Just as humanism is baffled by the deliberate will to evil, so is a well-honed sensibility puzzled by the ridiculous and the weird.

 

MP for Wangsa Maju Dr Tan Kee Kwong, who studied medicine at the Universiti Malaya in the 1960s, was constrained to remind his alma mater of its more urbane days when he learned yesterday of the nine charges being preferred against UM student leader Fahmi Zainol.

 

"Given the nature of the nine charges they have preferred against Fahmi, the university leadership has become the object of ridicule," said Tan, who is now chairperson of the membership panel of PKR.

 

Fahmi is president of the Persatuan Mahasiswa Universiti Malaya (PMUM) who has been slapped by the authorities with nine charges for defying them over an invitation to PKR adviser Anwar Ibrahim to address students on the campus last Monday.

 

UM authorities warned PMUM not to go ahead with the event and barred students from attending but the gathering took place despite the bans.

 

Yesterday, Fahmi and eight other student leaders were notified of the charges against them but the former is the only one being slapped with nine counts of defiance, including one that faults him for using a megaphone.

 

"This is ridiculous and the height of petty-mindedness," offered Tan, when commenting on the charges against Fahmi.  

 

"I'm reminded of the 60s when I was in the university. All sorts of politicians were invited to speak on the issues of the day," Tan (left) recalled.

 

"UM was known for its openness to conflicting views and presentations. Debate and exchanges were regarded as healthy and no one was made to suffer for organising and attending the functions or events," said the medical graduate.

 

Syed Husin also barred

 

Tan said he was startled to discover "the other day that my PKR colleague, Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali ( right ), has been barred from speaking at UM where he had been dean of a faculty."

 

"If this is not ridiculous I don't know what is!" exclaimed Tan, son of the legendary 'Mr Opposition', Dr Tan Chee Koon, who in the 1960s and in following was Malaysia's leading oppositionist.

 

"The past few days I have been sitting at the Federal Court listening to the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy appeal and the sense of ridiculousness just kept creeping up on me," offered Tan.

"Now to hear that the UM student leader is being hauled up on charges that would have been laughed to scorn in the 60s is just too much.

 

"There are so many issues such as the difficult economic situation in the country, the threat of extremism and the poor condition of inter-ethnic relations that demand our urgent attention and here we have a situation where a student leader is charged for possessing a megaphone - this farce must end and end quickly," asserted the appalled parliamentarian.