500 march to Umno HQ for academic freedom

About 500 protestors, mostly students, marched to Umno's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today in a lively protest demanding greater academic freedom.

The protest coincided with a roundtable discussion on the University and University Colleges Act (UUCA) that the protestors say has "killed student activism in Malaysia".

The initial group of roughly 200 set off from Masjid Jamek in the heart of Kuala Lumpur at 2pm and reached the Umno headquarters at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) two hours later.

Along the way, the marchers chanted slogans and the procession gathered steam as their numbers swelled.

The peaceful demonstration, organised by the Reclaim Academic Freedom Movement (Bebas) student coalition, succeeded in handing a memorandum listing their demands to Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) commissioner Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah.

The marchers also spread the word on their demands to onlookers through distributing leaflets, and a speech during a brief stop outside Sogo shopping complex.

"We are university students who can think, not secondary school students under the government's control.

“We have the ability to manage our own affairs," Bebas chairperson Muhammad Safwan Anang told curious shoppers through a loud-hailer.

They called for the abolition of the UUCA, the Educational Institutions (Discipline) Act and the Private Educational Institutions Act, because they "violate human rights especially that of university students".

In addition, they demanded greater freedom of expression for both academics and their students, freedom for students to participate in politics, and autonomy for students to manage campus elections and club activities.

Saifuddin: Students showed maturity

Upon receiving the memorandum outside Umno's headquarters, Saifuddin (below, speaking) congratulated the students for "showing their maturity by marching peacefully" and promised their opinions would be heard.

"Even if there is not much I can do, I guarantee that we will listen to you carefully," said Saifuddin, who chaired the roundtable discussion on UUCA earlier today.

Meanwhile, the students also stopped outside Suhakam’s office en route to PWTC.

There they handed Muhammad Sha'ani the memorandum, and an impromptu Speaker's Corner on the sidewalk where disgruntled students took turns to voice their grouses.

Muhammad Sha'ani said he would study the memorandum and forward their concerns to the relevant authorities.

"I hope Suhakam will look into the matter, and prepare an alternative Bill to replace the UUCA," said Batu MP Tian Chua (right, in white), who was present at the protest.

He said he hopes that changes to the Act would be done through public consultation, unlike the Public Assembly Bill that was passed in Parliament only a week after it was first tabled.

In contrast to Bebas' earlier protest at KL Sentral on Thursday that saw the protestors arrested within minutes, about a dozen police officers under ASP W Karthik helped the protestors navigate through the busy traffic and did not interfere with the protest.