The assault on academic freedom
Public universities should not be a place just to obtain good grades. They should be a place where diverse ideas are celebrated, and intellectual independence and autonomy admired.
Khoo Ying Hooi
There is little for academic freedom in Malaysia. Has our academic freedom become such an alien idea that it no longer has a place in our universities?
An academic discussion recently featuring Wan Saiful Wan Jan, CEO of Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas), held at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), was forced to have its session in the dark as its authorities sealed off the proposed venue at Latar Siswa situated in the Faculty of Modern Languages.
Responding to this, UPM’s management said it was part of the Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) because there was a need to apply for permission prior to the event, which the organisers had failed to do. As reported, the event also saw heavy security presence, disallowing the taking of photographs or video.
It is ridiculous to disallow a research think-tank like Ideas to have an academic session in the compound of public universities. I also personally do not see any “threat” from its topic, “Liberalisation of economy: the best system for the poor”. In fact, such activities should have been organised in a more frequent basis in the universities.
And the way UPM addressed Ideas’s session has, again, attracted attention to the state of academic freedom in Malaysia.
Calling it “Kelas Pencerahan”, or Enlightenment Class, I am glad to know that this informal session was organised by a group of students who are part of the Facebook community page.
Public universities should not be a place just to obtain good grades. They should be a place where diverse ideas are celebrated, and intellectual independence and autonomy admired.
One of the key problems is the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) and its regulations that have stifled the intellectual development of local universities. Although university students are now allowed to engage in political activities under an amendment of the UUCA, students who hold positions in political parties are barred from campus elections.
Last year, University of Malaya’s Centre for Democracy and Elections (UMCEDEL) was forced to scrap its second session of a political forum, which featured members of parliaments from both coalitions.
This was because of the “instruction” and pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Higher Education Ministry as highlighted by its Director, Prof. Datuk Dr. Mohamad Redzuan Othman.
