Why are we so caught up with the low ranking of Universiti Malaya by the Times Higher Education Supplement (Thes)? Why worry about global ranking? Where would UM stand in the ranking of regional tertiary institutions including private institutions such as MMU, Monash, TAR University, etc? UM might be in for a surprise if such an exercise was carried out.

UM can become a top university once again as it was in the 60s and 70s. In addition to good facilities (which UM has plenty of), this would require a dynamic and capable university administration, good faculty members and with English as a (if not the) key medium of instruction.

For all this to happen, the NEP (or NDP as it is now called) would have to be sacrificed. Is the government prepared to do this? The recruitment of a significant number (certainly far more than the current number) of capable non-bumiputeras as administrators, faculty members would be required.

There is abundant talent and capability in the Malaysian population which remains to be tapped in the interest of Malaysian public universities. It would be imprudent to ignore such a large pool of resources when one wants to achieve excellence.

Putting it another way, it is in the interest of the Malaysian public universities (and their large Malay student population) to engage the non-bumiputra talent and exploit their capabilities in all aspects and dimensions.

The non-bumis would also benefit from such an exercise, but the far greater beneficiary would be the bumi students and Malaysia as a whole. It is simple logic.