That the suspicion, on what caused the Dewan Tunku Chancellor fire, is centred on arson says it all. Universiti Malaya is not the University of Malaya. The latter 'died' 30 years ago. The 'Great Hall' (as people of my generation prefer to call the Dewan) being reduced to rubble was just the final nail in the coffin.

When you compromise standards and varsity autonomy for political expediency, the raison d'etre for the existence of an institution of higher learning is surely destroyed. That is, as a place where the qualified (elitist as it may sound) can engage in intellectual pursuit in a myriad of disciplines and at the same time mature into persons imbued with social and moral values relevant (in the context of this comment piece) to multi-racial Malaysians.

Also as a place, where the environment is such, that all in the institution's community are not regulated on how they should think and act on all academic issues and social, economic and political ones too, the latter cases of course within the limits permitted by law.

But no, they choose to admit all and sundry into the grounds, quoting the necessity to correct imbalances with affirmative action. In the end, when results are less than desired, they blame it on those enrolled spending more time pursing activities so distanced from academia. Don't they know that you reap what you sow?

And, as if lowering of academic standards was not enough, there had to be enacted a law that effectively dictates how you should live your life in campus. Things became so restrictive; giving expression to qualities and skills, so essential to living in the real world was severely curtailed.

The powers that be, external to the U of course, decide what the U should be like. The U's establishment in turn gave approval for campus activities only if they approximate what they have been told is permissible.

Unlike in the UM of old, where the students proposed and chose, and the U's establishment and faculty advised and supported the activities. In this can be found the reason for all the 'unhealthy' activities being complained off.

When you cannot do things openly with approval, you go underground and in the dark caverns, its difficult to see what is right.

The regrets and sadness expressed over the Dewan being no more, then, should not affect those of us from the University of Malaya. It symbolises something else. Not our alma mater where the best times of our life was spent and to which we owe what we are today.