The recent THES (Times Higher Education Supplement) ranking of the top universities only serves to forcefully emphasise the sorry state of the so called 'premier' university in our country.

Even more apologetic was the defensive reaction of the vice-chancellor concerned and the Higher Education Ministry. Particularly sorry was the full-page explanation given by the Universiti Malaya in the newspapers.

It basically stated that since there were other universities that were either worse of than UM or were not included in the list, the fall in ranking of UM should be countenanced.

In an international survey such as the one carried out by THES, the evaluative criteria are known to the participating universities, and it is also implicit that the universities have accepted the criteria as they are expected to provide some of the relevant data.

It would have been more mature and becoming if those concerned in this debacle accepted the truth that standards have fallen drastically in local universities and give a firm commitment that they would take proactive measures to improve their international standing.

The enormity of the fall in ranking is more stark when we note that our Asian counterparts such as Singapore, Japan, India and Hong Kong are ranked within the top 50 universities. In fact two Singaporeans institutions, the National University of Singapore (22nd ) and the Nanyang Technological University (48th) are among the top universities.

We must remember that the University of Singapore and the Universiti Malaya had the same beginnings and in fact were a single entity at one time. It is clear that after separation, Singapore had pursued sound governance and meritocracy unrelentingly which has taken it to where it is now, while UM is steadily and speedily regressing.

The time has come for UM to take a serious look at its poor performance and badly-instituted policies and rectify them immediately if it wants to be world class instead of making lame excuses.