Meritocracy, he said, was the crux of the issue.

“These students should have a fair chance of getting the scholarships. My statement should not be misconstrued. It was made purely out of my concern over the way scholarships were given out,” he said after opening a community hall in Kampung Baru Rangkaian Pasir Panji yesterday.

Ong was asked to comment on a statement in a Bahasa Malaysia daily by Perkasa (a Malay non-governmental organisation) president Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who criticised Ong for suggesting that the Government re-look the criteria governing Public Service Department scholarships.

Ibrahim said Ong’s request was selfish and accused him of seeking political mileage with the Chinese.

To this, Ong said Ibrahim was entitled to his opinion.

“We are both advocates of democracy. We have our right to say anything we think is right,” he added.

Earlier at the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Pengkalan Chepa, parents of 10 students who had excellent SPM results, waited for Ong to arrive from Kuala Lumpur.

They handed the SPM result slips and rejection letters to Ong.

Government retiree R. Subra-maniam, 56, said his daughter had obtained 11 1As.

“I know of other students who got the scholarships although their results were not as good,” he said.

His daughter Athityaa Mihiraa, 17, wanted to study medicine but he could not afford to pay for her course on his pension.

Last night in Kota Baru, Ong said he was moved by the dilemma of such students. This, he said, had nothing to do with ethnicity but meritocracy.

For example, he spoke of a Chinese top scorer who failed to get a scholarship, yet his fellow Chinese counterpart was luckier though he did not do as well.

Referring to a Public Service department release which disputed Ong’s earlier statement that there would be a review of the selection criteria, Ong stressed that this was a Cabinet decision. “I believe the decision had not filtered down yet,” he said after attending a dinner here.

In Machang earlier, Ong urged federal and state authorities to involve locals in projects they were planning for their respective areas.

Speaking after the ground-breaking ceremony of a new building for SRK (C) Chung Hwa in Temangan here yesterday, Ong cited the example of the project to build a gabion retaining wall along riverbanks close to the school.

Locals claimed the project was estimated to cost only RM50,000 but that it was being built at a marked-up cost of RM300,000.

Ong, who is Transport Minister, said the Machang MCA division had lodged a report on the matter with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. - The Star