There is no truth in the allegations of mark tampering, favouritism in academic promotions and misappropriation of funds in Universiti Malaya (UM), said Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh.

The minister said this in a written reply to Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) in response to the allegations raised by the UM academic staff union.

Shafie said academic promotion in the university was in accordance to set rules, meaning via advertisements, acceptance of applications from staff, short-listing and interview sessions.

No evidence

"Generally, successful candidates fulfill the fixed criteria and possess good values and manners," he added in the reply on Wednesday, which was made available to malaysiakini yesterday.

As for mark tampering, he said the marking system is monitored by a marking committee at the department or faculty-level in order to ensure that the system is smooth and transparent.

He also said there is no 'solid evidence' to back the union's claim of funds being misappropriated from the residential housing development programme.

"The ministry is always concerned of the complaints we receive and always monitor and probe the concerned matters," he added.

Previously, UM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Hashim Yaacob claimed to be in the dark over the allegations, which were highlighted in a series of interviews with the university's economics lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez.

According to Gomez, a committee established to look into the allegations had furnished a report to Shafie and Hashim last year but no action was taken.

The UM academic union was part of the committee while Gomez was the union's vice-president.

The committee said it had found evidence to support the allegations and had asked the minister as well as the vice-chancellor to establish a public enquiry.

Unsatisfactory replies

In another written reply to Lim, Shafie said his ministry had asked all local varsities to fine-tune their programmes and curriculum activities as part of efforts to create towering Malaysian personalities.

The minister said this will help enhance students' capabilities and improve their competitiveness.

However, Lim dismissed the replies as 'most unsatisfactory and unacceptable'.

In a statement today, the opposition leader said he was shocked over Shafie's refusal to acknowledge the Anti-Corruption Agency's investigations into the matter.

On the reply regarding towering Malaysian personalities, Lim said he was upset with the denial syndrome of the government to acknowledge the existence of a grave crisis in higher education.

"I feel very depressed by Shafie's answer, for I see neither light nor vision from him to point the way towards tertiary education reforms to transform Malaysian universities into centres to create towering Malaysian personalities," he added.

Lim also invited parliamentarians concerned about the standards, quality and excellence of higher education to form an all-party parliamentary caucus on higher education on July 4.