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Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) is the last bastion for Malay and bumiputra students to further their studies and there is no need to open it up to other races, the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) said.

In a response to the proposal by Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim for UiTM to open up 10% of its intake to other races, PPIM said the move would be seen as challenging the special rights of the Malays.

PPIM project director Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin said the government and its leaders had to be tougher in defending such issues because although the country was multiracial, there was "no need to sideline Malay special rights."

Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin said that UiTM has not only produced many excellent scholars but has also had many graduates who were able to compete with other races in the job market.

Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Abu Shah has hit out at Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s suggestion that the university open its doors to non-bumiputra students.

Prof Ibrahim said the call to have non-bumiputras allowed into the university was against the purpose of setting up the university.

“UiTM was set up to provide the bumiputras a chance to improve themselves by attaining tertiary education,” he told a press conference at the university here yesterday.

He was commenting on Khalid's statement asking for UiTM to open 10% of its intake to the other races to raise the level of integration, competitiveness and the quality of graduates.

Malaysia's Prime Minister has rejected a call to allow other races to enrol in a university that only admits Muslim Malays and indigenous groups, a proposal which caused a furore and a student protest.

The controversy has laid bare lingering racial tensions in Malaysia, where the population is dominated by Malays and where ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities are concerned over rising "Islamisation."

The chief minister of Selangor state, where the Universiti Teknologi Mara is located, triggered an uproar when he suggested on Sunday that the institution could offer 10 percent of its places to other races.

"He has no power to do that. Matters related to (student) intake are under the jurisdiction of higher educational institutions," Abdullah Badawi was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times daily.

Selangor's chief minister, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (of the opposition Justice Party), reportedly said the move to include other races and foreigners into the university would allow students there to gain more exposure and be friendlier to people of other races.

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Abdul Khalid's remarks triggered a protest by 5,000 students from the university who took to the streets Tuesday and marched to the chief minister's office, waving placards saying, "Do not seize our rights," and "Save UITM."

UITM vice-chancellor Ibrahim Abu Shah said the public university was reserved for bumiputras as a majority of students in leading fields of study in higher-learning institutions in Malaysia were non-Malays.

"Our constitution stresses balance. This is a statistic which should be understood by any leader, government or opposition body and nobody should begrude UITM as the only public university for bumiputras," he said.

Ibrahim said he found it "weird" that the chief minister, being a Malay leader himself, should have made the suggestion.

"Abdul Khalid as a leader should think before making such a statement and not betray his own race," he said according to the New Straits Times.

Selangor is one of five Malaysian states which fell to the opposition alliance in the March 8 elections which saw the Barisan Nasional government coalition suffer stunning losses.

University Vice Chancellor Ibrahim Abu Shah also rejected the suggestion, saying the institution was 'the last educational bastion for the Malays and other Bumiputeras to help change their lot', the national news agency Bernama reported.

The campus is the only one among Malaysia's universities that is exclusive, but other state-backed institutions generally have high Malay enrollments that cause minorities to frequently resort to private colleges or studying abroad.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has urged Malay students to enrol in institutions of higher learning with an equal racial breakdown if they wished to maintain a competitive edge.

“Malays must accept that there are people of other races in this country, and they should interact with them too,” he said after attending a discussion entitled “Malay Supremacy” at UiTM here yesterday.

“(Malay students) should also realise that the world out there is diverse and filled with various ethnic groups and should (make an effort) to foster relationships (with other races) if they want to be more competent.”

Dr Mahathir said, through interaction with other races, Malays would be able to sustain a superlative academic standard through healthy competition.

“The foremost element to achieving this is to accept that this country is a plural society.”