Sorry state of Malaysian academia

 

YOURSAY | ‘This is enabled by universities that have failed in the pursuit of knowledge.’

'Local academia has self-promotion focus, not to help society,' says architecture don

COMMENT | 'Cowards' or cautious? Why M'sian scholars stay silent

Koel: This is a sorry state of higher education in Malaysia. We have ignoramuses with doctorates spinning fairytales about the country’s history.

Where is the vigorous debate or the expertise to address this abysmal ignorance? Is the silence further proof that Malaysians truly lack real scholars who have done solid work in history?

And these “professors” are actually supervising graduate students?

That is the more frightening scenario, and this is enabled by universities that have failed in the pursuit of knowledge.

Why are universities providing platforms to ignorance? What does it say about the credibility of the state of knowledge in those faculties of such universities?

But the larger picture regarding universities is probably pertinent here. We have just 20 public universities.

Private universities number in the hundreds, although there is very little credible information available to the public on exactly how many there are.

The private universities apparently have little interest in the sort of contributions to the nation that Islamic architecture professor Tajuddin Rasdi rightly expects of universities.

Nor do they have such expertise in most cases. And sadly, many labour under worse restrictions on what academics can focus on as areas of expertise or research.

Staying safe by avoiding controversial topics is the name of the game.

So, former minister Khairy Jamaluddin should look for independent international experts in Malaysian studies.

We also need people who have the courage of their convictions. Serge Jardin has appeared on our radar in response to the ridiculous statements made by some academics from a public university. Farish Noor has written much on Malaysian matters.

Ranjit Singh Malhi is often quoted and has written much on Malaysian history. Has Khairy tried inviting them to his “Keluar Sekejap” podcasts?

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YellowKite9434: Universiti Malaya associate professor Khoo Ying Hooi, your article is very rational and so on point.

You have framed the underlying issues really well. Thank you for your thoughtful and well-written article.

I think it is time for politicians like Khairy and others who operate on sound bites rather than real substance to challenge their fellow colleagues in Umno and the unity government led by Pakatan Harapan to come up with real policies to enable healthy debates and even controversial topics and speeches in universities.

As long as things like hatred are not allowed. So, within well-contained boundaries for sensible debates with facts and well-supported rationale.

You are so on point that the system today is designed to ensure absolute compliance by academicians and even administrators, executives, vice-chancellors and deans of these universities.

So, in reality, how are they to stand up and be counted? At the expense of their lives, income, family commitment, and careers?

You raise great points… hopefully we will see some new genuine leaders emerge with better policy thought process and a will for genuine reform. Until that day… Malaysia continues its slide down this bolehland crap with recycled ideas and politicians.

Mazhilamani: If scholars cannot share their knowledge and experience to advance students and society, then they are not worthy of their credentials and high academic achievement.

The foremost character of any academician is to be independent and courageous enough to speak their mind.

How often have we seen academicians participating in public rallies?

It is the silence of excellent academicians that is pushing lesser scholars forward to narrate their poor knowledge to confuse and mislead society.

People are gullible enough to buy their lies and misleading words.

Life is not all about entitlement, recognition, and high earnings; it is about serving and guiding society to the next level.

Headhunter: Exactly. You know where the problem lies? The most qualified individuals aren’t always in our higher education institutions.

Recruitment is often based on race, political connections, or both. Some can’t even communicate effectively during lectures and become a source of ridicule.

Others spin fanciful stories, leaving students confused or making them feel foolish when they interact with others.

Will things change anytime soon? Unlikely. They’re far too comfortably entrenched in their positions.

BlueLlama3513: The problem is the university key performance index, and the whole academic culture in Malaysia is about getting rankings and pushing academics to do lots of publications - quantity over quality.

Add that to the mob mentality in our country, where there are calls for prosecution, sacking and so on.

If anyone says anything “controversial” that the ultra-conservatives and the thought police do not like, then there is just too much risk in speaking publicly about issues.

Milshah: One of the professors I respected was the late Khoo Kay Kim. He was Malaysia’s reference on History.

He said exactly what Malaysian history was all about - the social contract, much to the dismay of non-Malays, but he was calling a spade a spade.

Sadly, none of the current professors is like him. Speak up!

Sherlock: No amount of encouragement will move those scholars to come out to speak until a conducive ambience is created; this ambience requires the government and the head of state (royals) to initiate.

Presently, the ambience is biased and focused on “religious correctness”; that is why we see plenty of “scholastic” assertions skewed towards racial and religious supremacy, even at the expense of truth.

Whoever dares to refute the trending momentum will be pelted with aggression. - Mkini