PETALING JAYA: The student movement has remained active a year after Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the government from Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 14th general election.
Less than two months ago, for example, a group of Universiti Malaya (UM) students held a noisy demonstration outside a restaurant where former prime minister Najib Razak was speaking. That incident yielded headlines for a few days because Umno members allegedly manhandled a student leader who held up a placard depicting Najib as a clown.
Nor has the new government been spared the ire of students for its perceived shortcomings. There were plenty of protests after it was announced that PH could not keep its election promise to allow graduates to delay the repayment of study loans until they have begun earning RM4,000 a month.
Indeed, according to PSM vice youth chief Sharan Raj, student activism is “clearly on the rise again”.
Raj, who was an activist for free education when he was a university student from 2014 to 2017, said the various student-led protests were a sign that students no longer feared voicing their dissatisfactions.
He also said academic freedom was expanding and improving, attributing this to a change of attitudes towards democracy.
“Post-GE14, people have lost the belief that the government is superior and cannot be changed,” he said. “This has empowered people to criticise and speak out their political views.”
He criticised the National Higher Education Fund Corporation, saying it remained hesitant to engage with civic organisations even though Education Minister Maszlee Malik has pushed for such engagements.
He acknowledged that it was good of Maszlee to resign from his post as president of the International Islamic University following criticism over a conflict of interest.
However, he claimed that the higher education system was still corrupt, with political appointees occupying top positions.
One of the promises PH made in its election manifesto was to abolish the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA). This has not come to pass. Instead the act was amended last December to allow student involvement in political parties.
Nevertheless, the education ministry has set up a committee to work towards repealing the UUCA and invited students to participate in it. This initiative, according to Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth president Liew Liang Hong, is an indication that the new government does listen to student activists, though “only on rare occasions”.
He also praised Maszlee for telling public universities to let students hold their own campus elections, saying this was “a small step toward the revival of student autonomy”.
However, he claimed that the UUCA committee has not been adequately responsive to the recommendations forwarded by students.
“We have sent many memorandums and even representatives to participate in the said committee, hoping that the progress in the abolition of UUCA and revival of student unions can be quicker and more transparent,” he said.
In fact, he added, the government had a tendency to ignore student requests.
“For example, when we asked for more funding for UM’s operations last October, and when we urged the government to revise the university enrolment system, there were no replies at all.”
Liew also said the bureaucracy in public universities was not as open to the student movement as the government itself.
“I’m still optimistic with PH, but never with the bureaucrats,” he added.
Wong Yan Ke, the student who held up the clown placard at the anti-Najib protest in March, said PH still lacked the political will to counter obstacles in matters involving student empowerment, especially in its handling of bureaucrats from the old regime.
For example, he said, universities were still reluctant to allow student-run elections despite Maszlee’s announcement.
“Only UM has been able to achieve this,” he said in reference to March’s campus polls. - FMT
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