I would like to thank MIED and Yayasan Strategik Sosial for taking the effort to host a special dialogue with all Malaysian students from Crimea State Medical University (CSMU) on August 4 from 9am till 11.30am at the PWTC in Kuala Lumpur.

The session was attended by about 700 students from all communities. The meeting was chaired by YSS Executive Director Dr Denison Jayasooria and was attended by MIC leaders including party president S.Samy Vellu.

Unfortunately Dr Mohd Ismail Merican, chairman of the Malaysian Medical Council who was invited was not present, creating a lot of suspicion about the true intentions of MMC in de-recognising CSMU. It was also unfortunate that we did not have any representatives from CSMU or from the Ukrainian Embassy.

Some very critical issues were discussed. Students who were present raised several issues regarding medical education at CSMU and the de-recognition problem.

An issue that kept cropping up was the role of agents in CSMU. The discussion revealed that the agents played a very, very pervasive role influencing such things as admission, grades, air travel, lodging and even had a hand in food business.

Unfortunately, Samy Vellu seemed to be dismissive about this issue of the agents and their role, suggesting that he is not interested in addressing it. However, the persistence of students forced him to agree to take up the matter with the Ukranian Embassy and the administration of CSMU. Whether this very important aspect of the CSMU controversy is addressed or not is left to be seen as powerful interests are at work.

He also seemed to be ill-informed about the difficulty parents and students face in trying to enroll at CSMU without going through the agents. In this context, neither the government nor the university administration seems to be a help for both the parents and students.

Another important issue raised was discrimination against CSMU graduates. There was a medical graduate from CSMU working in one of the government hospitals in Klang Valley who shared his experience.

According to him, there was no discrimination at his place of work. In fact, graduates from local universities came up to him for assistance. However, Samy Vellu suggested that this is not the case at other hospitals where he has heard of discrimination against CSMU graduates.

Ill-informed senior doctors are unfairly suspicious of the competency of CSMU graduates. This is a serious matter for those presently undergoing medical education at CSMU. Certainly this calls for the education of senior doctors in government hospitals in order for them understand the quality of education and the nature of training at CSMU.

They must be categorically discouraged from discriminating and offer a more supportive role for young doctors desiring to serve patients. I hope YSS and other social bodies address this issue seriously.

Not only has the MMC created a problem by de-recognising this university without proper procedures, they have also unfairly created a situation in Malaysian government hospitals where CSMU graduates are discriminated against.

One more area of concern was the issue of security at CSMU. Malaysian media had reported incidence of crime including rape at the campus. Representatives of the CSMU student union informed the gathering that no such incident was reported to the council, the university administration or the local police.

We wonder where the local press got their information from to make such a claim which has damaged the image of CSMU.

I hope that some of the critical issues raised by students at the meeting are taken up by YSS, MIC, CSMU, the Ukrainian Embassy and other organisations that value fairness. I also hope that the government will release an official and authentic letter to all the Malaysian students who are studying at CSMU now, certifying the recognition of their medical degrees.