THE CICAK.com

Impossible to attain academic freedom in Malaysia

By RACHEL CHAN

Academic freedom is like the Holy Grail on this planet. Everyone knows somewhere in the future, granted equivocal efforts are put into its realisation, it will surely emerge, a beacon of emancipation and enlightenment. But though everyone knows (or thinks) it exists, it is elusive, this mythical unicorn. It is to be found somewhere over the rainbow where leprechauns bury their gold, a recluse disappointed with the rest of the world.

While this country certainly faces no shortage of homegrown Indiana Johans attempting to attain it, it is a sad reality they are doomed to be eaten by the crocodiles of conservatism, the lockjaws of the law.

Certainly, one can propagate the notion that the absence of academic freedom is the root of all problems: graduate unemployment, graduate miseducation, graduate unintellectualism are just a few of these. And of course, university rankings come back to haunt all education stakeholders for more than just a few sleepless nights.

But while the players on top wear muddy glasses and say “I don’t knowâ€? to any tough questions coming their way, or play hit-and-miss with any questions about the scope of undergraduate activism, it is the rest who suffer this malediction.

One suggested solution is to elect a student representative council to deal with undergraduate rights. Of course, this is given that such an election can first of all take place. However, with the lack of democracy in the election process due to political barriers, it is impossible to navigate around the closely monitored corridors of universities and emerge unscathed. Let’s not even talk about basic freedom or equality.

For instance, according to a recent case at Universiti Putra Malaysia (“Varsity authorities redefine campus elections,� published in Malaysiakini on Aug 19 2003), it is apparently illegal for female undergraduates to air their “dirty� laundry on their windowpanes – especially if it includes their underwear. The male “moral enforcers,� prophets of the dorm raids upon these unsuspecting students, on the other hand, were given the ultimate digression of “inspiring a code of ethics.�

This was only a facade for underlying political agendas, which when unearthed, revealed a can of worms. The mainstream parties attempted to manipulate campus elections by searching the rooms of those suspected of supporting the opposition.

Among other techniques employed by other universities was that of recording voters’ names and political orientation. So much for voter freedom.

Likewise, dabbling in politics outside the university is just as forbidden. Just ask Soh Sook Hwa, a University Sains Malaysia student campaigner who became a political detainee for the simple reason of supporting the opposition campaign during the March 2004 general election. She can tell you about “democracy� and its benefits.

The threat of expulsion should one not show favour of a university’s pro-“government aspirationâ€? general election candidate is “benefitâ€? number one. The threat of expulsion should one show favour towards a university’s candidate who is “anti-establishment?â€? “Benefitâ€? number two. See? It’s as simple as one-two-three! All one has to do is choose!

Academics who attempt to dissent are made to leave just as well. For applying for a secondment in UM after being appointed manager for a research project at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva, Edmund Terence Gomez was dismissed. Clearly, the laws are not made to nurture and expand one’s academic development.

In the end, the pro-establishment parties won. And what did they bring? More promises of a better future rooted in Wal-Martian blind consumption habits and less intelligent life on earth.

The Universities and University Colleges Act (U.U.C.A.), more commonly known as the “Akujanji,” restricts student activism from reaching into anything beyond the status quo. Indeed, I’m baffled by the need for activism when there is a need to maintain the status quo. A rose by any other name… smells fishy when held in campaign.

But who are we to digress and philosophise? Unless one is granted diplomatic immunity, it is best not to interfere in events. Like they say, academics should be seen, and not heard. Ever wonder why the culture in Malaysia is of students visibly burying their noses deep in books, afraid to speak to their professors?

It is a known tradition that universities are the germinal of political beliefs; hence, the bulk of campaigning occurs within these hallowed halls.

Sometimes this activism isn’t merely confined to students. When Michel Foucault, a French philosopher, lent weight to the student revolts in France in 1968 in the Sorbonne, he gleefully hurled stones at the police along with his protégés. It was also during this period of time that most radical approaches to government were born.

It is surprising, then, that most of those who took part in the revolutions of the ’60s are the very same people who now bar us from doing the same. An approach is only radical or worthwhile when one is fighting for it, it seems. Once it has been incorporated into the mainstream, it loses its steam. The former radical warriors become mere wage-takers.

Even more disappointing is the fact that some student leaders support this cause by claiming that vice-chancellors just want to protect us from danger, and that the act ensures “we don’t get involved in bad activities.� The effects of the U.U.C.A. have been proven in turning students into risk-averse, apolitical automatons.

It will be a sad loss for the Raiders of the Lost Voice if the situation were to anchor itself into the ground. What we will be left with will be a nation without its treasure: an economy without a brain. Humans will become drones, slaves to the god of Materialism. They will lapse under the great feeling of anomie; they will continue to buy more and more. And when they have satisfied their urge, the cycle shall continue. Who is to say then, that humans are superior to animals for having a mind of their own?

Then again, I am guilty of thinking.
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RACHEL CHAN is a contributing writer for theCICAK.

Rachel is a premature old nag. She blogs about issues close to heart - especially the inefficiency of bureaucrats. She thinks jail is the best place to study for an exam. She is still trying to get there hopefully. Visit her site.