I refer to the malaysiakini report Students cry foul over direct sales workshop .

UM's faculty of arts and social science deputy dean Prof Siti Rohaini Kassim claims that it is all a misunderstanding. She claims that the university did not have a special course in entrepreneurship skills and that it had to choose an industry to train the students in. In this case, it was insurance and they chose presumably Arab Malaysian Insurance and a product call AmCash.

The aim of Prof Siti Rohani Kassim was to ensure that the students are marketable when they graduate, perhaps this is not a bad way to train these students. The good professor choose to give it some legitimacy by using such stylish phrases like 'to hone the entrepreneurship skills of the students'.

The truth of the matter is the university is training its students to be future insurance salesmen or saleswomen, and there is nothing wrong with that. You also do not need a university degree for that.

The more pressing question is who or what is Aznita Management (M) Sdn Bhd? Who are the people running this management company? What are their qualifications as trainers for UM to select them to train their students? Reading the reports of the students, it appears that this management company or its personnel may perhaps be insurance agents for Arab Malaysian Insurance.

I understand from a Bank Negara ruling that only registered agents can sell insurance products. Are the students registered agents of this insurance company? Assuming the students are not registered agents, are they not engaging in something that is illegal given their status as students?

Assuming a hardworking student is able to clinch a sale, does he or she get a commission or does it go into the account of their supervisor or Aznita Management (M) Sdn Bhd?

The students' complaint appears to have some substance. But instead of petitioning the university authorities (which I feel will be a waste of time), they should lodge a complaint with Bank Negara instead.