Rafiah on UUCA: too little, too late, too lacking in credibility

After Rais, Rafiah.

Malaysiakini runs an interesting interview with ousted UM VC Rafiah Salim. Highlights:

Elaborating on the political interferences in the university, the former vice chancellor said she was in “total agreement” that the government should amend the restrictive Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) to give more autonomy to campuses.

Rafiah, who pride herself for pushing academic excellence in UM during her stint, however appeared defensive when grilled on why she had not been vocal in pushing for more academic freedom in the country’s oldest university.

Questioned on why she had not made a similar call to amend the UUCA when she was the VC as her statement would have carried more weight then, she retorted:

“Can I undo the UUCA? No way-lah, a lot of weight? Come on, don’t joke. If the opposition and their bigwigs in Parliament can’t change the UUCA, I orang makan gaji (a wage earner), you think they want to listen to me?”

She also goes on to mutter some stuff about not having actually given Azmi Sharom a hard time for some things he had written.

It’s almost pitiful, watching people do U-turns like this.

I can accept that there are some compromises that can be justifiably made in order to achieve larger goals. It’s sometimes a fine line that everyone must draw for themselves.

For my money though, as far as universities are concerned, the UUCA is the larger goal. At some point, it becomes a matter of principle; all this makan gaji, oh I’m too small to change the world stuff is bullshit. Zaid Ibrahim (to mention him twice in one day :P ) realised and acted on this late, but at least he acted from a position of relative credibility.

I don’t think the same can be said for poor Rafiah. I sympathise with her dismissal, but a simple test: Would she have said these things if they had renewed her contract?

I also cannot help but quote some things she said on a very similar subject when she was in power from a blog post that seems to have aged decently:

Boos and catcalls greeted Datuk Rafiah Salim when she said public university students had the freedom to express their thoughts and ideas.

Several hundred dissenting voices rang out when the Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor, when taking a question from the floor, said there was “no such thing as students being unable to address their concerns”.

Hearing their disapproval, Rafiah retorted: “Behaviour like this is exactly what causes people not to respect you. You won’t even give me a hearing. And you won’t get respect.

“If you behave like that, nobody will listen to you because it is not worth listening. You are not respecting others.”

No such thing? Makes current criticism against the UUCA ring pretty hollow eh?

Nothing is so fundamental as to the functioning of a proper university as the freedom to ask questions and share opinions with a view to having them debated.

Yes, some people are bigots, some are prejudiced, some misguided. But they have a right to ask questions and share opinions too. If you believe in the strength of your ideas, let others express theirs and engage; defend your position openly in the battleground of truth.

There is no better place for this than the university. Without such freedoms, a ‘university’ becomes nothing more than a glorified primary school with a slightly bigger campus.

ps- on the subject of academics, see Kian Ming and (super researcher) Guan Sin on the subject of our Parliamentary Deputy Speaker’s academic credentials. Fun reading.