Resigned University Malaya (UM) academic Dr Edmund Terrence Gomez will share his experiences in the university over the last two decades and speak on the crisis plaguing higher education here at a discussion next Saturday.

The discussion entitled ' Problems in UM: What they reflect about the state of our universities ' will be held at the Strategic Information Research and Development (SIRD) in Petaling Jaya.

The event, which will also double as a farewell dinner for the economics associate professor, is being organised by his friends.

"This party is to bid Terence (Gomez) farewell and consolidate our best wishes on his journey ahead," said organiser Chong Ton Sin in a statement.

'Old friends'

Contacted later, Chong said the party is an 'old friends' gathering before Gomez leaves to join the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) in Geneva.

"We would like Gomez to speak about his teaching experience and may be also his comments on today's university students and the role of an academic," he added.

Gomez resigned from UM after he was denied a two-year leave of secondment to take up the research appointment with UNRISD to pioneer a global research on racial conflict.

His wife, Dr Sharmani Patricia Gabriel, who lectures English at UM was also denied a two-year unpaid leave to join her husband in Geneva.

The university stated that she had sent her request via e-mail and did not make a formal application .