The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Muzzle knowledge, and be muzzled by fire Posted: 03 Nov 2011 05:20 PM PDT NOV 4 — Education and knowledge is something that is very important to me. And equally important is the process of gaining it. The recent issue with the International Islamic University's (IIU or UIA) suspension of Prof Dr Abdul Aziz Bari is an embarrassment in my eyes. An academic should be allowed to express his educated and intellectual views if so he wishes because it is his right and his responsibility to do so. It is this right and responsibility of an academic that will lead to better educated students and a more civilised society. If this right and responsibility is taken away from an academic, then the society that has done so would be a society that stifles intellectual development. As an Islamic university (as its name suggests), should it not be more Islamic? Maybe I can assist by providing a particular quote by Prophet Muhammad: "Whoever conceals knowledge would be muzzled on the Day of Resurrection with a muzzle of fire." What Malaysian universities are lacking, in my humble opinion, is a proper tenure system for academics that ensures their rights and responsibilities. By having a tenure system, academics will be assured that they will be protected no matter what they say or express, albeit they are trusted as intellectuals. Hence, tenures are usually given to senior academics and its purpose is to guarantee their right to academic freedom and thought. This is to allow academics to conduct research and thought as well as to express their findings with full honesty, without fearing any negative effects (i.e. job security!). Tenures also ensure that an academic institution maintains integrity in its grading system, and this is particularly important for private institutions. What this means is that academics cannot be pressured by the administration to give higher grades in order to attract more students or to retain existing ones. Speaking of students, I find it an embarrassment that Malaysia has the Universities and University Colleges Act that prohibits students from participating in anything political. One of the reasons given by the government for the implementation of this Act is that students should not waste time with politics and focus more on their education. Let me ask you this. How can you separate a student's education, and intellectuality, from their natural desire to get involved in their own society's political situation? Does it not show a student's intellectuality and desire for education if they feel they want to discuss, participate and contribute to the development of their own country? Or, is the government really saying that Malaysian university students don't really have the intellectual capability to participate in politics? If this is the case, then the government would be implying that our university education system is not up to par in training intellectually capable students. I applaud the IIU (or UIA) students who demonstrated their feelings when their respected professor was suspended by the administration. I abhor the decision of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) to threaten suspension on its student, Khalid Mohd Ismath, for writing about the issue on his blog. I applaud the news regarding a particular decision made by the Kuala Lumpur Court of Appeal on the Universities and University College Act last Monday. The three-man panel held that section 15(5)(a), which restricts students from expressing in support of, or opposing, any political party, is unconstitutional. I applaud the Prophet Muhammad who once said: "He is not from my followers, he who does not respect his elders, who does not show mercy to the young and who does not give due right to a scholar." * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 03 Nov 2011 05:07 PM PDT NOV 4 — I had wanted to begin this essay by drawing attention to the disturbing death threat received by constitutional law expert Prof Aziz Bari for expressing an opinion regarding a recent royal decree. But as happens to all journalists who are slow to write, events have overtaken my thoughts. And so I have to begin with the police ban on the Seksualiti Merdeka festival. I am not sure if the media intends to cast the police as buffoons but when the competent authorities are quoted as justifying their ban by suggesting that "the law in the country [does] not recognise any deviationist activity that could destroy the practice of religious freedom" I feel at a complete loss. How on god's good earth does a festival that tries to raise awareness of the legitimate rights of LGBTs to equal protection before the law become a strategy to destroy religious freedom. Admittedly, I am a gay atheist, along with being a Johor Baru-born, Singapore-bred, social science-trained, Pakatan Rakyat-voting, occasional gym-going, bald, feral Malayalee-type of Indian. Before I proceed any further let me say that I don't believe there is any reason to fear that my type will one day rule the world and abolish the opium of the masses. No, we (actually there aren't many in my little box) will probably remain in our marginal little corner forever. I know this might not reassure everyone — many being addicted to their fears — but that's all I can offer. Anyway, if the police want to ban Seksualiti Merdeka they really ought to have a better reason like the fact that they are bowing (on hands and knees) to the Perkasa-PAS Youth bandwagon. Did I just mention that I identify politically with the Pakatan Rakyat coalition? Well I do, that is, until such time that I feel that members of the coalition really have no clue what a democracy is in its essence. Surely they don't think that democracy is merely an opportunistic slogan to take power, and a numbers game best won by pandering to the fears and desires of the majority? While Perkasa's stand does not surprise me in the least — it being consistent with their role in the regime's low intensity warfare — I wonder how PAS Youth squares their call for democracy and reform with their stand against fundamental liberties. That is the fundamental liberties of some members of the Malaysian community. If PAS Youth cannot make a distinction between their personal religious views and a commitment to democratic governance, then they are little more than social fascists. If PAS Youth cannot bear that others have pleasures that they choose not to enjoy, then they are little more than envy-ridden wannabe tyrants. And if PAS Youth does not uphold the secular nature of state, then supporting them is tantamount to helping the hangman tighten the noose around my little liberal neck. Yesterday, I was incensed that those aligned with the current government put a proverbial gun to Aziz Bari's head — and by doing so held us all to ransom. Today I feel that those aligned to parties I have supported all these years have put a gun to my head. Worse still, I feel that in wanting a game-changing politics and knowing that I could never vote for the venial Barisan Nasional, I have put a gun to my own head. Yes, I readily admit. I am responsible for this gun (or pick-axe if you like a colourful allusion to the assassination of Leon Trotsky instead) placed between my eyes. Will there be redemption? Will anyone in the Pakatan Rakyat speak up against the social fascists in their ranks? Cannot someone in PAS, the DAP or PKR instruct these angry young men on what democrats stand for? What principles democrats abide by? Is the Youth wing so enamoured of their cultural war strategy that they can't see beyond their pious noses to the prospect of change that everyone can embrace? And not just they change they want? Can Anwar, Mat Sabu or Lim Kit Siang explain what they mean by democracy? And do they intend to persecute LGBTs when they take Putrajaya? You may ask me why I am tainting them with the PAS Youth brush? Well it's simply because the future of the Pakatan Rakyat lies in precisely these wings. PAS Youth, PKR Youth, DAPSY… all these flapping wings. Pakatan Rakyat: are you democrats or fascists? (BN: no need to ask you folks, I know what the answer is.) Do your parties subscribe to democracy as a principle of governance? Don't your parties support internationally recognised standards of human rights? Or is someone going to stand up and rehash that old chestnut about how Asian values differ from Western values and so we can persecute those we have traditionally designated as a degraded other. There are quite a few intellectuals waiting in the wings you can wheel out to do your bidding on this score. I wait with bated breath. Perhaps on the Aziz Bari case the lines were clear — it was the script we have all come to know and love. It's the easy script of us and them, good guys and bad guys, Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional. But the campaign against, and subsequent banning of, the Seksualit Merdeka festival is proof of how inadequate this script is. Damn, really existing Malaysian politics is complicated. By the way, I don't want to lose sight of the persecution of Aziz Bari, nor of the real threat of violence that is emerging in our politics. But for today I want to register my deepest despair that those I had pinned my hopes for change on might not be who I think they are. And they might not be who they say they are. I use the word "despair" very purposefully. Because despair is a poison that rips out the innards of a democracy and allows it to be hijacked by all manner of power hungry cynics and opportunists. And despair would be a very poor end following the personal joys I felt at the conclusion of the 2008 general election. * Sharaad Kuttan is a journalist in search of a nice frock with the word "AMBIVALENT" embroided in sequins across it. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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