Apologise for cancelling forum on MACC chief, group urges UM

Summary

• Sekretariat Rakyat Benci Rasuah lashes out at UM’s Students’ Affairs for disallowing their forum from being held at its premises.

• Group claims the varsity management made the decision without giving written notice and was unprofessional.

An anti-graft NGO has urged the Universiti Malaya (UM) management to apologise for suddenly disallowing their forum from being conducted on its premises today.

Sekretariat Rakyat Benci Rasuah said its forum, titled “Pelantikan Azam Baki, Wajar atau Tidak?”, was initially scheduled to be held at 8pm today at UM’s Auditorium JHB.

However, the group claimed that UM’s Students’ Affairs called the organiser to cancel the event without giving a written notice.

“Not only was our event cancelled without proper written notice, but we also had to deal with their unprofessional behaviour.

“When we tried to seek an explanation, they were cavalier about it.

“Apart from being embarrassing, it reflects how they prioritise bureaucracy and their own convenience over students’ rights,” the secretariat said in a statement today.

The guests invited for today’s forum were political economist Edmund Terence Gomez, Bersih chairperson Faisal Aziz, Mahasiswa Keadilan Malaysia’s Yuveraaj Pillai and Suara Siswa UM’s Thishant Sai Sugaythran.

Due to the latest turn of events, the secretariat has changed its forum venue to Rumah Mandiri in Petaling Jaya.

‘Universities are not factories’

Livid over the matter, the secretariat also urged UM to issue a written guarantee that it would no longer cancel students’ forums without a proper explanation and commit itself to academic freedom.

“We urge the campus community to stand with us and support our right to freedom of expression.

“Universities are not supposed to become factories that produce muted graduates, but a platform to nurture intellectualism.

“Don’t let fear and submissiveness continue to creep into our tertiary education system.”

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