PROMINENT alumni of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), including a minister from ruling Malay party Umno, have slammed Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor for calling their alma mater a place for “slow learners”.

Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani said Tengku Adnan should explain what he meant by the remark he made at the Anugerah Nadi Negara 2017 event on Saturday.

“What is the definition of a ‘slow learner’? I passed the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in a year and a half after completing the Diploma in Accountancy at ITM (Institute Teknologi Mara).

“I chose to go to ITM at that time as it provided an opportunity to obtain a professional qualification,” Johari told The Malaysian Insight.

Tengku Adnan was recorded on video saying that even slow-learners could enter UiTM to study.

His remarks drew plenty of flak on social media, including by Mohd Zaini Hassan, president of the UiTM Malaysia Alumni Association (PAUiTM), who posted on his Facebook page a list of influential individuals who had studied at the institution.

“Behold, Dato Sri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor … (Are these) slow learners?” Zaini wrote.

Besides Johari, other ministers on the list were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said, Nancy Shukri, Minister of Higher Education Idris Jusoh, and Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.

Other notable corporate figures mentioned were AirAsia chairman Kamarudin Meranun, Perodua president and chief executive officer Dr Aminar Rashid Salleh and DRB-Hicom chairman Khamil Jamil.

Tengku Adnan, however, in a statement yesterday said his remarks had been misconstrued. Blaming the opposition for “spinning” his words, he said he was explaining how UiTM was created to give underperforming students a second chance.

UiTM was first formed as the Rural and Industrial Development Authority Training Centre before Malaya’s independence in 1957. It later became Mara College before becoming Institut Tekonologi Mara. In the late 1990s, it was upgraded to become a university.

DAP youth leader Dyana Sofea also criticised Tengku Adnan for being condescending towards UiTM graduates, which included ministers and prominent judges.

“Tengku Adnan’s statement shows that he has downgraded UiTM graduates, by saying that the institution is third-class and eroding the dignity of an institution that has produced among the most educated Malays and Bumiputeras in the country.

“Is he also saying UiTM alumni like Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman and the Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum, are slow-learners?” Said Dyana, who is a DAPSY exco member.

She said UiTM’s objective had been to bridge the socio-economic gap by providing access to education.

“Tengku Adnan should not blame UiTM graduates or students if the BN government’s education system fails to take responsibility for educating our children to qualify for university.

“Most UiTM students are not ‘slow learners’ but they are underprivileged because of socio-economic policies that fail to care for their welfare and fail to provide equitable access to educational opportunities and jobs.

“His statement was a great blow to the Mara institution, to UiTM’s students and alumni and an insult to Arshad Ayub (former ITM director and now UiTM’s pro-chancellor) who is the backbone of UiTM’s success as an institution of higher learning set up to educate and advance the Malays and Bumiputeras,” she said.

However, former UiTM vice-chancellor, Dr Ibrahim Shah Abu Shah defended Tengku Adnan, saying the media had misunderstood his remarks.

Ibrahim Shah said Tengku Adnan’s speech had been to an audience of students who had not performed so well in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia and who were enrolled in a pre-diploma programme.

“I read the news. Tengku Adnan was not talking about all students at UiTM. At UiTM, we help those who are slow through a special programme.

“Tengku Adnan himself knows that UiTM has produced many great ministers. This special programmes is meant to help Malay students,” Ibrahim Shah told The Malaysian Insight.

The uproar over Tengku Adnan’s remarks was also highlighted by pro-establishment blogger RockyBru, who said the minister was the reason why people were angry with Umno and not because the party itself was bad. – November 28, 2017.