ACM's 2006 general elections

What Malaysia Looks for When Funding CS Study Iwas encouraged by what Mazliza Othman and Rodziah Latih had to say in their article “Women in Computer Science: No Shortage Here!” (Mar. 2006) about the high proportion of women in computer science and information technology in Malaysia, but I was also surprised that no mention was made of a particular aspect of Malaysia’s education system that might directly affect these observations. As in many countries, Malaysia offers government loans to some of its students. To ensure that these public funds go toward developing and supporting the economy of the country, the government reserves and sometimes exercises the right to decide which subjects students will study. So I would like to know what proportion of the students were assigned to their courses in this manner and what proportion chose the courses themselves. D.J. Howorth Hitchin, U.K.