According to the South China Morning Postthe 20-year-old scored a perfect cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.0, top marks in all subjects, and earned a score of 9.9 out of 10 in co-curricular activities. Despite his academic performance, Wong was denied entry to accounting programs at six prestigious universities in Malaysia, including Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and Universiti Sains Malaysia. Instead, he was offered a place in a management course at Universiti Sains Malaysia, which he described as “neither my passion nor my dream” in a social media post.

Wong’s case was raised publicly by the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), prompting a response from the Ministry of Higher Education. The ministry explained that despite his excellent record, Wong was ranked only 1,129th out of applicants for a program with just 85 available spots.

Following the controversy, Wong received a full scholarship offer from two MCA-affiliated universities, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology. However, his rejection from the other institutions has fueled a renewed debate over Malaysia’s university admissions system, which critics argue continues to favor Malay students through racially preferential policies.

James Chin, a senior fellow at the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia at Sunway University, highlighted what he called an “unofficial quota system” that benefits Malay students. He pointed to the disparity between entry routes, such as the matriculation and foundation programs, which are predominantly taken by Malays, and the more academically rigorous STPM (Malaysian Higher School Certificate), primarily used by non-Malay students.

Matriculation, a fast-track pre-university program established by the Education Ministry, reserves 90% of its spots for ethnic Malays. Critics argue that matriculation is less academically demanding than the STPM, giving its graduates an unfair advantage in the university admissions process.

Chin also referred to a parliamentary inquiry in 2023 that revealed the ethnic breakdown of admissions to public universities, with 81% of spots allocated to Bumiputra (Malay and indigenous) students, and 19% to minorities. According to Malaysia’s Department of Statistics, out of an estimated population of 34.2 million, approximately 70.1% are Bumiputra, 22.4% are Chinese, 6.6% are Indian, and other ethnic groups make up less than 1%.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Higher Education insists that its admissions system is merit-based, with 90% of the decision based on academic performance and 10% on co-curricular achievements.

In response to the policy, student groups have voiced differing opinions. The Association of New Youth (UMANY), an organization predominantly made up of Chinese students at the University of Malaya, initially called for the abolition of the matriculation system in favor of the STPM. However, the group later revised its position, proposing an integrated examination system, with the STPM serving as the benchmark.

“This integrated system would allow students from diverse backgrounds to compete fairly under one platform,” UMANY stated, stressing that the system should also account for the needs of disadvantaged students to ensure social justice.