AUKU: Ringing in the changes

BY IAN YEE
Monday, 4 August 2008

Let's say we have a local university student, one of those delinquents who's spent all his life struggling to relate with his peers or to muster any interest towards his studies because they both seem so trivial. And one day a lecturer discovers he has an aptitude for math, and in time, he turns out to be a math genius, like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting.

The lecturer encourages him to sign up with one of those high-IQ societies like Mensa to develop his talents and to help him fit in with some people like himself. Sadly, that can't happen.

Now let's say we have another student, from one of the gazillion university colleges we have around these days, who dreams of being the Dian Fossey of Malaysia. But instead of wanting to protect gorillas in the mist, she wants to defend, let's see, maybe kittens in the longkangs.

Maybe she's tired of finding poor little kitties starving on the roadside and ending up being part of our new car paintjobs. She hears about the SPCA, wants to get some of their brochures and maybe even join them as part of her journey to becoming an animal activist. Well, that can't happen either.

Then we have us, your friendly, caring youth writers who, just like yourselves (*cough*), have an unceasing desire to learn.

One of us decides to sign up for an online learning course to get a Masters in Something, (probably online/multimedia journalism, that's kinda like the in thing now) but being part of a trade union, that too, can't happen.

The University and University Colleges Act (UCCA) of 1971 has (supposedly) protected naive students for decades from being manipulated for selfish, trivial causes; especially back in a time where students didn't have tools like the Internet (or even satellite TV) to properly research or even know enough about some of these causes before they commit to them. In other words, the Act was meant to prevent students from being caught up in fights that weren't their own.

But the drawbacks of that act are that it produces scenarios like those we've just cooked up, which are just three of many possible situations students or potential students might face because of the Act.

Some portions of the act criticised lately are that university and university college (yes, that includes UCSI, Sunway, SEGi, etc.) students cannot be affiliated with any society, trade union, organisation or political party, be it Mensa, the Rotary Club, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) or even the SPCA.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin
Students also can't be in possession of any publications such as books, writings, seals and banners relating to any organisation, body or group of persons. So, those cute SPCA brochures with the adorable animals on them are out of the question. Plus, the term student includes those undergoing postgraduate, distance-learning, off-campus and online learning programs, which means we here at R.AGE can forget about doing our masters part-time too.

And yeah, did we mention that the Act involves criminal charges? Better start burning those SPCA brochures like they were the little Red Book before they haul you into jail. At least technically, according to the letter of the law set out by the Act, they can.

Thankfully, the Government has realised that times have changed. When appointed in March, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said that the Act needed to be studied as some of the provisions were restricting creativity among students.

And true enough, last week, amendments to the act were tabled in Parliament, and will be further debated in the next meeting.

The highlight of the amendments (at least those pertaining to students, as most of the act actually governs university and university college administrations) is that students are now allowed to be affiliated to societies, groups and organizations outside of their schools, as long as they are not political or unlawful in nature.

Khong Pui Yee
Secondly, any offences will also not be considered criminal, so if the amendments do go through, that probably means less people will be going to jail. Instead, the universities will deal with offences using good old fashioned disciplinary action.

But for students like Khong Pui Yee, who recently completed her degree at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and will be pursuing her masters in international studies in the University of Sheffield, UK, the changes couldn't have come sooner, even though she still has her reservations about the amendments.

The act will still be very restricting even after the amendments. Now they're telling us we can join other organisations, just not political parties. That's just a sweetener, because it's not quite the freedom some students want.

But hopefully it won't just end here, but it will be the start of something new, said the 22-year-old.

Pui Yee has long doubted the logic of the Act, particularly why it targets students. When talking about one of the original purposes of the Act which is to protect students from being manipulated for political reasons, she said: If students are so gullible, why are they the ones getting an education? Wouldn't that mean other members of the public are just as gullible? Why then are students prevented from being political, which is basically what the Act does, while somebody who works for a McDonald's doesn't have to be? it doesn't make sense, she said.

The funny thing about the act is that most students don't know that it applies to ALL universities, be it a public university, private university or university college. It is called the University and Universitry Colleges Act after all.

UCSI (University College Sedaya International) student council president Stephanie Liew was equally surprised when we informed her of the fact.

I had no idea that students like us couldn't join societies and all that outside of the school, she said. But as far as I know, the students at UCSI don't normally have a lot of affiliations with other societies outside, apart from religious organisations and activities like churches or Buddhist temples.

The school has never really warned me about such issues either (regarding the Act). Their main concern has always been safety, that no matter what activities we get involved in outside the college, we keep it safe.

Pui Yee too had no idea that the Act included private universities like UTAR, even though there was a clause when she registered for the university which stated that students cannot be politically aligned.

This is really news to me. I've been part of Amnesty International for a year now! Plus I have been receiving their journals, she said.

Ironically, both Pui Yee and Stephanie believe that those in public universities are much more politically aware and active, even though it seems that the Act is more strictly enforced there.

I admire the fact that they (public uni students) have such will and passion for the country, said Stephanie. It's important that we have such people in the country so that we can move forward. Most students in private unis are mostly just into studies and having fun.

Pui Yee also posited: All of us students should be more aware about such things now, especially with the Internet. We have no excuse not to be informed about what's going on in the country.

Neither has the country any excuse to ignore its' students' opinions. The fact that the Government is willing to consider amending the Act is an encouraging sign, but we we won't know until at least the next Parliamentary session how much the Government is willing to open up to students' opinions. And should the Government decide to open up to the idea of a student body that does not require such restrictions, the students themselves should respond to their faith in us by producing for the country some Will Huntings, Dian Fosseys and, if possible, highly-educated youth writers.