vox populi small thumbnail 'His Herculean task is to clean out the proverbial Aegean stables. He has as much hope of succeeding as a snowflake in hell.'

Vice-chancellor: UM crisis report not correct

Abasir: Universiti Malaya (UM) was once a great university, comparable to any in the region. The rot started in the mid-70s when Dr Mahathir Mohamad decided that it should be another pawn in his political games.

The UUCA (Universities and University Colleges Act) was put in place, ostensibly to ensure students study (and not indulge in anti-Mahathir politics). At around the same time, the institutional 'rape' started in earnest with various salivating bodies like PBMUM, PMIM, Abim and a host of other 'language societies' jumping over each other for their share of the 'action'.

The language of instruction and the curricula were the early and most obvious casualties, followed by the quiet but systematic purging of the very talent that had given the place its stature.

We know the results, it's there for all to see - in the faculties, the seminar rooms and the hordes of unemployable, inarticulate graduates emerging from them.

UM vice-chancellor Ghauth Jasmon's Herculean task is to clean out the proverbial Aegean stables. He has as much hope of succeeding as a snowflake in hell.

Cala: The task entrusted upon Ghauth is not easy. Out of a sudden, UM wakes up from slumber and decides to do a catch-up game on its university ranking.

But the culture in UM has been slow-paced, lacking focus, and tolerating mediocrity. To force academic staff to suddenly running at 120 km/hr when they are at home at 60 km/hr is a tall order.

As a learned person, Ghauth should be aware of the perils that are associated with any institutional change. He can make a rule that says from now on every academic staff must publish, say, three ISI articles per year, but to comply with the new rule is not easy given the kind of culture it is embedded in the system.

Remember one of those outbursts from Mahathir? If the appointment of academic staff has been based on meritocracy, at least 50 percent of them would have been disqualified. There is nothing wrong with Ghauth, only the pace of change.

Borg Kinaulu: I wonder where all these academic staff who resigned have gone to? Harvard? Oxford? NUS? Greener pastures? Institutes that provide an academic environment more conducive to learning and research? Or simply places where titles, positions and money are awarded without merit?

Sadly, I suspect UM will be another case proving that those in leadership lack the political will to allow reform.

MC: I am afraid the VC of UM has a near impossible task. Many academics in Malaysia have become so unethical that they will never change. Also, they cannot change because they are not good enough. They will take the easy way out.

As a graduate student at one of the local universities, I had to do my professor's research and write his report. He did not even acknowledge me. He also insisted that I must put his name in any paper that I wrote from my thesis even though the ideas and the work was mine.

I also have lecturers who were teaching nonsense and when some of us pointed out to them, we were blacklisted. Some can't even speak proper English. This is only the tip of the iceberg. The worst thing is the Ministry of Higher Education is just as corrupted and unethical by promoting these people.

I am afraid the present VC of UM will be booted out soon. I will never put my children in any local university if I can help it.

Horngyih: I am not entirely against the new policy, academics should aim to get themselves published in journals or publications of repute - this certainly would raise the universities standing as it is only as good as its staff.

However, this should not be its only effort in raising the universities standing or 'perceived' standing. Universities is responsible for raising its academic standing in contemporary technologies and knowledge, but it should also be an institution that prepares its graduates for better service of the country, thus raising the country's overall standing.

Take an objective look at quality of our graduates, how many of them are equipped to face the proverbial 'real' world. Are they equipped with the attitudes and mindset to excel in their chosen fields of study, or even other fields?

Abu Hassan retains Kota Siputeh seat, court rules

Gerard Samuel Vijayan: What a perverse decision by the Court Of Appeal. Article 51 of the Kedah constitution is as clear as day.

A member of the legislative assembly is deemed to have vacated his seat if he is absent from two consecutive meetings without the permission of the speaker. A session of the legislative assembly is usually for 12 months - that is from the date of the convening to the date of prorogation.

A session is divided into meetings, usually for the duration of a few days to at least a week and a sitting means the day-to-day sitting of the House during a meeting in the course of a session of the legislative assembly.

From the evidence, this BN state assemblyman was absent from two meetings of the legislative assembly consecutively - the April 2009 meeting and the August 2009 meeting. In between these two meetings, the legislative assembly had adjourned sine die.

Since he did not have the permission of the speaker to be absent, his seat is deemed vacant, simple.

Kit P: The new Malaysian constitution - the EC and courts can and will override the decision of the speaker in Pakatan Rakyat-majority states with regard to declaration of vacancy of BN or BN-friendly seats.

However, in the Dewan Rakyat and other BN-controlled states, the decision of the speaker shall be final, and the court will decline to interfere.

That's pretty much what I see from the relevant Malaysian court decisions over the past two years.

 

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