KOTA KINABALU: Former Deputy Home Minister Datuk Azis Jamman has defended his children's entitlement to a Sabah scholarship, stating that they had met the minimum requirements.
, including granting scholarships to the family members of opposition leaders.
"(However), it is worth reminding Hajiji that when my family and I approached him, we did not come as political opponents, but as a father and mother, and as citizens exercising a fundamental right to seek educational support for our children.
"My wife is not a politician, and my children should not be drawn into political point-scoring. Why should my children's applications be politicised simply because of my political affiliation?
"After all, my children's scholarship applications meet the minimum requirements for approval. Otherwise, even with Hajiji's recommendation, I am sure it would have been rejected by the scholarship department," he said in a statement.
Azis also urged the Sabah government to emulate Sarawak in providing free tertiary education to qualified Sarawak students at its five institutions of higher learning by 2026.