Monday, July 7, 2014

Limiting our Academic Freedom?

I'm not sure if you guys followed up know about the news regarding the retirement of Prof Redzuan from UM over a UMcedel survey which predicted that Pakatan Rakyat would win the popular vote in the 13th general election?

Tan Sri Professor Dr Ghauth Jasmon who previously served as a Vice Chancellor in UM recently revealed the constant harass by Putrajaya over the findings by the university's research centre, being reminded that they were not allowed to speak freely (an excerpt from Dr. Ghauth Jasmon's speech with the Malaysian Insider).

Another recent event during the YSEALI (Young Southeast Asian Leaders Conference) this year in April 2014, a few of us stood up to raise awareness of why TPPA should be renounced. Despite the silent and peaceful protest during the conference, we were recently called for questioning by the University as to justify the reason for our protest. The issue was that the YSEALI program was hosted by the University of Malaya, not being organised by them. After receiving the email, our team member wrote to the US Embassy which was directed to the White House. In a reply, they even encouraged us to continue speaking up freely, as long as no one would experience any physical injury or so on.


In the recent meeting with the university management, they mentioned that students should not bring campus issues out to the media. They also mentioned that if we disobeyed the AUKU law, they had every single right to suspend us from the institution itself.

I did not write this post today to give you any negative impression regarding the government or local institutions. In fact, all I would like to do is to question as to why academic freedom has now been robbed from the students? And if I may repeat, even now tutors are ripped from their right to teach the truth to students!

Education is meant to teach, and impart knowledge on which a student may later decide how to utilise their knowledge, may it be the right or wrong way. But as a teacher, how can you be restricted to only imparting one side of the story? In the end, the truth which is hidden will destroy the society later on.

Take for example, drugs and medication. If one is only educated the benefits of drugs and medicine, but never told about the effect of excessive dosage, wouldn't it lead to death as well?

As you can already see, in our previous high school education, our education system has been biased all these years. When we enter tertiary education and start reading up on world history, or other external journals online, we know that our education has been limited. For what?

As a future generation, students should be given the exposure to know the truth, to obtain a balanced view from both sides. When higher institutions start barring the truths all because of political links, it is the society who is at lost. It is the students that become shallow, and unexposed to the things happening around them. I do not mean to tie the media in, but I'm sure you guys pretty much can see the difference in news reported by both local newspapers and the non-local newspapers. The information received by the general public will then become biased due to the source.

Is that really how we want our country to be? As a fresh graduate, I believe in the power of education. I believe that in all stages of education, especially in tertiary institutions, students SHOULD NOT be denied access to a balanced education. Lecturers or teachers shouldn't be restricted to delivering these facts and knowledges to students.

After all, it wouldn't be a good reputation for our country if our future generation grows up away from the light of truth. This would only make them all seem like innocent liars, unknowingly, when they come face to face to the learned ones.



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