COMMENT | We, the Malaysian Academic Movement (Gerak) condemn the criminalising and “policing” of academic opinions.

The recent opening of a police investigation file on Professor Emeritus Teo Kok Seong is an affront to academic freedom. It is also an insult to intellectual discourse and critical and independent thinking in the country.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has on numerous occasions called on schools and universities to encourage critical thinking. He has mentioned in several public statements that critical thinking is necessary to curb extremism.

In a 2023 speech, for example, Anwar rationalised that when people fail to reason and be intellectually critical, extremists and intolerant elements fester in society. Such elements create ethnic and religious divisions, which would ultimately destroy any hope for patriotism and ethno-religious cohesion.

Teo’s comments about the existence of vernacular schools, the growing ethnic divisions in our society, and his opinion that the former perpetuates the latter are his opinions.