A FEMALE student, whose appeal for a Public Service Department scholarship is being handled by the MCA, has altered her SPM results from 13 1As and 2 2As, to 15 1As.

China Press reported Negri Sembilan MCA liaison committee chief Datuk Dr Yeow Chai Thiam as saying that a government officer detected the alteration when handling the appeal and informed the party.

Dr Yeow, who is also a senator, said the student's behaviour had embarrassed the party and tarnished its integrity in the handling of appeal cases on their behalf.

He added that the incident might even affect new appeal cases in the future, the daily said.

Dr Yeow said besides academic excellence, students hoping to be awarded the scholarships should be of good character.

He said MCA leaders usually gave their endorsements to appeals by students without checking their result slips and many did not expect such an act from the student.

Dr Yeow said there were also cases of students who breached their contracts on government scholarships after completing their studies.

"There was a student who was supposed to work with the government for five years after completing his studies.

"However, he quit after working for three years then sought help from MCA to only repay RM60,000 out of the RM150,000 or two years out of the five-year bond," he said, adding that the student was earning around RM80,000 yearly then.

Dr Yeow said MCA would help submit the letters to the relevant departments but would not interfere with the government's decision.

(RM1 = S$0.41)

The Star/ANN