Gerak says academics must be exempted from muzzling law

The Malaysia Academic Movement (Gerak) has called for the Statutory Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act 2000 (Act 605) to exempt academia in order to safeguard academic freedom and prevent further incidents of censorship in public universities.

This came after Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) issued a circular on Oct 8 prohibiting its staff from making unauthorised public statements.

The memo was quickly retracted following public outrage and criticism from Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir.

“All well and good on paper, it would seem, with the minister coming out of this looking progressive and in support of academic autonomy and freedom of speech, and UKM now looking rather silly, having to retract its circular.

“Be that as it may, our concern in Gerak is more with the policies, legal instruments, and attitudes behind such an action by a leading public university, all of which provide legitimacy for such an action and for further actions of this nature,” the group said in a statement yesterday.

The initial memo reminded UKM academics that they were not allowed to make public statements deemed detrimental to the government.

However, after facing backlash on social media, UKM quickly retracted the circular, allowing staff to speak out.

Gerak stressed that the issue goes beyond this single incident, hence the need to exempt academics from Act 605.

The group said that in 2019, efforts to push for an exemption for academics under the Act received some backing from then-education minister Maszlee Malik but Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was premier at the time, reportedly resisted.

Amend Act 605

Yesterday, Zambry expressed his disagreement with the use of laws like Act 605 to silence academic voices, calling for universities to play a unique role in fostering open discourse in society.

Gerak, however, emphasised that this is not enough, urging the minister to take concrete steps towards amending or removing Act 605 to ensure academic autonomy.

“While Gerak commends the minister for his recent stance on academic freedom, we reiterate the need for a thorough examination of the legal framework that governs academics and universities in Malaysia,” the statement read.

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