UNIVERSITIES in Malaysia are pretty boring. Even the private ones. They are devoid of life, culture, and excitement unless you like the food and beverage stalls or promotional booths (especially of telcos) that are set up during events.

I’ve been in academia for 20 years and have even organised and performed in small concerts on campus, although not as often as you might think be because of the bureaucracy.

Now we have to contend with “guidelines” from the Higher Education Ministry for concerts on campus. Here’s why I think they suck:

Guidelines are never a guide

Guidelines often hide an agenda. The first thought that crossed my mind upon learning of the development of the concert guidelines was the term “Big Brother,” a reference to the character and symbol created by British author George Orwell in his dystopian 1949 novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”.

In his novel, he portrays a future society where every citizen is subjected to continuous surveillance by authorities, primarily through “telescreens,” overseen by Big Brother – hence the ominous phrase, “Big Brother is watching.”

The guidelines, which seem to be imbued with the idea that youth require constant “surveillance”, articulate the notion that we, as a society, do not respect the autonomy and choices of young people.

While youth is currently a buzzword, and all things “youth” are viewed as heralding greatness, it is difficult to deny that attempts to control young people are simply another way for those in power to suppress new ideas, fresh perspectives, and innovative approaches that they may not comprehend or approve of.

For a country that liberally employs the term “innovation” as if we were its inventors, we seem to have regressed to kindergarten level when it comes to our universities.

The greatest irony lies in the fact that these guidelines have been drafted under a government that likely includes a significant number of former prominent student leaders.

Guidelines discourage dialogue. One only needs to look at the list of individuals and organisations involved in drafting these guidelines, which appear to be heavily skewed and driven by ideology.

Give the kids a break

As I peruse these guidelines, I cannot help but notice the resemblance to warning signs often found in Malaysian public parks with orders against behaving “indecently,” among other things.

The guidelines read like an elongated version of these signs, failing to logically explain why certain behaviours, deemed unacceptable, should be regarded as such.

Policing behaviour also implies a lack of trust – in this case, a lack of trust in the values and judgment of young adults. Were our leaders not once young themselves?

Universities serve as laboratories for students to explore the world. They grasp the do’s and don’ts, social and power structures, professional conduct, ethics, decorum, and much more, in addition to their academic subjects.

Being in university is a privilege, not an entitlement. It is something that is earned.

Mistakes are made and lessons are learned from them. If we don’t permit individuals to make mistakes, they will never truly learn. These guidelines appear to be an attempt to portray universities as “pure” and “error-free” environments, which is regressive in nature.

Malaysian society, especially the Malay majority, is already subject to enough policing from within. Given that the majority of students in public universities are Malay, it is only fair to grant these young individuals some leeway.

Let them learn to be responsible adults. It is no surprise that they are all engaged with platforms like TikTok (with the best data plans, naturally).  Authorities remain oblivious to this.

They’re no more than a knee-jerk reaction

Lastly, I must address why these guidelines are deeply flawed. They clearly represent an overt effort by the present administration to align themselves with the conservative majority, asserting that they are equally, if not more, devout than the so-called “green wave” opposition.

As a Muslim, I find this deeply disheartening. Religion has been reduced to a political tool driven purely by expediency.

Granted, this may not be a unique phenomenon to Malaysia, but I can only comment on the situation here in Bolehland. It is becoming increasingly evident that we are transforming into Tidak Bolehland - a land of restrictions.

To be honest, in the past, I refrained from organizing events on university campuses primarily due to the bureaucratic hurdles presented by university management.

Now, with these guidelines in place, if I were an event organizer, I would steer clear of planning campus concerts.

Guess who benefits? Telecommunication companies and similar entities will seize the opportunity to organize bazaars and fairs, peddling unnecessary goods, further propelling us into the abyss of consumerism, where moral values are a scarce commodity.

In Malaysia, consumerism rules. We are quickly losing touch with our cultural roots. – September 8, 2023.

* Azmyl Yunor is a touring underground recording artiste, and an academic in media and cultural studies. He has published articles on pop culture, subcultures and Malaysian cultural politics. He adheres to the three-chords-and-the-truth school of songwriting, and Woody Guthrie’s maxim “All you can write is what you see”. He is @azmyl on Twitter.