A review will be carried out for the Statutory Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act 2000 (Act 605) to ensure academic freedom in public universities, the Dewan Rakyat was told on Thursday (Oct 24).
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir said he had requested this and to exempt public universities from the Act.
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Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir said he had requested this and to exempt public universities from the Act.
Read more at https://shorturl.at/aYiBw
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NewsTranscript
00:00I would like to ask the Minister of Higher Education to state what steps the Ministry is taking
00:06to ensure that incidents such as the ban by the UKM,
00:10which prevented his hands from making a public statement recently, do not happen again.
00:18The Minister of Higher Education, please answer.
00:23Honourable Dato'yandi Pertua,
00:26I am aware of the concerns among students,
00:34and especially among the academics,
00:38regarding the UKM's statement
00:44about the circle of registrar's offices,
00:48which is the information of the ban
00:51making a statement that can lead to public outrage.
00:56And this is also related to Article 605,
01:03which is the Act of Justice,
01:06where every institution of justice will often remind
01:12their staff about what they can and cannot do.
01:23However, I also understand in the context of a higher education institution,
01:31as stated by Honourable Indrama Kota,
01:37from my background, who was there before this.
01:42And the question is,
01:45how does the university administration pay attention to every instruction
01:53or reminder given by the JPA regarding it?
01:59Because it is related to the act of justice.
02:03Therefore, among the steps that I have taken to ensure that
02:10every instruction is not only interpreted as one thing,
02:15especially in the context of a higher education institution,
02:20such as a university,
02:22that is, every instruction cannot be considered as something that can only be carried out
02:30in all levels.
02:33And I have already made a statement to the universities,
02:39that if there is a mistake or error in the interpretation that has been issued,
02:47it should be informed to the authorities,
02:51including the Ministry of Higher Education,
02:55for us to clarify it.
02:56And that reminder is taken.
02:58This is because, Honourable Dato' Yandi Pertua,
03:02I often remind universities
03:07that universities represent a country,
03:13that is, a microcosm of the nation.
03:16So, this is very important to be taken into account.
03:21After this incident, I held a meeting at the highest level to see
03:29why such a situation occurs in the context of our academic world.
03:35The biggest obstacle was that we have Acta 605.
03:41Honourable Indra Mahkota, of course, understands
03:44because he has also been there.
03:47And several attempts have been made,
03:50and even now, I have asked for this Acta 605 to be reviewed
03:58to give an exception in the context of public universities.
04:02Because public universities are considered legal bodies.
04:07And in Acta 605, there are 12 institutions that are excluded.
04:14So, it's time for us to look in the context of a university.
04:21For example, in the context of Article 18.1 and 18.2,
04:26which touches on what is allowed and what is not allowed.
04:31Therefore, in the context of a public university,
04:36we need to look in the context of that university,
04:39not involved in the overall circulation in general
04:46that is given to all parties involved in the category of legal bodies.
04:55And this is one of the steps that we are taking.
04:58And this step is considered one of the steps to be taken.
05:01Radical, cowardly.
05:04And I am trying to do this as much as possible
05:09so that the stigma in that university
05:15is not surrounded by fear to convey their point of view.
05:23But on one condition,
05:25in the tradition of intellectuality,
05:29someone who will speak will not speak with permission.
05:35Without facts, by making theories that are not true.
05:40But this is what I mentioned earlier.
05:42We will look again in the context of Acta.