Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- The shackling of Prof Abdul Aziz Bari and academic freedom
- Islam itu Melayu, Melayu itu Islam
- Aziz Bari’s Suspension-Breach of Academic Freedom
- Gutter politics – utterly disgusting
- Response to “PPSMI – an Opposing View”
| The shackling of Prof Abdul Aziz Bari and academic freedom Posted: 20 Oct 2011 07:32 PM PDT By Aliran His suspension comes in the wake of his publicly expressed opinion regarding the recent decree by the Sultan of Selangor over the controversial Jais raid on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church. Many Malaysians share his opinion and look up to him as a brave academic who did not betray his conscience in expressing an honest opinion without fear or favour. This intellectual freedom of expression must be the hallmark of an institution of higher learning. It is rare individuals like him who inspire students to speak the truth and defend what is right. He is an asset to IIUM. The action taken by the university against the learned professor is baffling. The university is guilty of committing a serious travesty of justice as its action amounts to a denial of the right of academics to offer their expert opinions on matters that they specialises in and are concerned about. It is expected of the professor to share his knowledge and expertise with the rest of us. That is the primary purpose in recruiting the best lecturers to teach and mould our youngsters to be responsible citizens. If anyone disagrees with his view, he or she should do it intellectually and in a civilised manner to enhance an understanding of the issue at hand for both the academic fraternity and the larger community. A sledgehammer such as the Sedition Act should not be used to suppress healthy discussion. It has not been proven that his views are invalid and without merit. Malaysians should be told why his views are wrong. We should indeed start a debate to discuss this issue in a civilised manner as befitting a civil society. Equally important, the university's action makes a mockery of the notion of intellectual freedom and integrity that a university worth its salt is supposed to promote and protect. If this important value is not protected and guarded, what is the worth of a university? Besides, the measure of an intellectually vibrant institution of higher learning is recognised and honoured when there are open discussions, debates and dissenting opinions. The prevalence of a lacklustre follow-me mentality – symptomatic of the larger political and feudalistic culture – will be the death knell of a university. Aliran calls upon the IIUM authorities to lift the professor's suspension immediately and cease all other similar actions that would only smear and sully the university's academic reputation. |
| Islam itu Melayu, Melayu itu Islam Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:39 PM PDT Dear Editor, I want to bring to your attention an article in the himpun.org website, apparently written by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ridhuan Tee Abdullah from Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia. The article contains some offensive words as follows: 1. Perhimpunan yang bertemakan "Selamatkan Akidah", secara tidak langsung mahu memberi amaran kepada bukan Islam supaya tidak mencampuri urusan orang Islam dan jangan sekali berani memurtadkan mereka. 2. Jangan biarlah negara ini menjadi Singapura yang kedua. Begitu juga dengan Pulau Pinang. Ia mesti dipertahankan sehingga titisan darah yang terakhir. Jika tidak, kita akan menyesal dan dikutuk oleh generasi akan datang kerana gagal mempertahankan kalimah yang mulia ini. 3. Apakah kita masih buta? Bagaimana populasi penduduk yang hanya 10 peratus boleh membina sebuah gereja terbesar di Asia dalam sebuah negara Islam? Tidak cukuplah dengan pembinaan patung tertinggi di dunia di Batu Caves. Jangan ulangi kesilapan demi kesilapan. 4. Barulah ketika itu orang lain tidak berani memijak kepala kita lagi. Selamatkan akidah umat Islam! I want your organisation to highlight this issue, which I believe it is in the public interest to so. The article also contains the following statement, which I do not see any logic: Islam itu Melayu, Melayu itu Islam. Lebih istimewa lagi yang memeluk agama Islam, pun boleh dikira sebagai Melayu mengikut perlembagaan, walaupun bukan Melayu dari segi keturunan.
Regards, Shamsher Singh Thind
FULL ARTICLE: Selamatkan Aqidah Umat Islam (Source: http://himpun.org/selamatkan-aqidah-umat-islam)
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| Aziz Bari’s Suspension-Breach of Academic Freedom Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:29 PM PDT By Lawyers for Liberty This is clearly a denial of his basic right to freedom of speech guaranteed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution and the principles of academic freedom enshrined in free speech. The right to intellectual discourse, debate and articulation is an indivisible part of academic development and excellence. This suspension will certainly curtail world-class academic research and thought-provoking discussions, which Malaysian universities badly need to regain past glory. Intellectualism, research excellence and academic freedom are pre-requisites for innovation and creativity to thrive, crucial for Malaysia to successfully transform itself into a developed nation that fully subscribes to democratic principles and human rights. This suspension is a mockery of the Najib administration's so-called 'Greater Reforms' to make Malaysia a more democratic and liberalised nation. This action proves that Najib's reforms are insincere, superficial and dishonest but intended to solely fish for votes with the upcoming general election. We demand that this unjustified suspension be lifted immediately while calling upon MCMC not to step beyond its boundaries. We also urge the police to immediately cease harassing Prof Aziz Bari with investigations under the draconian Sedition Act. Issued by Afiq M Noor Lawyers For Liberty |
| Gutter politics – utterly disgusting Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:25 PM PDT By P Ramakrishnan, Aliran President Resorting to utter gutter politics is akin to swimming in the cesspool without a care. That's how those faceless pro-Umno bloggers who spun a lie regarding an innocent son to get at the father came across – filthy and smelly. Not to be out-done, the Umno Youth chief gets into the act with his silly comments. He comes across as no better than the half-baked politicians who are incapable of being logical. What is disturbing and worrying is the fact that these so-called know-all cheap politicians had picked a fight with a 16-year old teenager who is not capable of defending himself or explaining himself. This is their crude and cowardly way of waging a political battle to disgrace and denigrate the Chief Minister of Penang. Why can't these vile politicians take on adversaries who are their equal and prove to the world that they are men of substance? To traumatise a teenager with blatant lies is doing irreparable damage to someone who is just growing up. This is the period that a teenager can be easily crushed and shaken psychologically to the extent that he may lose all his self-confidence and may not even recover from this trauma. He may be forced to withdraw into a shell and become an introvert. Worse, he may even view society as an unreasonable, uncaring one hell of a big bully and turn into an anti- social individual. The possibilities are tremendous – all because certain unethical politicians chose to be unscrupulous in wanting to grab power. It has now been established by the school concerned – SMK Heng Ee – that this boy had not molested any girl in his former school. It has also been established that he was a school prefect and a good student who had elected to be transferred to another school of his choice after completing his PMR. According to his father, he did not want to have a crew-cut as was required by his former school but wanted to keep longer hair. This is understandable and that was the reason for the transfer. The girl who was alleged to be the victim of sexual molestation was never a student of Heng Ee School. She was never a citizen of Malaysia. She is presently a third-year student at a liberal arts college in the United States. Yet the perpetrators of this heinous crime had resorted to posting her picture and linking Lim Guan Eng's son to a criminal activity that never took place. It is these unscrupulous politicians who are a danger to our way of life. They are the scum of our society. Don't they have bigger matters to worry about concerning the state of our nation? Shouldn't they train their sights instead on bigger issues like the looming economic problems arising from the economic meltdown in Europe? Shouldn't they be concerned about the rapid breakdown of our national unity? Shouldn't they worry about the religious conflict that is threatening to wreck this nation? The Prime Minister of Malaysia, also the President of Umno Baru, cannot turn a deaf ear to this unforgiveable episode. Does the Prime Minister of Malaysia approve of such dastardly conduct that demeans an individual unjustly. Does he, as Umno Baru President, condone this despicable act that brings shame to his party? Is his sullen silence due to the fact that he no longer shares the values espoused by the original Umno, which had existed for 42 years before it was destroyed, paving the way for Umno Baru to be established in 1988? Let's not forget that it was Umno's lawyer who argued for Umno to be declared an illegal society. He wouldn't have done that without the proper advice and mandate from the then president of Umno who happened to be Dr Mahathir Mohamad. In both his capacities – as Prime Minister and President of Umno Baru – Najib owes an explanation to this nation. |
| Response to “PPSMI – an Opposing View” Posted: 19 Oct 2011 11:33 AM PDT By AsamLaksa PPSMI is a political issue whether you are pro or against. Both sides fell into this political trap. I can only shake my head in despair because nothing substantial is achieved whether you have PPSMI or not when the fundamentals of education is not addressed. Even if PPSMI returns it will be sitting on a time bomb because it is a political issue and can change at any time when sentiments shift. There is no security as you have already seen. On the other hand, a well-developed culture of teaching and learning along the lines of critical thinking instead of rote learning is a better guarantee of educational excellence.Dear Feizrul, This is in response to your letter: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/44246-ppsmi-an-opposing-view I think you just barely scratched the surface but did not go deep enough. Perhaps you need to explore the issues wider. This letter is adding on to what I have already said about my opposition to PPSMI in previous postings in MT. As a start, my background is of middle class urbanite educated in BM medium in a La Salle brother's school. I speak mainly English at home. Yet I am anti-PPSMI. I think PAGE is barking up the wrong tree like you too. I am an Atheist and non-Malay. I graduated from a foreign English language dominant country. Thus I have no cultural or political motivation to preserve the supremacy of BM. I am in agreement on the supremacy of English as an international medium and I can only stress on the importance of developing English language skills. But PPSMI is a different fish altogether! I am against PPSMI from the start. After implementation of PPSMI I was against its repeal not because I think PPSMI is good but because flip-flopping causes more harm. I would prefer the PPSMI cohort complete their prescribed duration. But now with PPSMI repealed I do not want it back because on its own without real advances in education standard and delivery it is useless and I don't want another traumatic flip-flop. I keep on saying that if you want pupils to master English then teach them English well. My parents understood the importance of the English language and I was encouraged to read and write in English. In my late primary school years they sent me to an English tuition class at a neighbour's who was an old-school English teacher who had strong passion for English and the lessons were not exam targeted. I think she accepted me as a tutee as simply being neighbourly. There were just two of us in a class. We had games and I was writing essays for fun. Being a naughty boy, I used to invent ridiculous themes in the making sentences exercises but my tutor took it in her stride to laugh along. It was the best tuition I ever had. I will follow this example when I have children. I also have better Malay language skills than my peers. I was the odd one who would opt for cerpen in exams though I must add that during the SPM exams the cerpen topic was unimaginative so I ditched it. I enjoy reading sastera Melayu and I deplore the lack of good Malay books. When I did the SAT, I came across English mathematical terms that I have never come across but I translate them into Malay terms and scored full 800. Malay was no barrier in learning maths as long as I have strong maths fundamentals. Same goes with science because the principles don't change just the terminology, which I learned on my own. Learning science and maths in BM has not disadvantaged me in science and maths and these are my stronger subjects. I do not think language is an issue with science and maths. I knew many Chinese stream students who struggled with English yet do very well in English medium courses. I have no qualms if they want to teach science and maths in Mandarin, Tamil, BM or whatever language as long as they teach the students the medium of instruction well including instilling a passion for the language because proficiency in languages is a lifelong learning process. My experience of studying science and maths in Malaysia in the late 80s and early 90s is one of disappointment. The syllabus and the delivery were uninspiring. They do not prepare me for what is out there. For example I was taught how to carry out science experiments but never taught what the scientific method was. I was made to carry out research topics but the teachers were ill-equipped in assessing research. If I had it my way, I would revamp science and maths teaching regardless of the argument of medium of instruction which is an unneeded distraction. I would start with teacher training. Many parents in Malaysia are gripped by insecurity and fear for the future of their children. There is a strong feeling of distrust against the authorities. This is what you are facing, Feizrul. PPSMI appears like a lifeline so they grab at it but it is a false promise and no panacea. It is not even worth arguing over. You can't easily fight fear and insecurity. There is a body of opinion for parents and students to decide which medium of instruction they prefer for science and maths but I think why just stop there? Why not fight for geography, history, and the rest to be taught in different mother tongues? The lack of a call for this does not give me confidence in the pro-choice group as I think they have not fully understood the underlying issue of poor education standards and delivery which will not be addressed with purely language choices. PPSMI is a political issue whether you are pro or against. Both sides fell into this political trap. I can only shake my head in despair because nothing substantial is achieved whether you have PPSMI or not when the fundamentals of education is not addressed. Even if PPSMI returns it will be sitting on a time bomb because it is a political issue and can change at any time when sentiments shift. There is no security as you have already seen. On the other hand, a well-developed culture of teaching and learning along the lines of critical thinking instead of rote learning is a better guarantee of educational excellence. I am disappointed with Malaysians in not coming together in figuring out what is really lacking with education in Malaysia. Both for and against PPSMI want the same thing, a brighter future for their children. Instead of putting pressure on the government to revamp the education system, you have let them off easily by fighting among yourself. BN special sauce of divide and rule all over again pitting the majority Malay against the rest. I have no illusion of Dr M's beneficence in creating PPSMI. Those who can afford it are already laughing all the way to the bank knowing that the future of their children is secured. If I have children I won't bother screaming for PPSMI. Instead I would encourage them to develop a good language skills, depending on where I live it may be English, BM, etc. I would also make them understand the fundamentals of scientific method, critical thinking, encourage them to explore various subjects and teach them how to debate. These are the tasks that I will not entrust to anyone else. I can only call on all Malaysians to come together to see this PPSMI political ploy as it is, leave all politics aside and push for real change by rallying behind serious academic educators, not politicians or lobby groups, to find a solution to the problem of falling education standards. You have your children's future in your hands and you should aim for real benefits. Anyway, who am I kidding? Malaysians to a fault are overly passionate and time and time again fail to look past this to really see what the problem is. I strongly empathise with RPK on this. Sigh! |
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