Announcement of Sweeping Reforms a Breath of Fresh Air, but....

Credit: Norman Goh, Malaysiakini


By Stephen Ng

Education Minister Maszlee Malik's press conference today is like a breath of fresh air when he finally announced sweeping reforms in the local universities.

After nearly three weeks since the students demonstrated at the Ministry of Education in Putrajaya, Maszlee has finally decided to meet them.

This is at least some positive development for student leader, Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi to cherish.

However, a few points need to be noted that although he had agreed to drop all charges against students, Maszlee has yet to decide on a couple of controversies.

The repeal of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 was not apparently on his top priority. To date, Sports and Youth Minister, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has gone on record to say that the Act is on its way out.

But when? The minister who responsible for the repeal of the UCCA has not made any commitment to repeal the controversial Act.

If the Act is to be abolished, why then the need to "fix" it unless Maszlee has no intention to repeal it? Maszlee has to realise that the PH government had promised to repeal the UCCA in its manifesto, not tweak it.

The other demand by the students for Maszlee to resign from his post as president of Islamic International University of Malaysia (IIUM) is something that he made no mention of, despite the concerns already raised by the public.

Just a few months ago, when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad offered to take up the Education Minister portfolio (I cheered), after receiving the brickbats from the public, he decided to relinquish the post.

With the example set by the prime minister, Maszlee should also resign from his post as president of the university. If he is qualified, the post can wait for him. He can of course take on the role after he no longer helms an important portfolio as the Education Minister.

Times have changed. Maszlee as a post-GE14 minister has to realise that he is fully accountable to the people. Instead of making unilateral decisions, he has to consider the manifesto promises to start with.

Besides, his role as a minister requires him to focus his full attention to address the real issues affecting the education system in the country instead of sweeping them under the carpet.

When issues such as dress code at the Selangor Education Department crop up, he has to explain what is the ministry's policy on dress code for the sake of the public.

The public is also interested to know how the errant officer is dealt with to avoid another embarrassing incident. Not having time to deal with this issue is no excuse.

If Maszlee is unable to handle all the press conferences, all he needs to do is to direct his state education director to issue a properly vetted press statement. This is where I feel he is lacking in his ability to delegate and maximise his time to achieve much within his term of office.

He is paid a salary to do a good job. This is the message that every parent would like to send to him.

As Mariam Mokhtar pointed out in her article, "It was certainly not a vote for ministers to do nothing, but hide behind the cloak of religion or male superiority."

END