PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub has stressed that academic achievements alone do not necessarily breed strong, principled and dynamic leaders.

"Studying hard and getting good results is not enough to become good leaders. To be good leaders, undergraduates must understand the needs and plights of the people," he told a forum at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia on Wednesday.

The forum titled "Malaysian Politics in the 21st Century: The Challenges and Hopes of the Youth" was organised by UKM's social science faculty.

"To be a good leader, a student must understand the heart beat of the people. Good leaders come from those who know the people and had fought for them. They have been with the masses and are respected and accepted by them."

He said for them to be more involved with the people and their needs, the Universities and University Colleges Act 1974 (UUCA) - which forbids students from participating in political or union activities - must be reviewed.

He said that the pre-UUCA days in the 60s and 70s - when students were free to criticise policies that had victimised and marginalised the people - had successfully bred the country's excellent leaders.

"Among them were former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former deputy prime ministers Musa Hitam and Anwar Ibrahim. These leaders were vocal and radical in their criticisms and they spoke out bravely on behalf of the marginalised and condemned injustices. That's how it should be."

Progressive amendments

Salahuddin pointed out that undergraduates should not be treated like kindergarten pupils while academicians should not be controlled like primary school teachers

He said he had time and again called upon the government to review the UUCA and introduce some progressive amendments in order to resurrect healthy student movements which would eventually benefit society and the people.

"If UUCA is allowed to continue with absolutely no progressive amendments, it will render the undergraduates helpless. They would then be unable to express views or read the political scene. In the end, such a situation would further constrain what little democracy that we have," he said.

The PAS leader said the excuse to free university students from political influence cannot be used as a reason for the government to impose the UUCA.

"We have to face the reality that we are now in the era of real politics. There are various opinions, views and ideals. At the end of the day, the students have decide which political party or ideals they want to subscribe to. It doesn't matter whether they chose to support Umno, Keadilan (PKR) of PAS," he said.

PKR vice president Mustafa Kamil Ayub said the current global political trend is advancing on the issue of democracy but the main debate is the implementation of a democratic system.

Level playing field

"In the context of Malaysia, it is more the question of the country's system on election and the media. I believe that our democratic space needs a lot of improvement through political practice and implementation.

"For the undergraduates to help improve the democratic space, they must be committed and willing to sacrifice like those in the 70s and 80s who were willing to speak out against injustices.

"Undergraduates must also have ideals. No matter what or who we support - be it justice, Islam Hadhari or Islamic state policy - we must hold on to certain principles and ideals," Mustafa said.

He also said that the lack of level playing field between the government and other political parties has narrowed the democratic width in the country.

"Democracy is by the people, of the people and by the people. However, that is not exactly what we see here. We should give more democratic space to all, including the students failing which democracy here (in Malaysia) will eventually mean "buy the people, off the people and force the people" "

"We don't ask for much. We do not want to oppose everything that the government does. We don't ask for reform like in Indonesia where heads are cut and houses are burnt down. We only ask for a little fairness to make way for a level playing field," Mustafa said.