Pakatan will abolish Universities Act, says Dr Mahathir

Gan Pei Ling Gan Pei Ling Updated 6 years ago · Published on 21 Mar 2018 11:04AM · 11 Comments

Pakatan Harapan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad says after the Universities and University Colleges Act is abolished, parents must pay attention to their children to ensure they do not neglect their studies due to political involvement. – EPA pic, March 21, 2018.

PAKATAN Harapan will repeal the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) if voted into power, said coalition chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Before the UUCA was enacted in 1971, university students had their own financially independent student unions, which could freely organise demonstrations on and off campus, and invite politicians from both sides of the divide to speak.

Critics of the UUCA said the act restricts political freedom and academic autonomy among students and lecturers.

Today, Dr Mahathir assured students that the act will be repealed if PH wins federal power in the 14th general election.

“The UUCA will be abolished. After it is abolished, we need parents to pay attention to their children to ensure they don’t neglect their studies (due to political involvement),” said the former prime minister in a policy talk on education on Facebook Live today.

He reiterated PH’s promise to provide free education up to the tertiary level, especially for students from low-income families.

He said PH will also pay attention to improving education for people with disabilities, so that more of them can become respected professionals, like the late Professor Ismail Md Salleh.

In 2016, the former education minister had told a public forum that the UUCA is necessary to ensure university students do not neglect their studies.

In a landmark judgment in 2011, the Court of Appeal had ruled that it is unconstitutional to limit university students from participating in politics.

Four Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia students summoned by university authorities for allegedly breaching the UUCA by observing the Hulu Selangor by-election in 2010 had filed for a judicial review of the law that led to the landmark ruling.

In 2012, the government amended the UUCA to allow students to participate in political activities, but only off campus. – March 21, 2018.

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Comments

  • But WHEN??? It’s all very well for the deviant and devious author of the UUCA to make such bland meaningless statements. But there is nothing about this comment which commits PH to anything. In the process he nicely sidesteps the real issue by passing the buck to parents to maintain the repression of Malaysia’s youth. As if they haven’t done enough damage already

    Posted 6 years ago by Dennis Madden · Reply

    • Smoa, neh sosej omputeh sumbat kepit. Guess oghang kato bahso die tak jawo.

      Posted 6 years ago by Ramli Taro · Reply

  • On another matter. When will this aspiring PM announce which seat he will contest? One would have thought that such an ‘eminent’ person would be actively generating support for his sick coalition by standing in an electorate of some significance to show how truly genuine he is about saving Malaysia. I would suggest that Mahathir is more interested in saving face so he won’t commit to anything. Two scenarios present themselves. He wins his seat, only to become the leader of yet ANOTHER opposition failure. Or he loses his seat and loses facefor all time. Then he dies.

    Posted 6 years ago by Dennis Madden · Reply

    • This also cannot. That also cannot. Wow!!!! you have started to show your fangs and on which political divide you are in. How about it!!! you nominate yourself as the PM to be in GE14 and see if there is any takers to support . I betcha you will be bombarded with stinky eggs!!!!

      Posted 6 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply

    • Talk and arm chair criticism is easy peasy. Offer solutions to remove the BN government first, then convince the masses on how to run the country ideally.

      Posted 6 years ago by Shovel Nose · Reply

    • He has no solution to offer as he and another guy are the new breed of the pro UmnoBN cyber trooper.

      Posted 6 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply

    • I have already given you the solution on how to remove the BN govt. Two words: vision and empathy (with the Malaysian people). That the opposition hasn’t learned that lesson in 60 yrs is a reflection of who they truly are. As far as which side I’m on, I’m on the side of the Malaysian people. Which side are you on? Mr Black and White

      Posted 6 years ago by Dennis Madden · Reply

    • OMG-- is that your finest answer. Your endless bashing of the opposition and straight from your mouth is vison and empathy. What are you rattling??? Define your vision that the future of Malaysia should embark and empathy of what?? The basic ingredients to the ills and miseries right now is economic well being caused obscene corruptions and from that the trail of griveances will spew forth many unneccessary concerns leading to chaos and mayhem. All these while, what is the purpose of the manifesto that is released . Ain't that part of the vision objective or is it that it did not specially cater to your needs. Empathy-- a good pointer but did not see your vocal side to UmnoBN being lopsided and prejudice in their administration of quotas for Malaysia especially the nons. Frankly I can visualise that you are happy all this while on their skewered actions and evidently by your deafening silence and only now with PH coming up with something that at least it makes everyone has a sense of belonging in this country. Were you sleeping all , you stirr into actions

      Posted 6 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply

    • Cont : were you sleeping when all these was happening and only now you are stirred into actions and thinking the world of your two pointers of Vision and Empathy. Offering just your two well thought out words without any substances is just like a rich man plainly offering a desperate hungary poor man on advise of how to make money in the cold dark weather.

      Posted 6 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply

    • Absolutely. The way Dr. Mahathir is going about things , I wonder if Dr. Mahathir is truly sincere about half the promises he is throwing about, or is simply throwing promises ,beucase that is what he thinks is required to remove najib from power ….

      The problem Dr. Mahathir has is with Najib, not with things like UUCA.... It is unlikely that Dr Mahathir truly has a problem with something like the UUCA, seeing how hw he was the one who authored it in the first place ….

      One can understand why dr mahathir would feel like he needs to say that he will cancel some of the very thing he implemented, like UUCA, in order to gain support from the people in his effort to remove najib, but the Dr Mahathir also needs to understand that the people might it difficult to believe that Dr Mahathir will be truly serious about removing things like UUCA ,if per chance he is successful in getting najib removed …..Forgetfulness, as he has repeated numerous times, is a a disease that is endemic to malaysians.

      what assurance does the people have the Dr. Mahathir will keep if his word, if perchance , he does remove najib ? Surely he cannot expect that his word alone is good anymore. Surely, it shouldn't be too much to ask Dr Mahathir to put down some sort of collateral, as proof that he is truly genuine about his promises ? I think the people would be more inspired in the seriousness of dr mahathir to keep his word, if dr mahathir could for example, display the draft of bill he intends to put up in parliament to rescind the UUCA, and came up with a timeline to show just how long will it take for the UUCA act to be repealed.

      If he could swear on a holy book , that he will do as he say, that would also be a nice gesture too.

      Though Dr Mahathir has been going back on many of the things the he is known to have said and believed since his feud with Najib began, his word is still not without value.

      Just as Dr Mahathir would want us to understand that given how the times are desperate,
      people should understand why his actions and expressions might appear desperate, we would also like him to understand, that given how he has changed so drastically, perhaps he should endeavour to give us more than just his assurance. It is only fair.

      Posted 6 years ago by Nehru Sathiamoorthy · Reply

  • Why not also abolish the entry quota for all ' non bumis ' ... since they are only minorities anyway.... giv to all equal opportunities based on equal and standardize entry requirements

    Posted 6 years ago by SYEM1 Syem1 · Reply