More private institutions keen to join HOPE Foundation

IPOH: More private universities and colleges are keen to be part of the Higher Opportunities for Private Education (HOPE) Foundation, MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said.

This, he said, would enable more school-leavers who failed to enter local public universities to further their studies at private institutions of higher learning (IPTS).

“HOPE makes full use of the surplus of places offered by private universities and colleges by filling them up with those who failed to get into local public universities.

Education first: Ong joining guests and participants at the HOPE and TRAIN 2009/ 2010 appreciation ceremony in Petaling Jaya Saturday. Flanking him are (on his right) Vice-Chancellor of Taylor University College Datuk Hassan Said and (on his left) MCA Treasurer-General Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng.

“And to date, over 1,000 such places have been taken up by participants of the programme,” he told reporters after attending the 57th anniversary celebration of the Council of Perak Chinese School Committees here on Friday.

At present, he said HOPE’s partner institutions were offering courses in economics, arts, science, engineering, business studies, hotel management and IT.

“But more private universities and colleges are coming to us, and with that, we expect courses in health sciences to be offered as well from this year onwards,” he added.

In PETALING JAYA yesterday, Ong said HOPE ensured affordability through an internal subsidy system at participating private institutions of higher learning.

“There is a huge disparity in fees offered by public institutions of higher learning (IPTA) and IPTS. We have to ensure the fees are affordable to those who sign up for this programme,” he added.

The programme also assisted students who faced financial difficulties to secure loans from the National Higher Education Fund Corp­oration, he said at the HOPE and TRAIN (Technical Resource and Internship Network) 2009/2010 appreciation ceremony yesterday.

HOPE was mooted by Ong in 2006 when he was MCA vice-president and Deputy Higher Education Minister.

On another matter, Ong, who is Transport Minister, said the ministry would look into the park and ride facilities at LRT stations as part of its effort to further improve public transportation.

A goodwill gesture worth more than gold

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of youngsters stood outside the Saidina Abu Bakar As-Siddiq mosque in Bangsar after Friday prayers to handout oranges to Muslims as a goodwill effort.

One of them even dressed as “choy sun” (God of Prosperity) to spread some joy in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration on Feb 14.

Spreading the goodwill cheer: The ‘God of Prosperity’ visiting the mosque in Bangsar after the Friday prayers

“We wanted to do our small part to bring back the good old kampung spirit of togetherness where people live harmoniously in a village despite the differences in their race and religion,” said Bernard Hor, the chief operations officer of joobaholic.com, a social networking portal.

As orange in Cantonese is called kam, which also sounded like the word for gold, Hor and his team hoped Muslims would be bestowed with prosperity and happiness.

“It’s a good effort to reach out to the Muslims as much had happened recently. We appreciate the kind intention,” said a mosque official.