Commentary by Mustafa K. Anuar

IN a move that can only be regarded as a transgression of academic freedom and expression, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) reportedly cancelled an online talk with celebrated Indian classical dancer Ramli Ibrahim at the last minute.

Ramli has every reason to be miffed by such an action he considers as narrow-minded, which, in turn, does not prepare students from a largely monocultural setting to understand and appreciate the multicultural nature of our diverse society.

His talk, which is part of UTM student-led Tun Razak Arts Week programme, was supposed to be about dance that transcends race, which is so crucial in a social context where race (and religion) has increasingly become a polarising factor.

In its defence, UTM insisted that the cancellation was made not to “offend any party”, after receiving counsel from its Islamic Centre.

It appears that the university did not mind offending the sensibilities of Ramli who leads the Sutra dance theatre company that he founded in 1983.

Indeed, the cancellation also meant that students from UTM and other universities, as well as interested Malaysians, have been deprived of the opportunity to be exposed to ideas that are, unfortunately, deemed “different” by the university concerned.

Such action defies the notion that universities are tasked to provide an intellectual environment where ideas from various perspectives flow freely for the benefit of students and teaching staff alike.

It is in this context that “difference” should be appreciated and robust debates are expected to emerge as a result.

Additionally, talks of this nature should be a boon to students who now are holed up in their houses doing online learning because of the pandemic.

Anyway, in this age of the Internet, many things and ideas are accessible at a click of the mouse. There are no physical boundaries for ideas to be locked up.

At the end of the day, universities are not meant to produce “yes” men and women. Instead, we expect (critical) thinking adults to come out of the so-called ivory towers.

Cancellation or banning of talks is a form of intellectual censorship that occurred in the past on campuses across the country, primarily because such programmes were not in line with the ideology or political preferences of the political masters or certain quarters.

So much for the supposed university autonomy and academic freedom.

For instance, lawyer Eric Paulsen had his invitation to speak at a 2016 national conference, organised by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s (UKM) chapter of the Asian Law Students’ Association, revoked by the university administration because he was considered too “controversial” for the university’s audience.

Paulsen is known for his human rights advocacy, which apparently was considered not kosher by UKM administrators.

Controversial political cartoonist Zulkiflee SM Anwar Ulhaque, better known as Zunar, also had his fair share of disappointments with some local universities. He was denied entry because of his critical views drawn on the canvas.

In other words, dissenting voices or differences of opinion generally do not have their rightful place in our universities, which is a shame.

It appears that the right thing to do for those governing our universities is, unfortunately, to dance to the tune of their political masters or, at the very least, certain narrow-minded quarters. – June 7, 2021.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.