Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said during the ‘Meet Anwar’ forum of the Youth Empowerment Fair 2023 that the government would only repeal certain sections of the AUKU that curtail the freedom of students, academics, and lecturers. Anwar also pointed out that the existence of the AUKU in 1971 was very much related to himself, for the government intended to prevent him from going to university to inspire more students to push forward social reforms.
With all due respect, I question the viability of repealing certain sections of the Universities and University Colleges Act (AUKU) in institutionalizing “campus democracy” and “student autonomy”. At the same time, I call upon the government to revive the AUKU Abolition Technical Committee in order to complete the significant and long-awaited higher education reform that would benefit academics, student activists, and varsity students at large.
The prime minister’s remark highlighted once again that the then-BN regime introduced the notorious AUKU to suppress varsity students and prevent them from becoming strong enough to promote social and political reforms. Apart from silencing students and academics, the law also gave the government immense power to trample on university autonomy and inculcate a culture of fear in universities across generations.
While the draconian law did succeed in preserving the then-BN regime’s political supremacy for decades, the Malaysian higher education sector ended up ensnared in lost decades. As a result, our quality of education and research gradually declined, making our universities increasingly difficult to compete with universities in the region.
Suppose it is true that the government intends to amend the AUKU substantially. Why doesn’t the prime minister consider reviving the AUKU Abolition Technical Committee (Jawatankuasa Teknikal Mansuh AUKU), which was already established in 2018? Why doesn’t the government let the committee continue to draft the New Higher Education Act in order to bring reform to fruition?
Reviving the AUKU Abolition Technical Committee not only saves the government’s time and resources in researching the law, but it also helps to pave the way toward achieving transitional justice in order to provide redress to victims under the law. More importantly, abolishing the AUKU will ultimately revive university autonomy, protect the spirit of academic freedom, and restore the soul of our universities that has been buried for decades.