Open-channel admissions won’t reduce UPU quotas at public universities, says Zambry

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — The Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) has stressed that offering admission to public universities through the open channel will not affect or reduce the quota allocated through UPU, Malaysia’s centralised university admissions system.

Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir said open channel admissions accounted for only a small percentage and were limited to specific courses with available places, rather than being intended solely to generate revenue for the institutions.

“I would like to inform this House that this issue does not arise at all, as we will maintain the quotas that have been set,” he said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2027 (Budget 2027) at the policy stage for the ministry in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

On differences in tuition fees, Zambry acknowledged that they existed, particularly for critical courses.

However, he said the government continued to take initiatives to increase allocations and quotas for critical courses such as accounting, engineering and artificial intelligence (AI) to accommodate the high number of qualified students.

Zambry also said that poverty or financial constraints should not be a reason for students to turn down offers to study at public universities, as various forms of financial assistance were available.

“The government provides various forms of financial support covering tuition fees and living allowances, including the Community College Student Financial Assistance, Foundation Financial Assistance and B40 TVET Scholarships,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, when winding up the debate for his ministry, said Malaysia recorded 32.26 million international visitor arrivals from January to September 2026, an increase of 2.4 per cent compared with the same period last year.

He said the government continued to intensify tourism promotion efforts using existing allocations to sustain the industry’s growth momentum, particularly in facing global geopolitical challenges that affected visitors’ travel plans.

Tiong said that, to improve international connectivity, Tourism Malaysia had worked with 24 airlines, comprising three domestic and 21 international carriers, to support 46 international flight routes from January to October this year.

“Of these, 35 were new routes while the remaining 11 were existing routes that continued to operate. They included Xi’an-Kuala Lumpur, Guiyang-Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai-Tawau, Xiamen-Kota Kinabalu, Busan-Kuala Lumpur and Frankfurt-Kuala Lumpur, as well as charter flights from Warsaw, Poland, and Almaty, Kazakhstan, scheduled for December,” he said.

He said the business events segment, including meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), also performed encouragingly, with its economic impact rising 113.7 per cent to RM1.24 billion in the second quarter of 2026. The number of events increased 81.2 per cent to 125, while international delegate attendance rose 105.2 per cent to 83,596.

To strengthen growth in the segment, Tiong said RM10 million had been allocated to the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) to attract more high-impact MICE and international sporting events. Tax incentives for organising international-standard events had also been extended for the 2028-2030 period.

Meanwhile, Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Seri Ramli Mohd Nor expressed his appreciation to the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) for its cooperation in organising the Sewang Festival, which brought together 18 Orang Asli ethnic groups on October 24.

He said the event had the potential to attract international tourists and was targeted to be held at the national level next year.

The Dewan Rakyat sitting resumes today. — Bernama

Tiger on the prowl? Suspected paw prints found near Gerik homes, Perhilitan trap activated

Melaka polls: Pakatan eyes more seats beyond defending incumbents, says Fahmi

Melaka polls: Ab Rauf claims progress in MCA seat talks despite Wee Ka Siong’s reservations

吉隆坡，10 月 28 日——高等教育部强调，通过公开渠道招收公立大学学生不会影响或减少通过马来西亚大学统一招生系统（UPU）分配的名额。

部长拿督斯里赞布里·阿卜杜勒·卡迪尔表示，公开招生仅占很小一部分，而且仅限于有空位的特定课程，而不是仅仅为了给院校创收。

“我想告知本院，这个问题根本不会出现，因为我们将维持已设定的配额，”他在昨天国会下议院政策阶段就2027年供应法案（2027年预算案）进行辩论结束时说道。

关于学费差异，赞布里承认确实存在差异，尤其是一些关键课程的学费差异。

但他表示，政府将继续采取措施，增加会计、工程和人工智能等关键课程的拨款和配额，以容纳大量合格的学生。

Zambry还表示，贫困或经济困难不应成为学生拒绝公立大学录取理由，因为有各种形式的经济援助可供申请。

他说：“政府提供各种形式的财政支持，涵盖学费和生活津贴，包括社区学院学生经济援助、基金会经济援助和B40职业技术教育奖学金。”

与此同时，旅游、艺术及文化部长拿督斯里张庆信在总结其部门的辩论时表示，马来西亚在2026年1月至9月期间接待了3226万国际游客，比去年同期增长了2.4%。

他表示，政府将继续加大旅游推广力度，利用现有拨款维持旅游业的增长势头，尤其是在应对影响游客旅行计划的全球地缘政治挑战方面。

Tiong表示，为了改善国际连通性，马来西亚旅游局与24家航空公司合作，其中包括3家国内航空公司和21家国际航空公司，在今年1月至10月期间支持了46条国际航线。

他说：“其中35条是新航线，其余11条是继续运营的现有航线。这些航线包括西安-吉隆坡、贵阳-吉隆坡、上海-斗湖、厦门-哥打基纳巴卢、釜山-吉隆坡和法兰克福-吉隆坡，以及计划于12月从波兰华沙和哈萨克斯坦阿拉木图起飞的包机航班。”

他表示，包括会议、奖励旅游、大会和展览（MICE）在内的商务活动领域也表现令人鼓舞，其经济影响在2026年第二季度增长了113.7%，达到12.4亿令吉。活动数量增长了81.2%，达到125场，而国际代表出席人数增长了105.2%，达到83596人。

为促进该领域的增长，张先生表示，政府已拨款1000万令吉给马来西亚会展局（MyCEB），用于吸引更多高影响力的会展活动和国际体育赛事。此外，举办国际标准活动的税收优惠政策也已延长至2028年至2030年。

与此同时，下议院副议长拿督斯里拉姆利·莫哈末·诺对旅游、艺术及文化部（Motac）在组织塞旺节方面的合作表示感谢，该节日于10月24日举行，汇聚了18个原住民族群。

他表示，该活动有潜力吸引国际游客，并计划明年在国家层面举办。

下议院今天恢复开会。 — 马新社

老虎出没？在格里克居民区附近发现疑似虎爪印，Perhilitan 陷阱已启动

马六甲民意调查：法米表示，希望联盟除了捍卫现任议员外，还希望获得更多席位

马六甲选举：尽管魏家祥有所保留，阿卜杜勒·拉乌夫仍声称马华公会议席谈判取得进展