21 November 2017



Press statement by MCA Penang Liaison Committee Chairman Datuk Tan Teik Cheng


Teo Nie Ching hijacks efforts of the Chinese community by spreading false news that the opposition recognises UEC

It is clear that DAP Member of Parliament (MP) for Kulai Teo Nie Ching is hijacking efforts made by the Chinese community in getting the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) recognised. She has also attempted to confuse the people by spreading false news that UEC has already been recognised by the Pakatan government in Selangor and Penang.

In fact neither the previous nor present Pakatan government has contributed to the development of the Chinese Independent High Schools in the country. The UEC has also never been recognised by any opposition-led state.

To boast about Pakatan being a pioneer in recognising UEC, Teo Nie Ching has resorted to stirring up old issues, and repeatedly stressed that the Penang and Selangor state governments have long recognised UEC. But the Chinese community only sees this as a drama staged by the Pakatan, aimed at obscuring the voters’ eyes from seeing the truth.

Teo Nie Ching’s remark on UEC recognition is just to fool the people. Her claims of Penang state government having recognised the UEC since ruling the state, citing the case of Penang Green Council’s General Manager Thing Siew Shuen is just to gain cheap publicity.

Is Pakatan government a pioneer in recognition of UEC? Has any of Pakatan publications including the ‘Orange book’ ever touched on the UEC issue or mentioned about its recognition? No, there is none. To the Chinese community, if the Pakatan is sincere about recognising UEC, it should incorporate it into the State Constitution.

Whenever the DAP talks about UEC recognition, it will automatically link it to Penang Green Council and Thing Siew Shuen, as if there is only one UEC graduate throughout Malaysia or Penang. Thing Siew Shuen has become the leading actress for DAP’s hypothetical drama on UEC.

MCA has repeatedly stressed that, the so-called Penang Green Council was just a subsidiary company under the Penang state government. This implies that the state government has no right to interfere in the decision-making process of the company. DAP has manipulated a private limited company to fool the people into believing that UEC has already been recognised by the state government. This is simply ridiculous!

All private limited companies in Malaysia have adopted an open-minded approach on staff recruitment and selection criteria. As long as the candidates fulfil the selection criteria, they will stand a chance to secure the job advertised, irrespective of them being a graduate of UEC, private or public university. Using a private limited company to boast about recognising UEC graduates is not reliably measurable.

The so-called remark of recognising UEC is merely insulting the wisdom of the Chinese community. Teo Nie Ching’s claims of recognising UEC is not through the official route of declaring it as a state gazette or appointing UEC graduates to important positions in government-linked companies. Instead, DAP is only good at twisting facts, slamming and hijacking efforts made by the Chinese community towards developing the Chinese education.


Datuk Tan Teik Cheng
MCA Penang State Liaison Committee Chairman

-MCA Online-