DAP has lamented the continued media blackout of global university rankings, which have consistently placed Malaysian universities in poor positions.

The party's parliamentary leader, Lim Kit Siang, said the latest is the US News 500 Best Global University Ranking 2015, where only Universiti Malaya made into the list, at 423rd place.

"It confirms the lowly international academic position and repute not only of Malaysia’s premier university but also of other public universities in the country.

"This is the reason for the 'conspiracy of silence' in all the mainstream media in the past week, since the publication of the new ranking for universities in the world last Tuesday, as if the new world universities ranking does not exist," Lim said in a statement today.

Previously, Lim had also complained about a blackout on the Times Higher Education (THE) world university rankings, where no Malaysian university made into the top 400.

UM and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia had also opted out of the ranking, citing the lack of resources to compete with other global varsities.

In the latest ranking, Lim said, even though UM had a common beginning with the National University of Singapore, the latter managed to be ranked amog the top five universities in Asia.

"In Malaysia, there is total silence and a sense of shame about only one Malaysian university making into the new top 500 global universities ranking, and with such a lowly position, as well as being overtaken by more and more countries in terms of academic excellence and prestige," he said.

Lim added that it was tragic that Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the UM administrator were not challenged by these developments but were bent on punishing UM student leader Fahmi Zainol and his comrades.

Fahmi has been slapped with nine charges by UM for organising a talk for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim on campus last Monday. Seven other students are also facing action.