Media Statement by Loke Siew Fook in Petaling Jaya on
Friday, 12th December 2008:
Not a single MCA MPs took part in
the debate for Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 amendment
bill, what is the stand of MCA Youth on UUCA?
One of the most anticipated bills to be
debated in the current Parliamentary sitting is the amendment to the
Universities and University Colleges Act 1971. The debate at the policy
stage stretched over 2 days on the 10th and 11the December. 80% of the
MPs who took part in the debate were from Pakatan Rakyat. None of the 5
MCA backbenchers took part in the debate or even follow the debate in
the chambers.
The UUCA has always been a very contentious subject and a matter of
prime concerns not only among the student activists but also the members
of the academic fraternity. Many arguments have been put forward that
the existence of UUCA is one of the main hindrance for academic
excellence in our local universities as it created a fear environment in
our campuses. The implementation of UUCA in the past 38 years has
created a “spoon-fed” system among our undergraduates who are trained
not to questions and “think out of the box”. This is one of the factors
that led to the lack of creativity and innovativeness among our local
graduates today.
As none of the MCA MPs took part in the debate, I would like to ask what
is the position of MCA and in particular MCA Youth regarding the
amendment to the UUCA? Do they agree or disagree to the amendments? Or
abstain? Or no stands at all?
In my debate on the bill, I have raised up the issue regarding the
definition of “student” where in the new definition mean all registered
students in universities including those at the post-graduate and
post-doctoral level on a full time or part-time basis. This means that
if a Member of Parliament applies to take up post-graduate courses in
our universities, he or she must get the approval from the Vice
Chancellor. Isn’t this in contradiction with the MCA’s lifelong learning
program which encourages one to continue their studies no matter how
high is their positions?
DAPSY calls on the government to repeal the UUCA once and for all as it
does not help in anyway to uplift the standard of our public
universities and its existence will continue to curtail the fundamental
rights of our undergraduates and stifle their ability to “think out if
the box”. We acknowledged that there is a need for a legislation to
govern the running of public universities but academic freedom must be
returned to the campus. The UUCA must be repealed and be replaced with a
new act purely on the running and management of the universities – “Akta
Urus Tadbir Universiti (AUTU)”.
* Loke Siew Fook, DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) National
Chairman & MP for Rasah
http://dapmalaysia.org