The Sound of Music from Academician

Dr Azmi Sharom is an associate professor of the Law Faculty of Universiti Malaya. He decides to write an open letter to the new Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed.

I admired his style of writing and various salient points of which I would like to highlight.

Abstract passage:

"You see, there is much that is wrong with our universities and much that can be done by the Ministry to put things right. You may not believe that my one purpose in writing to you is the improvement of our institutions, but let me assure you, we true academics (as opposed to wannabe politicians in lecturers’ clothes) don’t have hidden agendas. Over the past few years, there has been this mantra chanted by the Government and university leaders: “We want our universities to be world-class universities.” Unfortunately, this mantra does not have any explanatory notes, so we don’t really know what “world-class” means. However, let us assume that a world-class university has the following:

Graduates who are employable, not only here but also abroad;
Academic staff who are respected worldwide;
Research and publications that are recognised by reputable international journals/publishers;
An academic programme that is recognised worldwide;
An academic atmosphere that can attract quality national and foreign students and staff.
If we accept these criteria as valid, what then can be done to achieve it?


Universities are not hampers

Universities are not rewards to be handed out. It has happened in Terengganu and the same has been promised to Kelantan. “Vote for us and we will give you a university.” This may make political sense, but it does not make any academic sense. A lot of planning is needed to ensure that the resources are sufficient to create a university of quality. Malaysia is not a very rich country – we can’t afford petrol subsidies, for goodness’ sake – and we definitely can’t afford to stretch our limited economic and intellectual resources to build universities in such a blasé manner.

Universities are not fast-food joints

They should instead be high-class restaurants. Universities have to be elitist in order to produce quality research and graduates. An elitist university means that only the best candidates are taken in as students and only the best staff are hired. Classes and exams can then be pitched at a higher standard. Furthermore, the resulting smaller student numbers mean seminars and tutorials can be truly conducive to discussions, and lecturers will have less of a teaching burden in order to concentrate on research. This is not to say that higher education as a whole must be elitist. There are other forms of higher education institutions that can cater to school leavers who don’t make the cut, such as polytechnics and community colleges. If you love your universities, you must set them free. Academics and students must be free to think and to express themselves. Yes, I understand that this is Malaysia and freedom is seen as a dirty word by some, but without it, there is little hope of achieving “world-class” universities. Intellectualism cannot grow in a repressive atmosphere. We all know that in this country, there are many laws that restrict our freedom to express ourselves, but the irony is that for lecturers and students there are additional laws levelled at them. You must be aware of the University and University Colleges Act – that wonderful piece of legislation designed to ensure that university students are little more than secondary school pupils. You may not be aware, however, of the Statutory Bodies Discipline and Surcharge Act which affects academics who are the employees of statutory bodies. According to this law, we can’t say anything for or against government policy without getting ministerial permission first. Now, this may be all right for a mathematician quietly thinking up new formulae with which to calculate the possibility of Malaysia ever qualifying for the World Cup. But for social scientists, it is akin to having the Malaysian football team play football without using their feet (which is perhaps something that they do anyway, looking at previous results). The simple fact of the matter is that universities should first and foremost be the birthplace of ideas and original thought, discussion and debate, and this can’t be achieved with such laws hung around our necks. And in case you’re worried that greater freedom will make our campuses hotbeds of radicalism, please let me put your fears to rest. The number of students in this day and age who really care about matters beyond Akademi Fantasia is very small indeed. Most students just want to graduate and as quickly as possible get into debt to pay for their three-bedroom flat and Proton Waja.

Universities need Mandelas

If there is one thing that Malaysian universities need, it is good leadership. And by a good leader, I mean a Vice-Chancellor who has the qualities of an outstanding intellectual, manager and diplomat, who can ensure that academic principles are paramount, not political expediency. That promotions are given based on merit, not patronage. That students are treated like adults, not children. And finally, that the university is run on the highest ideals of civilisation and intellectualism, not self-aggrandisement and base toadying. An outstanding academic leader, someone who can efficiently organise the place, represent the institution with dignity and command the respect of those working under him, or her, is a rare creature indeed. To seek out such a person, may I suggest that the search committee your predecessor was talking about be made a reality. This search committee, however, must be independent and transparent. It must not be hindered by any political agenda and must instead pick the candidates based on ability – and ability alone. Factors such as race, creed, gender and nationality should not be a consideration. Perhaps we’d like to take lessons from elsewhere. Oh, before you think I’m suggesting a “study trip” abroad (with the usual sightseeing and cultural diversions), let me make it clear that I think the taxpayers’ money need not be wasted in such a fashion. After all, writing an e-mail is probably all you need to do to get the necessary information. You may wish to start with New Zealand universities. I say New Zealand because the VC of Auckland University was recently poached by Oxford to be its Vice-Chancellor. The first non-English VC of Oxford since, well, since forever. Now, that’s world-class, don’t you think? And from a country much smaller than us where the sheep outnumber the humans. Amazing.Well then, Sir, I think I’d best sign off now. You must have loads to do. Oh, before I forget, if you want to lighten the workload of your officers, may I make a last suggestion? Why don’t you just leave the day-to-day running of the universities in the hands of the universities? I bet the Ministry has enough on its plate without having to decide about trivial things like professorial promotions and the approving of leave for academics to go to conferences and holidays overseas. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my letter. Good luck with your endeavours. Until next time, I remain,

Yours sincerely, AZMI SHAROM


Great erudition Dr Azmi! Bravo and Cheerio, sir!

However, you failed to address various critical and key issues. Firstly, you failed to address the selection of student process for entry and allocation of students to various courses. Remember, in those old days, students are selected to each courses based on their results. Now, it is far wide discretionary and dictated.

Secondly, Dr Azmi, did you know that most lecturers are multi-level marketeers and they are seeking the students to support their part-time business. Those who buy their products are given "special marks" that motivates the results of their assignment and examination.

Thirdly, you did not address the quality of teaching of the lecturers. For example, Maths and Science are supposed to be taught in English; yet they are still taught in Bahasa Malaysia and many of the lecturers could only speak Manglish.

Fourthly, you did not highlight how the public universities award professorship and associate professorship to their lecturers. It is known that these award do not commensurate with the international standards whereby, the various criterias such as research publications, contributions to academic excellence and doctoral thesis. Largely, it was awarded based on years of service to the universities and ranks.

Last, but not the least, even the liabraries of public universities are outdated and lacks quality books. There is no "Pusat Sumber" (Knowledge Center) where students could be able to access international research centers and thesis by others. There is lack of academic support network and databases. Academic supervisors lacks passion when attending to the thesis submitted by students. There is also lack of communal and industrial support and pledges. Without the funds from gaint industry players, there would not be sufficient funds for research and expenditures. Worst off, researches are not published for the public to view.

We hope you can expand your views, without fear or favour. We also hope that you are not the only professor who dare to speak out openly. Let's take your letter as a beginning. The others should voice theirs too.