| The recent – and evidently ongoing – storm surrounding the selection of the vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Sabah compels Gerak to issue this statement.
There are now false allegations circulating that he was selected by Education Minister Maszlee Malik, without consultation and he was selected because of his religious leanings.Inputs from various academic organisations, through written proposals and even a widely-reported town hall meeting in Universiti Malaya on July 23, 2018, have contributed to this change.
It is what he will do for UMS as an intellectual leader – and there is certainly much to be done – that should matter to us now. In this regard, we certainly believe that regional universities should be in constant communication with state governments, and, indeed, the wider community, including civil society organisations and industry.
These political leaders would do less harm by running their states and constituencies than by interfering in the running of our universities. The Harapan government evidently wants to change all this. It wishes to reform public universities; to try to make them world-beaters. This is not going to happen overnight.