The abandoned piece of land behind Universiti Malaya' s library, on which was sited the speakers' corner for undergraduates to speak their mind, unintentionally stands as a powerful symbol of the nation's intellectual wasteland in its institutions of higher learning.

It was a platform where all shades of opinions were allowed flourish freely.

That is until the Universities and University Colleges Act 1975 pinched young minds and tied them up into knots, preventing their blossoming.

That law also brutally raped the autonomy of the hallowed campus grounds, long taken for granted as in an inalienable right. Autonomy meant that the sanctity of the university could not be violated at will by the government.

The vice-chancellor's permission was necessary for government officers like the police, on official duty to enter the campus.

The authors of that piece of legislation had no idea of the far reaching repercussions of their action. The only reason for the heavy handedness was to ensure that Umno continued to squat atop the totem pole. The party had come under heavy criticism by Malay undergraduates for various ills perceived as afflicting the community.

Since it gave the solid illusion of serving the government purpose well, the law continues to exist, in effect turning institutions of higher learning into glorified secondary schools.

Of course, children of the elite have no problem with the situation as they have access to the best universities in the world.

But now with the advent of knowledge or K-economy, the government is feeling the full impact of the negative law with a lot of handwringing about the lack of knowledge workers for successfully plugging into the digital economy .

Before the axe fell, speakers' corner was part of the vibrant life of the MU (as it was popularly referred to those days. The currently in use abbreviation of UM came much later).

They discussed matters of national and international import and campus affairs at various place including the canteen and at a row of warong , just outside the varsity's gates in Jalan Pantai Baru. It was obvious that most of the students had plunged wholeheartedly into their new and exciting and mentally stimulating adventure.

A totally new environment from that of school, especially in the freedom given to thought. Just the sort of brew of experiences they needed to sup from to prepare themselves for the hard reality of the outside world.

The students also had the benefit of outsiders, including politicians, giving talks or participating in debates on a regular basis.

Great theatre

Since I had quite a few school and classmates studying there, I had the passport to enter the campus as a reporter where I vicariously enjoyed a student's life while writing about the goings on there for the newspaper I worked for in the late 60s.

I can still summon an incident at one of the political talks organised there because its unexpected turn took my breath away.

The participants were drawn from the Alliance, the predecessor to the Barisan Nasional (BN), and the DAP. I don't think PAS, which was then known as the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party was represented at the event.

The DAP man was its then secretary-general Goh Hock Guan, a town and country planner who has long since given up on politics.

It was obvious that the students were lapping up the attack on the government of the day launched by Goh.

When the Alliance representative, Umno's Musa Hitam (photo) stood up, a flood of boos washed over him. I can still see vividly in my mind 's eye Musa with a amused smile playing on his face, waiting for the noise to subside. He showed no sign of anger. None of being upset whatsover. It seem as though he was prepared for such a reception but his response looked totally unrehearsed.

It didn't take long before his calm demeanour began to make the students look silly and the lecture theatre fell silent.

"There you are. You talk about freedom of speech and you won't allow me to open my mouth." There was a roar and the whole crowd was up as one to give him a standing ovation. And I was filled with delight at such a neat turning of the tables. It was truly great theatre.

At that moment this thought ran through my mind: "That is a future prime minister." That view I shared with my colleagues back at the office. I had not known anything about Musa except that he had once been a student leader.

I had always wanted to write about this incident but never really had the peg to hang the story on until the present VC of UM Prof Anuar Zaini Mohd Zain revealed his plans to revive the speakers' corner but with modifications.

Malay rights debate

On Page 2 of the same paper, where I first read the news on Oct 11, Umno secretary-general Khalil Yaakob was quoted as saying that he expects the debate on Malay rights and issues between the youth wing of Umno and PAS would be conducted in a calm and orderly manner.

He was also confident that PAS supporters will not interrupt the proceedings. In an oblique way he was referring to last year's debate at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia when Umno Youth exco member Zein Ismail was barracked every time he stood to speak reportedly by PAS supporters.

Umno is also mulling a plan to house the debaters Umno Youth leader Hishammuddin Hussein and his PAS counterpart Mahfuz Omar in chambers separate from the audience to protect the speakers from unruly members of the audience and spirited members of the party.

What a far cry from the time of the Musa drama. An unwitting admission that politicians no longer have the wit or ability to turn a hostile crowd. The ability to remain unperturbed under fire.

The Universities and University Colleges Act has proven to be a slow-acting poison for the flower of the nation's youth, suppressing independent thought.

A striking example of the workings of the poison was TV3's "Intellectual Dialogue With..." programme broadcast sometime in the last decade.

In that chat show, our intellectuals were pitted against foreigners in discourses based on Islam. The only way to describe the performance of our lot is excruciatingly painful embarrassment. These so-called intellectuals had a sicky sheepish smile pasted on their faces as their foreign counterparts, including mat sallehs , ran rings around them.

I cringed and died every time our locals tried to sneak in a word or two of government propaganda only to be promptly squashed. The foreigners touched on the most sensitive of local issues with impunity while our intellectual squirmed in their seats in discomfort.

The only person I saw matching them with confident fluency was Dr Chandra Muzaffar (photo). One could see his mental solidity as he took them on, unfazed by the weight of whatever credentials they brought with them.

Priceless resource

Perhaps a combination of events, aside from the outcome of the last general election, has brought home to the government the value of tapping the country's rich human potential, the priceless resource of any nation.

This could be a reason for the planned revival of speaker's corner. Or a ploy to finally wrest back the influence lost to PAS in institutes of higher learning.

The suspicion is there because though Anuar declared the ultimate aim is to "rekindle our pulsating past", he placed several conditions, being the students can only talk on topics agreed upon by the varsity's authorities.

Politics is still forbidden territory for the young people there. "At least for the time being" as Anuar said. That phrase gives a glimmer of hope that eventually the prohibition on politics may be lifted. Particularly at a time when Umno is debating lowering its membership age to 18.

Coupled with that is the fact that the students once home the students can gain access to any shade of political opinion through the Net and can find alternative news to the ones they are bombarded with daily news skewed towards the government from the mainstream mass media. They can also get into no-holds barred battles over sensitive issues in local chat rooms.

So control of information has been rendered worse than senseless.

The daily news reports on politics already show the government retreating from previous held positions. They appear now to be bending backwards to please the public, except of course their nemesis - PAS.

Ah, the marvels of democracy. A heavy blow to the solar plexus in the last polls and suddenly the people count. Who knows before too long we may be allowed to think.

K SUGU began his journalistic career in 1964 and has worked in the New Straits Times, The Star and The Sun. He became a Buddhist monk in 1981 and had his first taste of press freedom when he worked in Bangkok for The Nation. He is now retired and spends his time writing and trying to get a handle on the fleeting nature of life.