I condemn the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) for refusing to abolish the University and University College Act 1971 (UUCA) on baseless grounds and call upon Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is a former student activist, and other government members to revisit and reconsider this decision. We further urge the government to relaunch the plan to abolish the UUCA to safeguard academic freedom and restore campus democracy and student autonomy.
The Minister of Higher Education (MOHE) Khaled Nordin announced in the parliament that the UUCA is still relevant, and its abolishment will affect the administration and management of universities, especially during the transitional period. Hence, MOHE will not abolish the UUCA but remain open to amending the law.
I condemn MOHE’s refusal to abolish the UUCA, for it does not merely tarnish the reputation of the Unity Government but also deals a heavy blow to the government’s efforts to elevate the quality and standard of our higher education. Moreover, the disheartening decision also disappointed many academics and students who have been waiting eagerly for the government’s progressive reforms.
Ever since UUCA was introduced in 1971, it has been used as a political tool by the then-BN regime to suppress the rights of the students and academics who stood up and spoke out against them. For decades, our universities and colleges are surrounded by the culture of fear that silenced students and academics.
It is noteworthy that some of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Cabinet members were student leaders back in their university years. Hence, they supposedly understand very clearly how this notorious law has caused severe and irreparable damage to our higher education system.
For instance, our current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation Chang Lih Kang, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Adam Adli, and several other PH MPs were prominent student activists or actively participated in student activism before. Most of them were targeted or even persecuted because of speaking up or protesting against the government’s unfair policies or corrupt practices. Hence, I call upon the government members who used to be student activists to stand up and express their unwavering support to the new generation in pushing for the abolishment of UUCA. Together, former and current student activists can work toward realizing the unachieved mission in order to truly promote “campus democracy” and “student autonomy”.
Furthermore, after PH took over the government in 2018, it amended the UUCA to guarantee students’ political freedom, hence students are no longer targeted by the university or authorities for their political involvement and participation. Nonetheless, besides the right to political participation, UUCA still restricts the development of our higher education in many aspects, including threatening academic freedom, allowing political interference in universities, as well as eroding campus autonomy and student autonomy.
For instance, because the UUCA grants power to the Minister to appoint the Vice Chancellors, the government or the Minister can bring down the disobedient Vice Chancellors at any time and appoint those who have no merits but are obedient to the government. This will allow the government to control the university’s management and further prevent academicians from criticizing the government. In the long run, the culture of fear in universities will only produce academics who dare not speak freely or research new things and students who are uninspired to create new knowledge and challenged existing norms.
In addition, I opine that Khaled Nordin’s claim that “abolishing the UUCA will affect the administration and management of universities, especially during the transitional period” is baseless and is a mere excuse to mislead the parliament and the people.
Before the change of government in 2018, the Barisan Nasional regime employed similar fallacies to intimidate the people, arguing that changing the government would bring about chaos throughout the nation and wreak the economy. However, it has been proven that changes do not necessarily result in chaos but can promote the advancement of society and democracy instead. Moreover, the PH government has since 2018 drafted the new Higher Education Bill to replace the UUCA.
Given that the abolishment of UUCA is totally feasible, the only question left is: Do the government and Higher Education Ministry have the political will to abolish the draconian UUCA?
It is beyond dispute that the UUCA is a draconian law that infringes on campus democracy and hinders the development of higher education. As such, the Unity Government, especially the Cabinet members and MP who were student activists, should remain principled and push for the gradual abolishment of the UUCA in order to finish the unfinished business instead of disappointing university students, academics, and all Malaysians.