I refer to the letter STPM alone good yardstick for uni entrance by Adrian Lee

First and foremost, the 128 STPM top scorers, who happen to be non bumis should be given the opportunity to study at local universities to pursue their fields of choice. Period.

There should be a mechanism to gauge entry qualification into universities. The most tested means is of course the STPM and lately the matriculation examination.

I entered the government service more than 20 years ago, and quit five years later.

During those five short years, I had the opportunity to serve in Sarawak, Semenanjung and Sabah. I am thankful that I had been given the chance to serve our fellow Malaysians living in the remotest parts of our beloved country. A substantial portion of this tenure was also spent in Kuala Lumpur.

I dare say that I have been perhaps one of the most transferred officers in the whole of Malaysia within that short period of time.

This experience has allowed me to observe and compare the disparity of facilities in rural areas and the big towns, especially the country's capital.

I must admit that there is a universe of difference between the two. The haves in the cities enjoy every imaginable amenity to move forward and achieve their dreams, whilst the poor in the kampungs thrive on scarcity..

The rich are concerned about which university they want to send their children; for the poor and the marginalised they worry about their next meal.

I cannot emphasie this more metaphorically than as a game of golf. As a 24 handicapper, you could not expect to win against a professional golfer.

By all means, get those super achievers educated in our local university.

Having said that, it behooves all of us to look at meritocracy holistically. For verily, I believe examination results only reveal a portion of the human potential.

A relative of mine was a third grader in the MCE exam. He worked for a government department. Then, it was easy to get job. As a junior staff, he was treated lowly by his officers. There were times when he felt worse than an office boy.

Two years later, he steeled himself up to meet his boss.

"Give me a scholarship. I want to study again," he told his director.

His boss told him off - that the scholarships were meant for the Grade One staff, and there were a number of them here. He made several trips to his director's office, but the answer was a firm NO.

Finally, he brought along another relative of mine, who incidentally was an officer in the same department. This officer pleaded on his behalf. After much wrangling, the boss finally said yes.

Off he went to a local university and graduated with an honours.

He came back and worked with the same boss. At department meetings, he regularly contributed ideas, even clashed with his boss on numerous contentious issues regarding the workings of the department. This went on for a while until the boss called him to his office.

He recalled that after a friendly reprimand, his boss told him to go for his Masters with full pay and a scholarship. He took up the challenge and went. He obtained a distinction beating fellow students from other Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore.

Not satisfied, he went on to pursue a PhD successfully. Now he is a respected scientist presenting papers at international conferences.

This is a story of a poor kampung boy, rather helpless, but when given the opportunity and the necessary help, attained the pinnacle of academic excellence. I know quite a number of people of similar background; a few of them are my own relatives.

Whilst the A students should be given their rightful places in the universities, the B or C graders should also be given the opportunity to prove themselves, mindful of course of their socioeconomic backgrounds.

Full meritocracy can only be implemented when everything else is equal, otherwise it cannot be seen as fair when only a few parameters are the same.

For those, who have grown up in KL and live a high life in super-scale residential areas, it would be educational to take time off and travel to the remotest parts of Malaysia, walk miles into the hinterlands and stay with those unfortunate families for few days. Perhaps a new perspective on life would unravel.

Personally, I don't understand why we build twin towers, Putrajaya and spend billions on mega projects - not to mention the billions spent on bailouts of certain corporate megaliths - when some of our people still exist on a hand to mouth existence.