Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, in his commentary on the ongoing mediocrity of Malaysia's tertiary education system, made some interesting points, and even suggestions about why it is, well, mediocre.

An important point is that education in Malaysia after 1969 became so politicised that it was only a matter of time before it would succumb to the whims of Malaysia's mediocre politicians, particularly those who ruled throughout the NEP administrations and even after its apparent supplanting by the NDP - a transition that amounts to pure balderdash.

What is ironic, as Nik Nazmi suggests - though he could have been blunt about it since everybody knows this anyway - is the irony (some all to kindly call it a paradox) that suffuses education policy in Malaysia more generally.

On the one hand, the Umno-dominated regime refuses to allow students to become politicised, off campus or otherwise. On the other hand, this same regime - from Abdul Razak to Hussein Onn to Mahathir Mohamad to now Abdullah Badawi - has burdened it excruciatingly with the politics of race.

And with it came all the accouterments of racial discrimination and the embedding of ethnic polarisation of 'Malaysian society'.

So when Nik Nazmi asks: 'Where lies the way forward?', here's what he suggests - 'For example, we can have 70 percent reserved for those who excel in SPM or other equivalent qualifications, and the remaining 30 percent for those who qualify on the socio-economic strand. As socio-economic inequalities decrease, affirmative action should be more restricted'.

I agree with the idea of the first quota but I cringe about the second. Because unless Nik Nazmi has a crystal ball which he consults about the future, can he give Malaysians - especially non-Malay citizens - an iron-clad guarantee that social inequalities will over time decrease,
thereby making affirmative action more restrictive?

From all the data available on Malaysia's poverty, it seems clear that poverty has lessened but in real terms has increased since 1970 - that's since the NEP was implemented. Its task, among other things, was to reduce and eventually eradicate the scourge of poverty.

So what gives?

There are some good folks at Malaysian universities whom I know produce excellent research, especially on poverty and other social inequalities. But the regime ignores them. Instead, 90 percent of academics in Malaysian universities are what can be called 'loafers' who basically lack the academic credentials to keep their jobs.

Yet they're protected by the regime. These same fellows wield influence over university policies, which carry over to the next-to-useless Ministry of Higher Education.

So you get an education system which is only about as good and competent as its academics (and teachers) and, what's more, reflective of the competency of the ruling political elite. And that says a lot for Malaysia.

Not Malaysia boleh but mediocriti mesti.