June 08, 1999
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| June 08, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Southeast Asia Something is stirring on Malaysia's campuses By Anil Netto PENANG, Malaysia - For more than two decades,educationists have lamented that Malaysian university studentswere a timid and passive lot, unaccustomed to critical thinking. Students, they grumbled, were only interested in rote learning topass their exams and then climbing the corporate ladder at leadingfirms after receiving their diplomas. But today, as opposition to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's 18-year hold on power continues, many students are looking outsidetheir lecture halls at the social and political issues grippingthe country. Government officials are concerned about this awakening. On May 23,Education Minister Najib Razak announced that the government wouldnow be directly involved in orientation and post-orientationprograms at state-run colleges and universities. Najib said that under a recent Cabinet directive, his ministrywould decide on the speakers to explain government policies to newstudents. ''The information sessions will be held after the orientationweek and will run for the duration of the matriculation and firstdegree studies,'' he said. Until now, he observed, the government had not been directly involvedin student activities. This, he continued, led to students beinggiven one-sided information on current developments and expensive''megaprojects." But a large segment of university students are sitting up andlooking askance at the government's moves. ''There's been some stirring,'' confirmed a political sciencelecturer at the Science University in Penang. ''There's a definitechange'' in their outlook, he added. ''Certainly the more Islamic-oriented students are strongly anti-UMNO (the dominant ruling party) and pro-PAS (the oppositionIslamic party). Then, there are also the ABIM (Malaysian IslamicYouth Movement) and JIM (Malaysian Islamic Brotherhood) types,''he said. At a talk in the Science University campus on May 27, observerswere surprised to see several Chinese Malaysian students openly voicing support for ''reformasi'' from the floor. Until then, it had been widely assumed that Chinese students werecontent to remain on the margins while their more vocal Malaycounterparts led the call for reform. ''It's not good enough for us to analyze,'' a female Chinesestudent said, ''we have to create history." Earlier this year, when the management of the University ofMalaya did not renew the contract of prominent critic Dr. ChandraMuzaffar, students marched through campus and listened to speechescondemning the move. Many say the changes in Malaysia's campuses mark an awakeningafter a long slumber which began in the mid-1970s, when politicalactivism by students last peaked. Students of that generation first protested at the eviction ofsquatters in the southern city of Johor Baru. The educationminister then, Mahathir, slammed the involvement of students andacademic staff in politics. But the students' anger flared again over allegations thatpeasants in the Baling area of northern Kedah state were starvingas a result of a failure in government policy. Big demonstrations erupted at major campuses, culminating in astand-off with police in the capital Kuala Lumpur on December 3, 1974.Police then occupied three campuses and charged 1,000 students,majority of them Malays, for unlawful assembly. In April 1975, the government introduced amendments to theUniversities and University Colleges Act to clamp down onpolitical activism on campus. Students were not allowed to hold posts in political parties ortrade unions and were barred from expressing support, sympathy oropposition to any of these groups. Political demonstrations andmeetings were banned. But in 1976, student demonstrations against the restrictions wereheld. One of the student leaders, detained without trial under theInternal Security Act after the 1974 demonstrations, was AnwarIbrahim, then the president and founder of the Malaysian IslamicYouth Movement (ABIM). In 1982, Mahathir, who had become prime minister a year earlier,roped Anwar into government and thus shored up support for UMNO atthe Islamic PAS' expense. Anwar later became deputy primeminister, but Mahathir sacked him from the cabinet in September. Students have long used the Universities and University CollegesAct as an excuse for not getting politically engaged, but many have gotteninvolved since Anwar was ousted last year. In a recent incident, a Malaysian student openly confrontedMahathir and asked him to resign during a briefing for universitystudents in London. On campus, some students have been wearing ''white ribbons forjustice'' on their lapels, to signal support for the reformasimovement. Despite warnings and threats of disciplinary action, students in thecapital took part in a series of large public demonstrations afterAnwar was ousted from government and assaulted in custody. So far, ''the vast majority of students are not politicized andremain fairly dormant,'' said the political science lecturer. ''Still, there's more of a willingness to be open about theirpolitical feelings and affinity. There's a sign that more peopleare interested in issues despite the atmosphere and theregulations that make it stultifying to register criticism,'' heexplained. (Inter Press Service) | |||||||||
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