistic based tensions have
reinforced ethnic segregation.
During the British colonial times, the language de
facto of power and prestige became English. Thus, much of
the educated and business class communicated in their
mother tongue, plus English. Until today, the English
language has remained a language of almost universal
commonality in Malaysia. This of course does not bode well
with the stern policy objective of the early 1970's to
create a unified nation abiding by the Malay language,
119
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Malay culture and Islamic religion pursuant to state
approved policy.
Today it is not uncommon to find more and more
families of all ethnicities but primarily the Chinese and
Indians, using English as a first language and encouraging
the use of English in the general public. The paradox of
this is that Bahasa Malaysia is the state supported
language and thus the sole publicly supported language of
instruction.
Of the students in this study all rated their English
skills above those of their Bahasa Malaysia (see Table 3).
Thus, a pattern of rejection of Bahasa Malaysia is
apparent. Although all students are encouraged to learn
Bahasa Malaysia, they rarely wish to continue its usage
after schooling. Instead they are encouraged to use a
combination of their mother tongue and English, when in
either social or familial situations.
Some Chinese-Malaysians take their rejection of Bahasa
Malaysia to extremes. In an interview with one female
student, the issue about language came up. She said that
she converses.with her friends in English. I asked "What if
120
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
you see a Malay? What do you do?" she said. "I do not talk
to them" I said "you don't talk to them at all?" she said
"No. I just talk in English. If they talk to me in Malay, I
just talk in English." This shows she has no desire to use
Bahasa Malaysia, possibly rejecting it because of its being
imposed upon her ethnicity. Her lack of caring and respect
for the Malays demonstrates an ingrained pattern of
rejection. Earlier in the interview I talked to the same
girl about her experiences with Malays. She discussed how
much she dislikes Malays and told a story about how she has
been the brunt of hateful practices at the hands of Malays.
This is just one example of how the Chinese reject
Bahasa Malaysia as a common language of communication. In
fact all of the students interviewed responded in a like
manner suggesting that they did not wish to use Bahasa
Malaysia regardless of the context. Thus, they revert to
their first language more and more, whether it be English
or one of the Chinese languages. With the added incentive
for this group to master English for future studies abroad
there may be a lessening need to use Bahasa Malaysia.
121
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
With a clearer understanding of cultural features
which serve to segregate Malaysians we can now focus on the
research findings. The following section will discuss
governmental discriminatory practices leading to a greater
disunity and ultimately the need for the Chinese Malaysians
to seek private education.
Keeping the Chinese Out
The interviews with Chinese-Malaysian students in
private college American university transfer programs
revealed significant insights with regard to reasons for
their persistence in the private colleges. Those
significant were related to issues which could be
categorized as governmental discrimination, and which have
resulted in Chinese-Malaysian students 1 enrollment in the
private colleges.
The students interviewed consistently responded to
questions regarding their reason for attending these
colleges with remarks on politics and the ethnic based
quota system in Malaysian universities. They
122
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
overwhelmingly felt that they have been unjustly shutout
from the public university/tax supported educational system
due to heavy-handed policies restricting matriculation
based on ethnic affinity. In order to probe their
understanding of these policies they were asked, 'Did you
apply for a public university?' (Appendix A, Question
Checklist) .
William, a 19 year old business administration major,
responded by saying:
no... Because it's very difficult to enter.... First
thing is politically, in Malaysia, although there
are few [universities], there are {pause} it's
like five to six local universities which are
government universities and up to now we have no
privatize university. So the [quota] is very
heavy in favor of the Malays.
It is clear that William and the others like him, do
have strong feelings about the quota system that keeps them
from attending the public universities (see Table 3 for
questions and responses to similar questions). William
thinks that the quota system has helped to reduce the
quality of education in the public universities. When asked
'What is your perception about the public universities in
Malaysia?' he responded:
123
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Since they [the government] are setting this
quota, X don't think the quality [of education]
is very good, because why? For example, they set
a quota of 75 percent for native students
[Malays] . . . . In case they don't have that number
of Malay students they would try to squeeze the
Malay students in, no matter how they scored on
their SPM test.
The quota referred to is a common issue of discourse
when discussing inequality. Although the quotas are cited
time and time again, the reality is that few know the real
quota percentages as this information is tightly controlled
by the Malaysian government. Thus, the students and
academicians alike can only go on estimates. Regardless,
those like William have ingrained the notion that they will
be shut-out due to their not being from the correct ethnic
group.
Due to the widespread understanding of the way the
quotas discriminate against non-Malay students, the Chinese
are highly discouraged to even attempt to apply to the
public universities (see Table 3) . Many learn early on that
it is useless to focus on attempting to gain admission to a
public university. Su, a 26 year old psychology major,
represented this defeatist idea well when she said:
124
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
. . . unless you happen to do STPM and if you think
about going to a local university. I mean,
people still do, but it's not first on their
mind. It's like it's the last option if they
don't get what they want, if they've not been
offered what they want to do, or even if they
have no ambition
Su expresses her feeling that Chinese-Malaysians attempt to
enter public universities as a last choice. In fact they
may choose various other options if they have the money.
Presently, the degree is not as important in Malaysia as it
is the USA. In Malaysia they may choose to enter a diploma
course for some skill or trade. Su asserts that many
students don't give the public system much thought, in the
following quote she shows that the alternative to public
education may be a decent choice.
...they'll say, "Oh, I'll just go do a diploma in
secretaryship or certificate in marketing, " . . . and
then you come out and you can start working.
...people [Chinese-Malaysians] are conditioned that
way, and people don't try too hard to fight for
what they know they don't get at the end of the
day.
The admission quota for public universities is not a
simple problem. The students revealed that it is not only
an issue based on the number or percentage admitted
according to ethnic affinity, but also the alienation
125
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
generated by this policy is even more deep seated. In an
interview with Ketty, a 17 year old business and mass
communications major, she revealed her resentment was not
only based on the fact that there is a strong quota, but
also on the way in which they choose students to enter the
public university. Ketty discussed the deplorable way in
which Malay students are allowed advancement into the
university based on much lower entrance scores than the
Chinese.
This resentment stems not only from the way students
are admitted but also from the fact that those not admitted
are then forced to pay high fees to gain a university
degree. Chee, a 19 year old management information systems
major, said:
. . . they give them [Malays] chances to enter
[public university] in order of their race, like
they got to study at U [university] , . . . We have to
pay ourselves for our education. It's not fair...
I'm Malaysian also, right? So I am supposed to
get this opportunity to get to study in a local
U, if I get such a good result back [on the SPM
and STPM] . They just give the Malays all the
chances. . . . although the Malays just get average
result.
126
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Eric, a 20 year old Engineering student, feels that
the government makes it easy for the Malay students to
enter the public university. He stated:
It's because of the quota -- the government sets
a quota and makes it easier {pause} they make it
easier for the Malays you know? . . . and they've got
a lot of scholarship opportunities, and generally
they are the first accepted into the
universities.
From Eric's perspective not only do are the standards
appear lowered for the Bumiputera (mainly the Malay)
students, but they get added incentives through
scholarships. This even extends to ethnic based student
loans and other financing options for education not
available to non-Malays. In a 1985 study by Mehmet and
Hoong, they concluded that "the distribution of government
scholarships is heavily pro-Malay". This lopsided
distribution of public scholarships deeply hurts the non-
Malays .
Thus, when Chee talks of resentment for having to pay
more, he is not only referring to tuition costs, but to a
whole host of expenses that go toward college support
(room, board, tuition, books, supplies, transportation and
127
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
etc...) . The extra expenses are a burden for the non-wealthy
and a double burden for the non-Malay as they carry the
burden of their resentment for their being excluded.
From the students' perspectives they are not only
being denied chances to fairly enter an educational system,
but they are being financially punished because of the
added expense for private education. Whether right or
wrong the students have created a pattern of resentment
toward the Malay-centric system of education.
Many of the Chinese students learn early on that it
may be futile to even try to apply to a public university.
Su, says that they are conditioned to understand the
differences between the Malay and non-Malay:
. . . it's just very obvious that Chinese feel that
way. The lack of priorities we get, the lack of
privileges we get. We've been made to feel that
way since we are young, so we know.
From childhood the Chinese learn their place in
society, and that that place will be different from the
place of the Malays. Many aspects of life in Malaysia
present dual systems for the Malay and non-Malay,
128
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
especially university entrance has been an area on which
Chinese disapproval focuses.
In order to gain entrance to a public university the
Chinese must complete the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan
Malaysia (STPM) . The STPM is actually a test at the end of
one's upper secondary schooling, but it is many times
referred to as the last two years of secondary school.
Upper secondary is a standardized preparatory education
meeting the entry requirements of the public universities
in Malaysia. The STPM is the only route available for
Chinese students to enter a public university, while the
Malay students may take a different route (Malaysian
Students Department, 1994, Kua, 1993). They can enter a
matriculation program (2 year university preparatory
program for Malays only) after completion of the Sijil
Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) . This ethnically biased
matriculation scheme for university entrance creates great
division and instills negativity amongst the non-Malays
towards the Malays.
The Chinese are under the impression that the Malay
route to higher education is watered down, while they have
129
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
to study harder and obtain much higher scores then their
Malay counterparts in the matriculation programs. Further,
from examples experienced they have learned that even
scoring highly on the STPM is no assurance of gaining
entrance to a university, not to mention a university of
choice or an intended program of study. Eric stated:
...because there are a lot of cases where students
study for their STPM, and they are not given a
place in local universities, and most of the time
when they enroll for one subject and one course
and they're given another course instead.
Su says:
. . . you would have to fight and struggle to go
through quite a sickening process. We have heard
tons of stories that hardly any Chinese get to go
in the university anyway, so why bother? And you
can be sure that even the laziest Bumi [Malay]
kid in town who lives in the rural area will
probably get a chance to get in and not you, so
why bother, right?
In many cases a Chinese student feels that it is
useless to attempt the route to a public university. Their
friends and families many times encourage them to not
attempt the STPM as it is a gamble. They are not only
gambling on their chances to enter a university but the
gamble is also measured in time. With the route to a
130
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
private college before them, they can see that the STPM is
an unneeded burden in their lives. Alternatively,
Malaysian private colleges accept students right after the
SPM, thus saving them two years of study in the STPM.
Having understood that the government emphasizes on
Malay participation in educational endeavors at the expense
of the non-Malay, it is easy to comprehend the domino-like-
effect that pushes the non-Malay from any desire to persist
in efforts to enroll in public supported post-secondary
education.
We can conclude that the major reason for Chinese-
Malaysians in pursuing a private education is the
governmental policy of preferential treatment granted to
the Malays at the detriment of the non-Malays. Without
this heavy-handed policy there would be no issue to
discuss, as this policy is the preemptive factor of
educational discrimination by the government, (see table 3
for further reason for not attempting to attend a
government sponsired university)
The preceding sections discussed significant reasons
for Chinese-Malaysians to attend private colleges. The next
131
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
will consider the equality of education and following
thereafter is a discussion on the acceptability of a
private/overseas degree.
Table 3: Reasons for not attempting matriculation to a
government university.
Topic or question asked Response or response rate
How is your English compared to
your Bahasa Malaysia?
All said that their English was
better. Half of them feel their
English is better than their
Chinese.
Did you apply to a local
university?
Of the 20 asked, only 2 applied to
a local university.
Who discouraged you from applying
to the public university?
Most answered their parents and
friends (15 out of 20), a few
answered their teachers and
classmates.
Why did they discourage you from
attempting to enter the public
university system?
Quotas -- 20 out of 20
Quality of education -- 5
Language of instruction -- 8
Do you feel you were shutout of
public higher education?
17 out of 19 answered emphatically
yes.
Why don't you attend a public
university?
All of the respondents talked of
the quota system as being the
reason blocking their possible
matriculation to the local
universities.
132
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Quality of Education
"How far the schools do develop desirable mental
attitudes and abilities emerges, thus, as the
central underlying question of the
education/development debate." (Dore, 1976, pg.
95)
As Dore has said, the school's central job is that of
developing desirable mental attitudes and abilities. In the
case of Malaysia, as we have seen, the government is using
education as a mode to equalize a perceived imbalance in
life outcomes. If the central focus is on equity, then
quality can not be the major focus. The need for equity is
based on the notion that the Malays have been oppressed
economically and educationally, thus they need assistance
to gain ground and increase their chances to achieve better
social mobility. Rather than a focus on better quality
education, the policy statements focus solely on increasing
the numbers of Malays placed in university programs.
Coupled with a lack of focus on quality of education the
system does not encourage critical and open thinking. Kua
Kia Soong, a former professor of sociology in the UK,
Malaysia and Singapore says:
133
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The lack of democracy in schools, universities
and in Malaysian society in general has led to
the negative and adverse aspects often bemoaned
by observers: Students are not trained to think
critically and rationally; they are not taught to
be independent-minded and problem solvers nor
encouraged to freely express themselves. The
Universities and Universities Colleges Act, for
one, prohibits students from taking an active
part in real political and social issues. (Kua,
1992, p. 138)
The method chosen to assist the Malays is publicly
funded educational advancement at the expense of the non-
Malays. The negative side of this may be that public
education actually declines in quality due to and
inordinate amount of unqualified candidates (both students
and staff) being placed in positions they have not earned.
Consequently, the students interviewed had a negative
perception of the quality of education in the local
universities. They have determined that private sector
college education linked to overseas university studies
offers the best quality of education available to them.
Edwin, a 19 year old mechanical engineering student, said:
...When you graduate with a local degree, you will
not have as much quality as a person from
overseas. I think the local universities,
134
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
lecturers, are not that qualified compared to
overseas lecturers. And the problem of the main
language they’re using BM [Bahasa Malaysia], some
are in English, and I'm not sure about this, but
I heard friends saying that they are taught in
English and the exams are in BM, so I do not know
how that works out.
Edwin presents the argument that the local
universities are not at an academic standard
comparable to private colleges and overseas education,
due to language differentiation. This shows that the
Chinese not only wish not to use Bahasa Malaysia in
everyday life, but they also reject the possibility of
Bahasa Malaysia being a plausible academic language.
Many of the Chinese become convinced in growing up,
that Bahasa Malaysia is not a valuable language. Their
families many times do not support or encourage the
children to use Bahasa Malaysia. Su says:
. . . s o I guess I happened to be brought up in an
environment whereby my family is not very pro-
Bahasa or pro-Malay, you know. They're not
racist but they're just not for it.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
In fact this problem of a lack of value being placed
on Bahasa Malaysia is more severe than it may appear. Until
the late 70's all universities in Malaysia used English as
an instructional language. The curricula were designed
pursuant to the British model and faculty could be freely
exchanged from British to Malaysian universities.
With the change of language of instruction came a
change in the ethnicity of the faculty and staff (shifted
to more and more Malays) along with the curricula and
quality of education. These days demanding university
instructors complain of their students' lack of
preparedness to study. In fact many qualified instructors
are leaving academia or seeking jobs in the private
educational sector. The leaving instructors state that they
find no incentive left in the public university system,
that standards have declined throughout the past years and
they feel their skills are not being used to the fullest.
Silverman (199 6) discusses the issue of educational quality
decline and the shift to a more complacent public higher
education.
136
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The lack of quality in education can be expressed
through a lack of standards but it also can be seen in
terns of the methods that the Chinese have experienced in
order to exclude them from the local university system.
When exam scores are based on ethnicity and not on the
quality of one's work, a feeling of hopelessness for the
system of education develops. Most Chinese have stories of
how they, or someone they know, was cheated of rightful
grade (s) due to an over zealous system which promotes
Malays at the cost of others. Su related a story of her
friend who was cheated of her proper grade:
. . . I had a family friend who was the top girl in
school, the top academically, everything top, and
yet the so-called marking system for the SPM
failed her Bahasa Malaysia so she couldn't go to
a local U, she couldn't advance to do her STPM . . .
In Malaysia there are many stories of the improper
marking of exams at the expense of the non-Malays (see
table 4) . It may be that they are exaggerating their fears
and anxieties about failing and thus placing the blame on
the Malays. While this is impossible to prove the stories
137
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
are their perceptions of the reality, which may or may not
hold credence.
The final significant finding from the interviews with
Chinese Malaysian students showed that they have developed
a sense of bias in favor of the overseas degree. This bias
is an extension of many factors, but primarily it may be
linked to work opportunities based on the type of degree
obtained, public or overseas. Through numerous interviews
with employers in Malaysia, it was found that the private
sector prefers those with English overseas education. On
the other hand, the civil service remains the domain
dominated by the public schooled.
Table 4: Perceptions on quality of education.
Topic or question asked Response or response rate
Parents want them to have better
English skills
9 students said their parents
encouraged them to work on their
English
Students wanting advanced knowledge
that they thought they would get
from the US.
All of the students were under the
impression that education in the
US is more advanced.
Freedom of speech in the US will
promote their knowledge
Most of the students believe that
freedom promotes learning.
Interviewees had a negative
perception of quality of education
in local universities.
7/20 had extreme feelings while
13/20 had mild feelings
Is private or public education
better?
2 of the 20 students asked feel
that public universities offer
better education.
Are private colleges better because 3 said they prefer Chinese but
138
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
they teach in English realize English is more important
while the rest prefer English
Stories of being cheated out of a
rightful grade.
7 students told stories about
themselves or a friend, or someone
they have heard of, being cheated
out of a grade. They seem to think
it is due to racial
discrimination.
Improper marking of exams. 5 students had stories on how the
authorities improperly mark their
SPM tests. Mainly the Bahasa
Malaysia section.
Acceptablity of Degree
Beyond the reasons discussed in the previous section,
the students showed great admiration for degrees obtained
overseas. On the one hand, a degree is the essential
certificate for entrance to a life of upward social
mobility. On the other hand, they clearly see that an
overseas degree is valued even higher than that of a local
degree. Salary is a significant factor when computing ones
opportunity costs for attending higher education, thus
Edwin says:
. . . even for basic pay, you get more [salary] if
you graduate from a foreign university.
139
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Education is not just for learning in their
perspective. With the high costs involved in higher
education, especially private and overseas education,
students feel compelled to justify their educational
choices based on income probabilities.
In addition to income, the students focused on the
benefits of improving their English as a way to justify
private education. Pok, a 21 year old business major, said
. . . so my choice — so I choose to go to private
school because I want to improve my English.
Going on, he combines his desire for better English skills
with his parents' directive that he must gain experience
and basic skills:
Because they don’t want us to touch his
[father's] business right now, and because he
wants us to learn more knowledge so that when we
come out from the school we can be of help. And
my parents want us to know how to write,
especially in English. For my parents, also
influence our thinking because they think that
English is the most important communication
nowadays, and beside this my father always deals
with other foreigners, so speaking English is
very important for us.
140
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
It is not clear how much influence his parents have in
his choice, but what is clear is that his community
ingrains the notion that English is good for one's life. In
addition, his parents, as do the other Chinese parents,
reinforce this notion by sending their children to private
colleges.
The developing world has been entrenched in a concept
that things from the developed world are better. This
notion is reflected in their buying habits and through
their adaptation of things from the so-called modern world
(especially the USA). With little doubt, it can be said
that the United States is a world focus for advanced
knowledge. But, this notion carries with it a reciprocal
negative bias on knowledge produced in the developing
world. The students in this study many times stated that
one reason for seeking American education was based on the
advanced knowledge that they would gain from a program of
studies in the USA. (see table 5 for more student responses
on similar questions) Hui-Min, a 23 year old management
information systems major, said this:
141
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
. . . I think we learn more from the USA, like they
are more advanced, as compared to here. . . . in
technology, and science, and I think the freedom
of talk and exchange opinions whatsoever, helps.
Her bias may be reality in some sense, but throughout
their lives these students have been ingrained with the
notion that that which is American is more advanced. She
adds an interesting qualification to advanced knowledge by
dwelling on freedom of speech. A common belief in the USA
is that knowledge is stimulated through one's ability to
express and explore ideas freely. The significance of this
point is much deeper than words can explain. Malaysia,
since independence, regards free speech in a nature similar
to the USA before our civil rights movement. The government
through series of legislation has quelled any chance that
the people may speak freely. Malaysians are compelled to
self-censor their thoughts on social issues, lest they may
be imprisoned for breach of the Internal Security Act or
possibly the Official Secrets Act (see Appendix B for a
description of these acts). These acts were created in the
early 70's to suppress opposition thought. They were
enacted following protests and violence; the government
142
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
devised this method to crack down on the so-called
dissidents (Kua, 1993).
The Internal Security Act made it illegal for students
to "do anything which may be construed as expressing
support, sympathy or opposition to any political party or
trade union." (Silverman, 1996, p. 25) This act is not
only for students but in fact it is a breach of public
trust for the whole of the nation. All Malaysians may be
held for 15 months in jail without trial under this act.
The intriguing point about this is that little is
known about what kinds of actions will lead to
incarceration. Thus, Malaysians remain self-censored and
refrain from openly discussing anything to do with
politics, ethnic tensions or the special privileges enjoyed
by the Malays. Furthermore, a lack of governmental
transparency of policy and statistics keeps any debate from
reaching critical status due to a lack of solid information
available on any specific issue which may generate more
tension.
143
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Table 5: Why is an overseas degree more acceptable?
Topic or similar question asked Response or response rate
Is an overseas degree is valued
higher than a local degree?
All respondents seem to think an
overseas degree is more valuable
than a locally earned degree.
Why are overseas degrees higher
valued than local university
degrees ?
Better English skills gained
through study in an English
speaking country.
Advanced knowledge acquisition.
Freedom of speech promotes better
learning.
Through informal interviews with
teachers and employers. Found that
they too value overseas degrees
because...
The quality of education in the
local universities has dropped
dramatically. Thus a student
educated overseas has a better
chance of a quality education.
Employers prefer their workers to
be fluent in English. Thus a bias
for private college and foreign
English university educated.
Summary
In this study the students clearly showed their
perceptions and negativity towards an oppressive system
which treats them as second class citizens. On one hand
one must understand that Malaysia historically must concern
itself with intervention to stimulate a harmonious society.
Being a pluralistic society with no clear majority group,
the Malays latched onto power and asserted their eminent
domain on policy to better those they wish to assist.
144
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
The negative side of policies which assert ethnic
superiority is rejection by the non-empowered groups. The
non-Malays in this circumstance represent the groups with
little say in the direction of policy decision making as
such are relegated to a backseat. Equity programs, as
those found in Malaysia, straddle a delicate balance of
helping one group at the cost of another. The key to
success in these programs is a most difficult task; it is
the ability to know when enough has been done or when the
program is effective or not effective in accomplishing
equality in a society. If the students interviewed are a
good indicator of how successful Malaysia's equity program
has been then it is clear to say that the program has
overstepped its boundaries and has sustained negative
results.
The next chapter will conclude with summarization
points, and recommendations for further study.
145
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CHAPTER V
Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
This final chapter will be a compilation of
summarizing points, conclusions of the research and
recommendations for further study.
Summary and Conclusions
The findings of this study have opened a new
perspective for educational studies on Malaysia. This study
was not done in the typical method for studies on Malaysia.
It is the first study on this topic and the first, as far
as the author can tell, which uses student perceptions of
the situation (tracking them into private colleges). This
is unique, as many times, educational researchers overlook
the students' opinions in search of the experts' opinions
on educational phenomena. In this case, the students'
perspectives were the focus and surprisingly resulted in
146
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
findings which contradict many present reports on education
and society in Malaysia.
Malaysia was found to be a country under complex
social tension which guides its policy and everyday
thought. Thus, this study helps to create a better
understanding of not only the working of society but in
particular the thoughts and patterns of Chinese-Malaysians.
It is not problematic to find academic literature about
Chinese-Malaysians, but it is difficult to locate academic
literature with their personal perspectives included in the
s tudy.
The major goal of this study was to explore and report
on factors which influenced Chinese-Malaysians to attend a
form of education which is considered peripheral to the
public system. Private education in Malaysia is not simply
a renegade system of education but it represents the
empowermnet of a group of people shut-out from the
traditional system of education but who persist in
educating themselves. Without assistance, and many times
under severe attack by the government, private colleges in
Malaysia have risen to a respectable level and have thus
147
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
proven worthy as a viable alternative means of quality
education for those not seeking matriculation into the
public system. The key to this success has been the
students, and those who support them; their undying efforts
for higher education have not been stopped even when they
realized they could not be accepted into the tax supported
system of higher education.
The study showed clearly how the government has
established barriers, not only through ethnic quotas but
also in social engineering, and yet the Chinese-Malaysians
have circumvented those blockages by creating new
opportunity from what was not there previously. The
blockages created are largely the hidden quota system for
matriculation into a public higher educational system.
These results ensued by these blockages could further be
described as the ethnic relations created through an
umbrella set of policies which could better be defined as
social engineering.
The fallacy inherent in social engineering to create
ethnic harmony lies in the act of forcing humans to succumb
to any particular way of life. It is commonly believed
148
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
that nation building must include assimilation and thus
assimilation is the goal. This line of thought also
asserts that assimilation of varying ethnic groups leads to
harmony and of course a harmonious nation becomes peaceful
and thus flourishes.
These notions are commonplace and yet defy reality.
Those who advocate assimilation, like the government of
Malaysia, have ignored the fact that cultural homogeneity
may not bring about peace and prosperity. In fact the
results of some social engineering projects may be worse
than the original circumstances. In the case of Malaysia,
one of the world's most far-reaching equity plans has been
enforced. This series of plans have continued since
independence and picked up speed in the 70's. But the
reality is that 3 0 plus years of social engineering has
done little to unite the Malays, Chinese, Indigenous and
Indians into a common cultural/linguistic/religious or
nationalistic entity.
One may look no further than South America, or the
Arab nations which serve as good examples to show that the
same religion and language is not enough to unite peoples
149
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
of differing ancestry, geographical regions and/or
historical attributes. And yet Malaysia has rallied to the
very principal that forcing its citizenry to follow one
culture will create unity.
In contrast, Switzerland (one of the richest countries
in the world, measured by GNP per capita) is probably the
most effective example of a nation allowing, nurturing, and
practicing multi-culturalism and multi-lingualism on a
national scale. Switzerland's four national languages
transcend its cultural differences. And its two major
religious groups contribute little to segregating its
people.
With regard to Malaysia, a country rich in history and
of great international significance, a policy of uni-
cultural assimilation has shown to create schisms in
societal relationship. A nation which used to be more
accepting of differing cultural values, is now torn between
its desire to propagate a national identity based on a
narrow ethnic source.
The students interviewed in this study clearly showed
how the governmental quota system and extensive
150
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
preferential policies for Malays has divided their
loyalties. It may be true that Malaysia may never be able
to get rid of some level of preferential policy, but to
continue unequal treatment based on ethnicity alone is to
proclaim that the state does not recognize equal status
among its citizens. The Chinese-Malaysian students want
nothing more than to be considered equals in their country,
they want to love and cherish their nationality but are
constantly reminded of their second class citizenship and
thus harbor ill feelings based on the unequal treatment
applied to their life standings.
Recommendations for Further Studies
This study was limited in scope due to various
factors. As in all studies the number of participants must
be limited to an obtainable and reasonable number in order
to complete the study in a timely and yet thorough fashion.
Now that the factors that lead to an understanding of
Chinese-Malaysians' matriculation in private college
151
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
American transfer programs are better understood, it may be
possible to carry out a larger scale quantitative or
qualitative study to substantiate reliability in the
findings.
This study was concentrated on only the Chinese
attending private college American university transfer
programs, but in fact, it may be that the factors
influencing Chinese students' entry into an American
programs versus those of any other country may be the same
factors. A useful study would include a comparison of
factors for students attending not only the American
university transfer programs but also the British,
Australian, New Zealand and Canadian programs.
Basing the study on only Chinese students was a way to
reduce comparisons on an ethnic level. In order to increase
understanding among the other ethnic groups one may wish to
do a further study in a similar manner on the Indian,
Indigenous and Malay students.
And finally, more qualitative research should be done
on the groups attending public higher educational
institutions in Malaysia. At this point very few studies
152
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
are completed based on interviews with students. A focus on
interviewing students should be continued as the results
from talking to this under-interviewed group show striking
contrast to the usual academic and or administratively-
generated data.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
153
Bibliography
Abercrombie, N, Hill, S., & Turner, B. S. (1994) Dictionary
of sociology (3rd ed.). England: Penguin Books.
Ahmad, R.H., Marimuthu, T. & Ismail, N. (1987) Education
and polity: interface of education with employment and
leisure in the context of alternative futures:
Malaysia. Asia and the Pacific Programme of Educational
Innovation for development, UNESCO.
Ahmat, S., (1983) Critical issues that face tertiary
institutions and administration in the 1980s: The case
of Malaysia. Journal of tertiary educational
adminstration, 5(1), 85-89.
Altbach, P.G., Ed.. (1985) An ASEAN-American dialogue: The
relevance of American higher education to Southeast
Asia. Regional Institute of Higher Education and
Development, Singapore.
Altbach, P.G., & Selvaratnam, V. (1989a) From dependency to
autonomy: the development of Asian universities.
Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Altbach, P., (1989b) The new internationalism: foreign
students and scholars. Studies in higher education,
14 (2) , 125-136.
Altbach, P. (1997) Foreward. In G. A. Postiglione & G. C.
L. Mak (Eds.), Asian higher education (pp. ix-xi).
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Alwin, D.F. (1992) Equity Theory. In Borgotta, E.F. and
Borgotta, M.L. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Sociology
Macmillan Publication, N.Y., N.Y. : 1992; N.2. p. 565
154
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Anis, S (1991) Policy formulation in contemporary Malaysian
higher education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
The University of Southern California.
Asiaweek (1992, July 10) Who's Still Studying, pp. 31.
Bock, J. C. (1982) Education and development: A conflict of
meaning. In Altbach, P. G. , Amove, R. F. & Kelly, G.
P. (Eds.), Comparative education (pp. 78-104). New
York: Macmillam Publishing Co., Inc.
Borgatta, E. F. & M. L. Borgatta (Eds.), Encyclopedia of
sociology New York: MacMillian Publishing Company
Bray, M. (199 6) Privatization of Secondary Education:
Issues and Policy Implication.
Bray, M. (1997) Financing higher education in Asia and the
Pacific: Patterns, trends and options. Paper presented
at the World Congress on Higher Education and Human
Resource Development in Asia and the Pacific for the
21st Century in Manila, 23-25 June 1997.
Britannica Online, Coleman, James Samuel".
http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/702/16.html
[Accessed 19 April 1998]
Bowles, F. (1963) The international study of university
admissions: Access to higher education. UNESCO &
International Association of Universities.
Bowman, M.J., Millot, B. & Schiefelbein, E. (1986) The
political economy of public support of higher
education: studies in Chile, France and Malaysia. The
World Bank, Education and Training Series: Discussion
Paper EDT30.
Brown, R. (1997) Off-shore partnership: Twinning
arrangements in tertiary education. Keynote address
presented at the International Conference on Off-Shore
Partnership: Twinning Arrangement in Tertiary
Education, in Penang, 15-17 November 1997
155
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Bruton, H. J. and others, (1992) The political economy of
poverty and growth: Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Published
for the World Bank: Oxford University Press. NY NY, 422
pg-
Buchbinder, H. & Newson J., (1990) Corporate-university
linkages in Canada: Transforming a public institution.
Higher Education, 20: (355-379)
Buchbinder, H. (1993) The market-oriented university and
the changing role of knowledge, Higher Education, 26:
(pp. 331-347).
Chai, H.C. (1977) Education and nation building in plural
societies: The West Malaysian experience. Canberra:
Australian National University.
Charles, C. M. (1997) Introduction to educational research
Addison-Wesley Pub Co.
Colhapp, A. and M. Thomson (1995) Developing American
university transfer program linkages in Malaysia. Kuala
Lumpur: Malaysia-American Commission on Educational
Exchange (MACEE).
Carnoy, M. (July 12, 1995) Is school privatization the
answer? [WWW document]. http://www.edweek.org/ew/vol-
14/40carnoy.h!4
Clayton, T. (December 1, 1995) Restriction or resistance?
French colonial educational development in Cambodia
[WWW document] . http: //olam. ed.asu. edu/epaa/v3n!9 .html
Coleman, J. S., Campbell, E. Q., Hobson, C. J. , McPartland,
J., Mood, A. M., Weinfall, F. D., & York, R. L., (1966)
The equality of educational opportunity. Washington
D.C.: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare.
Coleman, J. S. (1965) Education and political development.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
156
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Collins, R. (1979) The credential society. New York:
Academic Press.
Coulson, A. J. (June 3, 1994) Human life, human
organization and education [WWW document] .
http: / /olam. ed. asu. edu/epaa/v2n9 .html
Coulson, A. J. (June 12, 1996) Markets Versus Monopolies in
Education: The historical evidence[WWW document],
http: //olam. ed.asu.edu/epaa/v4n9 .html
Creswell, J. W. (1994) Research design: qualitative and
quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Dennis J. , & Jennings M. K. (1970) Comparative political
socialization. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
Dore, R. (1976) The diploma disease: education,
qualification and development. London: George Allen and
Unwin.
Education Guide, Malaysia. (2nd edition) (1994) Kuala
Lumpur: Challenger Concept.
Education Guide, Malaysia. (4th edition) (1997) Kuala
Lumpur: Challenger Concept.
Faaland, J., Parkinson, J.R., & Saniman, R. (1990) Growth
and ethnic inequality : Malaysia's new economic policy.
London : Hurst & Co. ; New York : St. Martin's Press,
in association with Chr. Michelsen Institute, Bergen,
Norway.
Farrell, J. P. (1982) Educational expansion and the drive
for social equality. In Altbach, P. G., Arnove, R. F. &
Kelly, G. P. (Eds.), Comparative education (pp. 39-53).
New York: Macmillam Publishing Co., Inc.
157
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Friedman, M. (June 23, 1995) Public schools: Make them
private [WWW document] .
http: //www. cato . org/pubs/briefs/bp-023 .html
Gappa, J.M. (1977) Improving Equity in Post Secondary
Education: New Directions for Leadership Boulder,
Colorado, National Center for Higher Education
Management Systems, 1977; p.8-12
Gecas, V., (1994). Socialization. In E. F. Borgatta & M. L.
Borgatta (Eds.), Encyclopedia of sociology New York:
MacMillian Publishing Company.
Geiger, R.L. (1991) Private higher education. In Albach,
P.G. (ed.) International Higher Education: An
Encylcopedia. New York: Garland Publishing, p233-245.
Ghani, Z. (1990) Student Mobility through Linked
Programmes: A Malaysian Case-Study. Commonwealth
Secretariat, London England.Education Programme, Human
Resource Development Group, Commonwealth Secretariat,
Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5HX,
England, United Kingdom. ERIC document #ED340294.
Gomoron, A. (1990) Instructional Organizational Practices
that Affect Equity. In Baptiste, H.P. et al, (1990)
Leadership, Equity, and School Effectiveness. Newbury
Park, London, New Delhi, Sage Publications, 1990; pp.
155-173
Gonzales, Andrew (1997) Philippines, In G. A. Postiglione &
G. C. L. Mak (Eds.), Asian higher education (pp. 265-
284). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Gordon, E. W. (1972) Toward defining equality of
educational opportunity. In F. Mosteller & D. P.
Moynihan (Eds . ) , On equality of educational opportunity
(423- 434) New York: Vintage Books.
Gouvias, D. (January 30, 1998) Comparative issues of
selection in Europe: The case of Greece [WWW document].
http: //olam. ed.asu. edu/epaa/v6n4 .html#l
158
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Government of Malaysia (1971) Report of the committee
appointed to study campus life of the students in the
University of Malaya. Government Printer, Kuala Lumpur.
Hallinan, M. T. (1988) Equality of educational opportunity.
Annual review of sociology, 14, 249-268.
Harman, G. 1994 Student selection and admission to higher
education: policies and practices in the Asian region.
Higher Education v27 p313-339.
Hirschman, C. (1979) Political independence and educational
opportunity in Peninsular Malaysia. Sociology of
Education. v52 April p67-83.
Howe, K. R. (1994) Equality of educational opportunity. In
T. Husen & T. N. Postlewaite. (Eds.), The international
encyclopedia of education. (2001 - 2004) Pergamon.
Hufner, K. (1991) Accountability. In Altbach, P. G. (Ed.),
International higher education (pp. 47-58) . New York:
Garland Publishing, INC.
Hurns, C. J. (1993) The limits and possibilities of
schooling (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and
Bacon.
Hsu, P. Jr. (1993) Educational Policy-Making as Power
Struggle in a Multi-Cultural Society: The Malaysian
Case. {Revised Draft.} 24 p.; Paper presented at the
Annual Meeting of the Comparative and International
Education Society Kingston, Jamaica, March 16-19,
1993.ERIC document #ED360704.
Illich, I. (1971) Deschooling society.
Jackson, C. (1994) Equal educational opportunity. In F. N.
Magill (Ed.), Survey of Social science: Sociology
series (pp. 661-667). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
159
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Jencks, C. et al (1972) Inequality: A reassessment of the
effect of family and schooling- in America. New York:
Basic books. 399 pp.
Jeves, T. (19 97) Establishing Educational Partnership: An
Institutional View. Paper presented at the
International Conference on Off-Shore Partnership:
Twinning Arrangement in Tertiary Education, in Penang,
15-17 November 1997.
Karim, G. ed. (1988) Information Malaysia. Berita
Publishing, Petaling Jaya.
Kassim, M. B, (1989) Preferential policy in higher
education in Malaysia: a case study of Malay graduates
at the University of Science Malaysia. Ph.D.
Dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Kennedy, J, (1993) A history of Malaya. (3rd ed.) Kuala
Lumpur: S . Abdul Ma j eed & Co .
Kiltgaard. R., & Katz, R. (1983) Overcoming ethnic
inequalities: Lessons from Malaysia. Journal of policy
analysis and management, 2, .
King, E.M. & Lillard, L.A. (1987) Education policy and
schooling attainment in Malaysia and Philippines.
Economics of Education Review. v6 no2 pl67-182.
Kristol, I. (1979) Equality. In D. Sills (Ed.),
International encyclopedia of the social sciences (pp.
102-111) . New York: The Macmillan Company & The Free
Press.
Kua, K.S. (1987) Polarization in Malaysia: The root causes.
Selangor, Malaysia: Malaysian Chinese Research and
Resource Centre.
Kua, K.S. (1992) Malaysian political realities. Petaling
Jaya, Malaysia: Oriengroup Sdn. Bhd.
160
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Kua, K.S. (1993) Reforming- Malaysia. Petaling Jaya,
Malaysia: Oriengroup Sdn. Bhd.
Kulachol, T. (1995) Private higher education in Thailand.
Paper presented in the Regional Seminar on Private
Higher Education in Asia and the Pacific in Xiamen,
China, on 31 October - 3 November 1995.
Lee, K.H. (1982) The Productivity of Education and the
Premium for Foreign Degrees in LDC's. Economics-of-
Education-Review; v2 n2
Lee, K. H. (1997) The government's effort in education and
training [WWW document].
http://www.mol.com/recruit/resources/mol_editor/2.6.htm
Lee, N.N. (1993) Private higher education in Malaysia:
Social implications. Paper presented at the Conference
on Education and Development in the Asian Pacific Rim
in Hong Kong on June 17-19, 1993. [Unpublished
document], School of Educational Studies Universiti
Sains Malaysia. Penang Malaysia.
Lee, M.N.N. (1994) Private higher education in Malaysia:
Social implications. Educational Journal, 21(2) &
22(1): 157-167. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of
Hong Kong.
Lee, M.N.N. (1997a) Reforms in higher education in
Malaysia, in Watson, K. Modgil, C. and Modgil, S.
(Eds.) Educational dilemmas: Debate and diversity,
Volume Two. London: Cassell.
Lee, M.N.N. (1997b) Education and the state: Malaysia after
the NEP, Asia Pacific Journal of Education, vol. 17,
no. 1, pp. 27-40.
Lee, M.N.N. (1997c) Private Higher Education in Malaysia:
An Overview. Paper presented at the International
Conference on Off-Shore Partnership: Twinning
Arrangement in Tertiary Education, in Penang, 15-17
November 1997.
161
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Lee, M.N.N. (1997d) Private Higher Education in Malaysia:
International Linkages. Paper presented at Oxford
Conference Education and Geopolitical Change in Oxford,
UK, on 11-15 September 1997.
Levin, B., & Riffel. A. J. (January 14, 1994) Dealing with
diversity: some propositions from Canadian education
[WWW document] . http: //olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/v2n2 .html
Little, A.W. & Singh, J.S. (1992) Learning and working:
elements of the diploma disease thesis examined in
England and Malaysia. Comparative Education v28 n2.
Lockheed, M. E. & Verspoor, A. M. (1991) Improving primary
education in devloping countries. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Malaysia (1991) Sixth Malaysia Plan, 1991-1995. Kuala
Lumpur: National Printing Department.
Malaysia (1993) Educational Statistics of Malaysia 1993.
Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Education Malaysia.
Malaysia (1995) Universities and University Colleges
(Amendment) Act 1995. D.R. 42/95.
Malaysia (199 6a) Seventh Malaysia Plan, 1996-2000. Kuala
Lumpur: National Printing Department. Malaysia.
Malaysia (199 6b) National Council on Higher Education Bill
1996. D.R. 1/96.
Malaysia (1996c) Private Higher Educational Institutions
Bill 1996. D.R. 2/96.
Malaysian Students Department, Western Region, Los Angeles,
(1994) Malaysian education system at a glance.
[Unpublished document] , Los Angeles, USA.
Mason, J. (1996) Qualitative researching. Newbury Park, CA:
Sage Publications.
162
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Marimuthu, T., (1984) Student development in Malaysian
universities. Regional Institute of Higher Education
and Development, Singapore, RIHED Occasional Paper, No
19 .
Mehmet, 0, & Hoong, Y.Y., (1985) An empirical evaluation of
government scholarships policy in Malaysia. Higher
Education V14 pp. 197-210.
Mukherjee, H. (1983) Moral education in a plural society:
Malaysia, Journal of Moral Education. v!2 n 2 p.
125-130.
Nagel, T. (1991) Equality and partiality. Oxford university
Press, New York. Cited in Howe, K. R. (1994) Equality
of educational opportunity. In T. Husen & T. N.
Postlewaite. (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of
education. (2001 - 2004) Pergamon pp. 2001-2.
Ng. E. (1991) Preferential policies and political stability
in developing plural societies: A comparative study of
Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Fiji. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, University of Windsor.
Ogbu, J. U. (19 82) Equalization of educational opportunity
and racial/ethnic inequality. In Altbach, P. G. ,
Amove, R. F. & Kelly, G. P. (Eds.), Comparative
education (pp. 269-285). New York: Macmillam Publishing
Co., INC.
Omar, A. H., (1979) Language planning for unity in
efficiency: A study of the language status and corpus
planning of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur, Penerbit Universiti
Malaya.
Omar, Asmah Haji & Noor Ein Mohd. Noor eds. (1981) National
language as medium of instruction : papers presented at
the Fourth Conference of the Asian Association on
National Languages ASANAL. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa
dan Pustaka, Kementerian Pelajaran, Malaysia.
163
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Omar, A. H. , (1976) The teaching of Bahasa Malaysia in the
context of national languaq-e planning. Kuala Lumpur,
Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka Kementerian Pelajaran
Malaysia.
Ongkili, J.P. (1985) Nation-building in Malaysia, 1946-1974
Singapore Oxford University Press.
Osborne, M. (1971) Region of revolt: Focus on Southeast
Asia.
Ozog, A.C.K., (1993) Bilingualism and national development
in Malaysia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural
Development. Vol. 14, nos. 1&2. p. 59-72.
Pakir, A., (1993) Issues in second language curriculum
development: Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei. Annual Review
of Applied Linguistics. Vol. 13, Pgs. 3-23.
Pathmanathan, M. & Haas, R. (Eds.) (1994) Civic education:
The role of religion. Friedrich Naumann Foundation,
Centre for Policy Studies,: Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
Patton, M. Q. (1990) Qualitative evaluation and research
methods. (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage
Publications.
Phang, P.C.M. (1973) Educational development in a plural
society a Malaysian case study. Academis Publications:
Singapore.
Platt, J. & Weber H., (1980) English in Singapore and
Malaysia: Status: Features: Functions. Oxford
University Press, Kuala Lumpur.
Polkinghorne, D. E. (1991) Qualitative procedures for
counseling research. In C. E. Watkins & L. J. Schneider
(Eds.), Research in counseling, (pp. 163-207).
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
164
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Pong, S. (1993) Preferential policies and secondary school
attainment in Peninsular Malaysia. Sociology of
Education. v66 October pp. 245-261.
Ramirez, F. 0. & Riddle, P. (1991) The expansion of higher
education. In Altbach, P. G. (Ed.), International
higher education (pp. 91-105) New York: Garland
Publishing, INC.
Reimer, E. (1971) School is dead: alternatives in
education: an indictment of the systems and stategy of
revolution.
Riddle, P. (1989) University and state: political
competition and the rise of universities 1200-1985.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.
Ries, L. M. (1994) Social mobility. In E. F. Borgatta & M.
L. Borgatta (Eds.), Encyclopedia of sociology (p.
1872). New York: MacMillian Publishing Company
Selvaratnam, V. (1988) Ethnicity, inequality, and higher
education in Malaysia. Comparative Education Review v32
n2 pl73-96.
Selvaratnam, V. (1985) The higher education system in
Malaysia: metropolitan, cross-national, peripheral or
national? Higher Education. vl4 n5 p477-96.
Sidin, R. (1980) The roles of the universities in the
national development of Malaysia as perceived by
selected government officials, university
administrators and faculty members. Ph.D. dissertation,
Ohio university.
Silverman, G. (1996) Silence of the lambs. Far Eastern
Economic Review. November 14, 1996. pp. 24-26.
Singh, J.S. & Mukherjee, H. (1993) Education and national
integration in Malaysia: stocktaking thirty years after
independence. International Journal of Educational
Development. vl3 no2 p 89-102.
165
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Stedman, J.B. (1986) Malaysia. A Study of the Educational
System of Malaysia and a Guide to the Academic
Placement of Students in Educational Institutions of
the United States. World Education Series. American
Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions
Officers, Washington, D.C. United States Information
Agency, Washington, DC. Bureau of Educational and
Cultural Affairs.
Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1990) Basics of qualitative
research: grounded theory procedures and techniques•
Newbury Park, CA.: Sage Publications.
Study Group Meeting, (1983) Higher education in Asia and
the Pacific. [Malaysia]. Bulletin of the UNESCO
Regional Office for Education in Asia and the Pacific,
No. 24.
Seidel, H. (1991) Internationalization: a new challenge for
universities. Higher Education, 21, pp. 289-296.
Snodgrass, D.R. (1980) Inequity and economic development in
Malaysia. Oxford University Press.
Sobel, I. (1982) The human capital revolution in economic
development. In Altbach, P. G., Arnove, R. F. & Kelly,
G. P. (Eds.), Comparative education (pp. 54-77). New
York: Macmillam Publishing Co., Inc.
Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. (1996) The shadow of
uncertainty [WWW document].
ht tp://chip.c s.uiuc.edu/us ers/chai/beri ta/960101-
960131/0256.html
Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (1996) No fee increase
this year [WWW document] .
http://chip.cs.uiuc.edu/users/chai/berita/9 60101-
960131/0175.html
166
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Tan, L.H. (1982) The State and economic distribution in
Malaysia. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies,
Singapore.
The Star, various dates.
Thomas, R.M. (1986) Malaysia. Education and Urban Society.
vl8, n4, p399-411.
The World Bank (1992) Education in Asia: A Comparative
Study of Cost and Financing. World Bank Regional and
Sectoral Studies. World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Tzannatos, Z (1991) Reverse racial discrimination in higher
education in Malaysia: has it reduced inequality and at
what cost to the poor? International Journal of
Educational Development. vll n3 pl77-192.
UNESCO (1986) Relevance of education to rural development.
UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Education in Asia
and the Pacific. Bangkok, Pg. 13
UNESCO (1995) World Education Report 1995. Paris: UNESCO
Walford, Geoffrey (1990) Privatization and Privilege in
Education. London: Routledge.
Ward, C. & Hewstone, M., (1985) Ethnicity, language and
inter-group relations in Malaysia and Singapore: A
social psychological analyses. Journal of Multilingual
and Multicultural Development. Vol. 6, No. 3 & 4.
Watson, J.K.P. (1980) Education and cultural pluralism in
South East Asia, with special reference to Peninsular
Malaysia. Comparative Education. vl6 no2 pl39-157.
Weidman, J. C. (February 24, 1995) Diversifying finance of
higher education systems in the third world: the cases
of Kenya and Mongolia [WWW document] .
http: //olam. ed.asu. edu/epaa/v3n5 .htmi
167
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Wexler, P. (1976) The sociology of education: Beyond
equality. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. 64 pp.
Wong, F.H.K., & Ee, T.H., (1975) Education in Malaysia.
Heinemann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd. Hong Kong.
World Bank, The (1995) Priorities and strategies for
education: A World Bank review [WWW document] .
http : / /www.worldbank. org/html/extpb/PrioritiesEducation
.html#Worid
Yee, A. H. (1995) Editorial. In Albert H. Yee (ed.) East
Asian higher education: Tradition and transformation.
UK: Pergamon for IAU Press, (pp. 1-21)
Yinming, L. (1985) Malaysia's new economic policy and the
Chinese community. Review of Indonesian and Malaysian
Affairs, , 131-142.
Zainal, A.B.A. (1980) Educational reform and ethnic
response: an historical study of the development of a
national system of education in West Malaysia. Ph.D.
Dissertation University of California at Los Angeles.
Zhao, F. (January 30, 1998) A remarkable move of
restructuring: Chinese higher education [WWW document].
http: / /olam. ed. asu. edu/epaa/v6n5 .html
168
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
A P P E N D IX
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
APPENDIX A - Question Checklist
Checklist of questions asked:
The first section is demographical information
collected for ease of tracking students and possible
further synthesis. The second section consists of open-
ended interview questions. Questions were changed and
adapted as needed to answer the research questions
presented in Chapter I.
Institution name
Locality.
Name
11
Questions/demographics
Gender
Male
Female
What kind of primary
school did you attend?
Public
Private
What was the language of
instruction at your
primary school?
Malay
Chinese
Tamil
English
Other
What kind of secondary school
did you attend?
'0' Level
Public
Private
'A' Level
Public
Private
What was the language of
instruction at your secondary
school?
Malay
Chinese
Tamil
English
Other _____________________
Religion?
Islam
Christian
Buddhist
Hindi
170
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Other
age
your ethnicity/Race
Chinese
Malay
Indian
Other
Your intended area of
Study
Humanities
Science
Social Studies
Other
#2 FAMILY
Family income *****
needs to be related to
the SES strata present
in Malaysia today *****
Parental education
Mark the categories
completed:
Father
primary education
1. primary
Sec ed. stream
technical
teaching
arts
science
N/A
higher Education
certificate
diploma
degree
N/A
Degree-level attained
bachelors degree
Masters degree
Doctoral degree
N/A
Field of Study (if known)
Humanities
Science
Social Studies
Other ___________________
N/A
Mother
primary education
1. primary
Secondary education
GCE 'O' completed
GCE 'A' completed
N/A
171
Secondary education
GCE 'O' completed
GCE 'A' completed
N/A
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Sec ed. stream
technical
teaching
arts
science
N/A
higher education
certificate
diploma
degree
N/A
Degree-level attained
bachelors degree
Masters degree
Doctoral degree
N/A
Field of Study (if
known)
Humanities
Science
Social Studies
Other
N/A
Father's occupation
Mother's occupation
#3 Educational desires
Did you apply for a
public institute of
higher education?
Were you accepted at a public
institute of higher
education?
Why did you choose to go to
this school?
English language emphasis
Overseas component
curriculum
teachers
Other _____________________
If accepted at one of
Malaysia's public
universities would you
attend?
Was school financing money a
consideration when choosing
this school?
Who pays your tuition and
other schooling costs?
Did you apply for any
scholarships before attending
this school?
Why did you choose to attend
this college?
Did you apply to other
Schools?? if so where?? Why?
172
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
What is the attraction
of attending a program
overseas??
Knowledge acquisition
What do you feel about
your experiences here at
this college thus far?
Is it rewarding?
How will you apply your
knowledge learned in
college to your future
work??
What are your
professional desires..
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
APPENDIX B - Internal Security Act
As cited from the HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
{accessed March 24, 1999}
http: I /www.hrw.org/tirv7/press98/bck-brif /my-pr0921 .htm
Internal Security Act
Malaysia's Internal Security Act provides for preventive
detention for up to two years with the possibility of
renewal every two years. Any police officer may, without a
warrant, arrest and detain anyone he has "reason to
believe" has acted or likely to act in "any manner
prejudicial to the security of Malaysia." The act also
allows for restrictions on freedom of assembly,
association, and expression, freedom of movement, residence
and employment. It allows for the closing of schools and
educational institutions if they are used as a meeting
place for an unlawful organization or for any other reason
are deemed detrimental to the interests of Malaysia or the
public. The right of ISA detainees to be fairly charged and
tried is restricted not only by the provisions in the ISA
for indefinitely renewable detention without trial, but
also by a June 19 89 amendment removing the jurisdiction of
courts to hear habeas corpus petitions from ISA detainees.
It was used to arrest political opponents of Mahathir in a
major crackdown in 1987-88, as well as politicians in
Sabah, east Malaysia, in 1990, whose party was considered a
major rival to Umno. In November 1997 ten people were
arrested under the ISA for allegedly spreading Shiite
teachings deemed detrimental to national security; Muslims
in Malaysia are Sunnis. In recent years, the law has also
been used to arrest producers of false identity documents
and work permits for foreign workers in Malaysia.
Official Secrets Act
Malaysia's Official Secrets Act is a broadly-worded law
which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, as
174
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
well as significant lesser penalties for the actions
associated with the wrongful collection, possession or
communication of official information. Any public officer
can declare any material an official secret -- a
certification which cannot be questioned in court. The act
allows for arrest and detention without a warrant, and
substantially reverses the burden of proof. It states that
"until the contrary is proven, " any of the activities
proscribed under the act will be presumed to have been
undertaken "for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or
interests of Malaysia." It is not necessary for the
authorities to show that the accused person was guilty of
particular act, and states that even if no act is proved,
the accused person may still be convicted on the basis of
"the circumstances of the case, his conduct or his known
character...".
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
175
APPENDIX C - Interview Schedule
# name school Date interviewed
1 william (male) inti 6/3
2 kenny (male) ukm 6/4
3 mathew (male) inti 6/22
4 ketty (female) kdu 6/23
5 felix (male) KDU 6/23
6 chee (male) kdu 6/23
7 eric (male) taylors 6/24
8 thomas (male) kdu 6/24
9 raymond (male) inti 6/25
10 ben (male) taylors 6/27
11 angeline (female) sc 6/29
12 seng jiunn (male) inti 6/29
13 edwin (male) sc 6/30
14 kelvin (male) sc 6/30
15 su-yen (female) sc 6/30
16 hui min (female) inti 7/1
17 jumin (female) inti 7/3
18 eugene (male) inti 7/3
19 lee (male) usm 7/15
20 tan (male) usm 7/15
21 tee (female) usm Cancelled 7/16
22 susan (female) usm 7/16
23 irene (female) kdup 7/16
24 pok (male) kdup 7/17
25 patrick (male) kdup 7/17
L76
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
APPENDIX D - Interviewee Characteristics
c - "
*. Name/gender colleg age prim sec study f. inc rel Fathers job
1 william m inti 19 pub m p m badmin mid mid cath used cars
2 kenny m ukm 22 pub c pub m elec enginer mid mid christi sales executive
3 mathew m inti 21 pub m pub m finane mid mid budd electronic
4;. ketty f kdu 17 pri e pub m bs/masscom mid mid none Chinese med
felix m kdu 18 pub e pub m enginer mid mid free bus driver
chee m kdu 19 pub c pub m mis mid mid free own supermark
§# eric m taylor 20 pub m pub m enginee mid mid cath professor
thomas m kdu 18 pub c pub m comp sci up mid budd manufacture
raymond m inti 20 pri c pri c internat bus mid mid budd wholesale
ben m taylor 20 pub c pub m business up mid luthe seller
mM: angeline f sc 20 pub m pub m elec engin up mid cath firefight supply
mm Seng m inti 19 pub c pub m mech engin up mid free mang bus co.
p 3 S > edwin m sc 19 pub m pub m mech engin mid mid free superintend
kelvin m sc 19 pub m pub m comp sci low mid cath manager
pst su £ sc 26 pub m pub m psychology mid mid bapti engineer
mu huimin f inti 23 pub c/m pub m mis mid mid presb car parts
jumin f inti 18 pub m pub m elec engin mid mid budd ee tenaga
w eugene m inti 18 p/p m p/p m comp engin mid mid cath air steward
m
lee m usm 35 pub m pub e education
mm tan m usm 33 education
m. tee f usm cancel cancelled cancelled
i 22 , i susan f usm 30 pub c pub m education low mid cath school canteen
23- irene f kdup 19 pub e pub m business mid mid none business
24 pok m kdup 21 pub c/m pub m business upper mid bud/tao toys importer
25 Patrick m kdup 19 pub m pub m engineer upper mid taoist owns gas station
Reproduced with permission o f th e copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Index for Appendix C and D
Gender:
m = male f = Female
Colleges:
Inti = Inti College
Ukm = University Kebasaran Malaysia
Kdu = Kolej Damansara Utama
Taylor = Taylors college
sc = Sunway College
usm = Universiti Scien Malaysia
kdupg = Kolej Damasara Malaysia, in Penang
Language of instruction in primary and secondary schooling:
pub m = public education, instruction in Bahasa Malaysia
pub c = public education, instruction in Chinese
pub e = public education, instruction in English
pri c = private education, instruction in Chinese
Family income:
f inc = family income
mid mid = middle middle income status
up mid = upper middle income status
low mid = low middle income status
Intended major of study:
badmin = business administration
elec = electrical engineering
finane = finance
bs/masscom = business and mass communications
enginer = engineering
internat = international
mech = mechanical
comp = computer
mis = management information systems
Religions
Rel = religion
cath = Catholic
christi = Christian
budd = Buddhist
free = freethinker
luthe = Lutheran
bapti = Baptist
tao = Taoist
178
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (Q A -3 )
1 .0
l.l
g-
u :
2.8
32
■a
12.5
2.2
2 . 0
1 . 8
1.25
1 .4
150mm
IIW lG E .In c
1653 East Main Street
Rochester. NY 14609 USA
Phone: 716/462-0300
Fax: 716/288-5989
C 1993. Applied Image. Inc.. All Rights Reserved
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

A study of Chinese-Malaysian students' choices to attend a private college, American university transfer program

PDF

Commercial enterprise ownership among Aboriginal Australian women: Economic control through entrepreneurship

PDF

An analysis of United States overseas English language policy, 1938-1990

PDF

Identity politics and accessing discourses: SLA narratives of Korean immigrants

PDF

A comparative study of the realm of meaning of four child prostitutes in Taiwan: A hermeneutic approach

PDF

Educational development aid and the role of language: A case study of AIT -Danida and the Royal University of Agriculture in Cambodia

PDF

Improving the academic achievement of African-American males: a case study in San Diego, California

PDF

Internationalization of higher education: A case study of a private United States research university

PDF

Alternative spring break and social responsibility: Is there a relationship?

PDF

An exploration of the psychosocial and support factors influencing goal achievement

PDF

Education for change in a changing Nigerian Igbo society: Impacts of traditional African and western education on the upbringing of Igbo children

PDF

A new approach to managing diversity in schools: The proactive-interactive approach

PDF

Consequences of heritage language loss and maintenance and factors that affect heritage language development: Voices from second-generation Korean-American adults

PDF

A comparison study: Job satisfaction factors and retention of minority versus non-minority teachers

PDF

A comparison between Thai student attitudes toward English as a Foreign Language and their English proficiency at four public (state) universities in Bangkok, Thailand

PDF

A descriptive study of the recruitment of students of color for secondary accelerated programs

PDF

A multicultural curriculum's relationship to attitudes of prejudice and stereotyping in 5th and 6th-grade students

PDF

A qualitative examination of the nature and impact of three California minority engineering programs

PDF

A longitudinal study into the learning style preferences of university ESL students

PDF

A study of the perceptions of factors that enhanced and impeded progress towards the completion of the doctoral degree in education for Hispanic students employed in public school systems

Asset Metadata

Creator Denny, John Timothy (author)

Core Title A study of Chinese-Malaysian students' choices to attend a private college, American university transfer program

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Education

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag education, bilingual and multicultural,OAI-PMH Harvest,sociology, ethnic and racial studies

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Rideout, William M. (committee chair), Eskey, David (committee member), Moore, Alexander (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c17-436304

Unique identifier UC11353495

Identifier 9933716.pdf (filename),usctheses-c17-436304 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 9933716.pdf

Dmrecord 436304

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Denny, John Timothy

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA