UTM apologises for racist lecture material

PETALING JAYA: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has issued an apology over material said to be derogatory to the Hindu and Sikh communities that was used in lectures.

"On behalf of UTM, I would like to express our utmost regret and deep remorse for the lack of sensitivity on the part of our lecturers teaching the Titas (Tamadun Islam Tamadun Asia) subject," said vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Wahid Omar (pic) in a statement.

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He said that a thorough investigation was being conducted on the incident, and due action would be taken as necessary.

"With regard to the specific slides shown on social media, the language used in the slides does not reflect the true content of the subject matter in question, and the slides used were not the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) slides endorsed by the Higher Education Ministry for the Titas subject.

"What was written on the slides does not reflect the true content and has been presented out of the full context," he said.

Prof Wahid added that UTM has a code of ethics for its academic staff, which "stresses the need to uphold true values and nobility of character in order to instil the right mindset and principles among staff and students, while encouraging respect for one another and inculcating understanding among diverse cultures, creed and religion".

He said to prevent a recurrence of this incident, UTM would ensure that its lecturers only use Titas slides endorsed by the Higher Education Ministry, adding that experts of Asian Civilisation will be engaged to provide input when needed.

"We will continuously remind our academics to be more vigilant in future and be more aware of the language and presentation of content on their teaching slides and modules so as not to touch on the sensitivities of others.

"We would like to emphasise that this is an isolated incident, and does not reflect the true values of UTM.

"We will ensure that this incident will not recur, and we once again apologise for any hurt or displeasure we may have caused," he said.