After reading the news on Soh Sook Hwa, it would seem that student freedom suffered a terrible defeat. But actually, it is the other way round. It is University Sains Malaysia and the University and University Colleges Acts (UUCA) which have suffered a huge setback.

First if all, Soh did a fabulous job in exposing her case to Malaysian and international civil society.

Suhakam defended her and urged the government to review the UUCA. At the international level, there was tremendous pressure from overseas students and student groups.

The Asian Students Association (ASA) that has network around Asian universities protested strongly . This unusually high-level of pressure caused the USM vice-chancellor great pain. Soh and the USM student team scored the first goal here.

After Soh attended the hearing, the university authority postponed their verdict to a week later. This has rarely happened before. Probably the university wanted a cooling-off period on this hot issue. Or maybe because the government was in a fix as it found it difficult to defend the university authority's unusually harsh persecution of the students. Students score their second goal.

Thirdly, USM fine of not more than RM200 on Soh when it could have expelled her. This is actually a 'face-saving' exercise by USM. Soh can now continue to walk freely about campus and tour other universities both in Malaysia and internationally to talk about her experience.

Soh and the USM students walk away with a resounding 3-0 victory.

All in all, this is another milestone for the student rights movement. It is not about campaigning for Barisan Nasional or the opposition. It is about human rights and freedom of expression. If in future, if a BN student supporter is hauled up by a university authority, similar support should also be given to him or her. After all, 'freedom is not god-given, it must be fought for'.

Meanwhile, more student issues surface such as the 17 student reps being dismissed by UTM. Imagine your member of parliament being elected and then later disqualified. The wisdom of thousands of student voters has been undermined.

But for now, long live the student movement!