Remember When Harapan Slammed Bn For Suppressing Student Voices

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The Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement has slammed the police probe into Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) president Tang Yi Ze’s remarks on the matriculation system.
Association chairperson Ng Yap Hwa reminded the Madani government that when Pakatan Harapan was in the opposition, its leaders had openly called for the abolition of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA), the repeal of the Sedition Act, and condemned the BN government’s clampdown on student movements.
“It is deeply ironic that Anwar Ibrahim – once a student leader himself – has, after becoming prime minister, allowed state apparatuses to suppress students’ freedom of expression.
“We urge Anwar’s Madani government to pull back from the brink, stop harassing Umany leaders, and restore to students the space to speak, to propose, and to criticise freely,” Ng (above) said in a statement.
He stressed that as a student organisation concerned with the nation’s well-being and committed to reform, Umany has long spoken up on political, economic, cultural, and educational issues.
This, he said, reflects the youth’s concern for national affairs and “represents one of the best ways of contributing to the country through constructive discourse.”
“Political leaders should welcome young people’s free discussion on the merits and flaws of education policies, upholding the spirit of free expression and embracing criticism and policy proposals -instead of silencing dissent through repressive measures,” he added.
Ng dismissed the police’s claim that Umany’s call to abolish the matriculation system “may create negative perceptions of the education system, and trigger dissatisfaction and public panic,” calling it baseless.
“Many advocates of the single-stream education system also frequently call for the abolition of multilingual stream schools.
“Do they not equally ‘create negative perceptions of the education system’ and cause ‘dissatisfaction and panic’? The Madani government must not apply double standards by singling out powerless students for punishment.
“If the police resort to draconian laws merely on the basis of malicious reports from a few individuals to target student leaders, this will undoubtedly fuel mob politics and infringe upon the constitutionally guaranteed right of free expression,” he warned.
Tang quizzed
Police have summoned Tang for questioning this afternoon. He is being investigated under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, for statements deemed conducive to public mischief, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, for improper use of network facilities.
On Sept 18, police also recorded a statement from Malaysiakini journalist Shakira Buang over her article quoting Tang, in which he urged the Higher Education Ministry to abolish the matriculation programme and adopt STPM as the sole qualification for public university entry.
Lawyer Zaid Malek (left) and Umany president Tang Yi ZeUmany has since apologised, clarifying that it used the wrong term when suggesting a merger with the STPM exam.
Earlier, on Sept 12, Umany had submitted a memorandum to the Higher Education Ministry proposing the move as the most effective way to address admission quota concerns.
The memorandum followed media reports about STPM leaver Edward Wong, who scored a perfect 4.0 CGPA and aspired to become an accountant, but was rejected by six public universities. - Mkini

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