Student Group Accuses Um Of Shutting Down Forum

---

A student group has accused the Universiti Malaya of stifling academic freedom by shutting down a forum slated to be held by the group tomorrow.
It claimed the university administration has instructed the cancellation of the forum titled “Malaysia’s Identity Crisis: Is Malaysia a Secular Country or a Religious Country?” on the grounds that it involves the 3R (race, religion and royalty) issues and could potentially disrupt campus harmony.
The University of Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) questioned whether the university is abandoning its mission of becoming a world-class university and is instead content with becoming a “zone of intellectual silence”.
It asked whether it is no longer permissible to explore constitutional issues and the direction of the nation in academic settings.
“If a country wishes to progress, and if society seeks maturity, then universities must be spaces for free thought and rational discussion, not enclosed institutions that fear controversy and avoid difficult truths.
“The essence of a university is its courage to confront complexity and sensitivity, which is how it nurtures critical and independent citizens,” it said in a statement today.
According to promotional materials for the event, the forum would feature the constitutional lawyer Malik Imtiaz and the human rights activist Siti Kasim.
It said it was prompted by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s speech at the International Malaysia Law Conference in 2023 that Malaysia is neither a secular state nor an Islamic theocratic state.
“This statement sparked widespread curiosity - what exactly is a secular state? What is a theocratic state? And where does Malaysia stand in this spectrum?” Umany said in a Facebook post on April 10, promoting the event.
Relocating venue
According to Umany, it received instructions from UM’s administration yesterday to cancel the event.
The group is instead relocating the venue outside the campus.
ADSIt will be held as scheduled at 7.30pm tomorrow at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
“Umany refuses to be silenced. We reject the misuse of ‘sensitivity’ as a cover for cowardice and submission.
“UM’s academic freedom cannot be erased with the wave of a hand, and freedom of speech is not a tool to be discarded at your convenience.
“When the system fears the questions, we must ask them louder and clearer,” the group said.
Malaysiakini has contacted the university for comment. - Mkini

---