In her first ever podcast, Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh and State Assemblyperson for Kinrara, comments on Deputy Prime Minister/Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s announcement of tax incentives for parents who enroll their children into science stream.
Although the intention might be good, Teresa says this is a misguided policy that will indirectly lead to discrimination against arts-inclined students, who are also needed to help Malaysia along the innovation path.
While acknowledging the importance of science, Teresa believes that in order to have real innovation, there is a need for both right-brained and left-brained talent, working together. Encouraging left-brained, science students at the expense of right-brained, arts students would be a big mistake if we wish to turn our country into an innovation economy, she says.
Listen to her first ever podcast where Teresa shares her personal, painful experience in secondary school where she took up science stream due to public pressure.