I refer to Leong Mun Yi's letter LAN subjects hastening brain drain .

If there's one thing all undergraduates can agree on, it's that they are overworked; any additional coursework is by very definition a bad thing! I can understand Leong's assertion that for some students, the compulsory LAN subjects are an added burden, but I must completely disagree with his/her stand that LAN subjects be made elective as doing so would push the subjects to the fringes where it would necessarily be made more academic.

I see the LAN subjects playing a more important role than mere academics - if done properly, they can provide a sorely needed forum for discussion of important topics amongst young people. I base this hypothesis on my own personal experience with the LAN subjects some years ago, which I wish to share with all your readers.

I think it's important to note that - at least at the time when I did it - there was a very loose leash when it came to the curriculum and implementation of the class components, in particular the ethics component. I have somewhat fond memories of the classes: students actively discussed issues across a wide range of topics, including gender inequality, Aids, the marginalisation of East Malaysians and the Orang Asli communities. On one foolhardy afternoon, we even delved into the topic of whether or not Malaysia should develop nuclear weapons.

By far, my personal favourite topic was when the class lecturer - who was clearly quite a religious woman - raised the issue of pre-marital sex with the thinly-veiled hope of convincing us all that it was bad. Nice try, but in the end I think we had convinced her that it wasn't really that bad!

Even the religious topics were handled in a manner that was refreshing. The class teacher - a Christian - played a video on Christianity for the class and there was no need to get Jais involved. She invited anyone who had similar videos on any other religion to bring them in for the class to see. More importantly, the tact of the presentation was one of fostering understanding and, at least to me, there were no vibes of prosyletising.

However, the most interesting discussion occurred during the week when Islam was the religion under study. During the Q&A session after the presentation was made, two students adopted a hardline stance and argued that Islam was a militaristic religion based on its history. What ensued was a spirited discussion on the topic where the majority of the class (Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, free-thinkers, etc) very clearly did not share this viewpoint - not out of fear, but rather out of reason. Fear would have just kept us all silent - 'tak mau campur tangan'.

It was because of reason that we countered their arguments by presenting alternative interpretations of historical facts. In the end, nobody got visibly upset, no religious authorities got involved, we all just practised our debating skills a little and engaged in a thoughtful discussion on a religion that happens to be our country's official religion.

The pure history component wasn't too bad either. I appreciated the opportunity to rehash topics like colonial rule and the communist insurgency in an environment where my primary objective was not to absorb material for the sole purpose of examination regurgitation.

The best thing to come out of these classes was this - my peers and I then had something else to talk about besides English Premier League highlights. We are a society that places a premium on the notion of 'toleransi' and by and large we equate that notion with the principle of 'don't play with fire' ie, don't talk about controversial issues for fear of upsetting someone.

But those LAN classes provided a controlled, safe, semi-formal forum for getting touchy subjects out into the open, effectively breaking the ice, and therein lies their immense potential.

It wouldn't surprise me to learn that my experience is a rare exception and that in most cases the LAN subjects are run like an extended highschool programme. What made it all possible was our teacher, who very clearly enjoyed the discussions and was willing to push the envelope a little; I think few teachers would have allowed an open discussion on 'militaristic Islam'.

Provided there is still a very loose leash on the manner the LAN classes are conducted, I think the courses would do far more good than harm, especially as a loose leash would encourage more high calibre individuals to step forth and take on the responsibility of guiding these classes. However, as they say, the devil is in the details.