COMMENT | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recently came to my university to talk about the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA), students, academic freedom and the future of Malaysian universities. It was difficult not to think about what had happened at Universiti Malaya (UM) before.

In 2014, when Anwar was opposition leader, UM tried to stop a student-organised event featuring him by closing the university gates, only for students to push through anyway, after which disciplinary action was taken against those involved.

Two days ago, he returned not as the politician kept outside, but as prime minister, sitting in Dewan Tunku Canselor discussing how universities should become freer, moderating a forum with Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and Academy of Sciences Malaysia president Tengku Azzman Shariffadeen.

Anwar knows what political restriction looks like from the other side of the gate.

He also knows...