(SEAPA/IFEX) – The following is a SEAPA letter to Professor Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak and Associate Professor Dato’ Jamaluddin Mohaiadin, of the Science University of Malaysia: January 6, 2005 Professor Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak Vice Chancellor Office of the Vice Chancellor Science University of Malaysia 11800 USM Penang, Malaysia Tel: 604 657 3987 Fax: 604 […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The following is a SEAPA letter to Professor Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak and Associate Professor Dato’ Jamaluddin Mohaiadin, of the Science University of Malaysia:
January 6, 2005
Professor Dato’ Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
Vice Chancellor
Office of the Vice Chancellor
Science University of Malaysia
11800 USM
Penang, Malaysia
Tel: 604 657 3987
Fax: 604 656 5401
E-mail: vc@usm.my
Associate Professor Dato’ Jamaluddin Mohaiadin
Deputy Vice Chancellor
Student Affairs and Development Division
Science University of Malaysia
11800 USM
Penang, Malaysia
Tel: 604 653 3106 or 653 3888 ext. 3449
Fax: 604 657 3761
E-mail: dvc_stu@notes.usm.my
Dear Sirs,
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), a leading advocate for freedom of expression in the region, is gravely troubled by the Science University’s rising restrictions on students’ rights to organize and express themselves.
In a 31 December 2004 statement, the Center for Independent Journalism/Malaysia (CIJ) said third-year mass communication student Ali Bukhari Amir was grilled by an investigative committee of the Science University of Malaysia on 13 December for two hours. The student was said to have been questioned over articles he wrote for the campus newspaper and an opposition party organ.
According to CIJ, no legal charge was brought against him but the committee nonetheless warned him not to talk about the questioning. Supposedly, he was also told that future articles would have to be cleared by the university authorities first.
Both articles–one published in an opposition party’s publications and the other in campus newspaper “Berita Kampus”–questioned the propriety of campus activities and the fairness of the campus council election.
In November, the university fined a third year journalism student, Soh Sook Hwa, for campaigning during the general elections earlier in the year. Soh is expected to be suspended from holding office. She is president of the university’s Chinese Language Society.
In 2003, the Chinese Language Society of the university was suspended for a year because its members were involved in campaigning against a law that allows indefinite detention without trial. In 2002, Lee Yen Ting, among others, was suspended for a semester and fined for picketing against a controversial policy that allegedly threatens native language education.
In 2001, Choo Chon Kai, a top chemistry student, was suspended for a semester for possessing and selling badges protesting a detention-without-trial law.
All the above cases point to an environment that is hostile to people’s rights to organize and speak their minds. SEAPA looks at this with much concern, and implores the university to be more respectful of its students’ rights, both as members of the academic community, and as citizens entitled to rights and freedoms that Malaysia, in international conventions, supposedly espouses.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Sincerely,
Roby Alampay
Executive Director
