TheStar-ACMS Conference: Impressions

The full report on the recently concluded TheStar-ACMS Conference on Globalising Higher Education in Malaysia can be found here. This post summarizes my main impressions of that conference. But before I go into the details, I should make a disclosure here for the purposes of transparency.

I was a fellow at the Asian Center for Media Studies (ACMS) in the early part of 2004, just before I left for Duke. I wrote a series of articles examining and analysing the 2004 elections for the Star as part of my undertaking as a fellow. I also have good relations with Datuk Ng Poh Tip, the executive director of ACMS, and Dr. Lee Kam Hing, a well-respected academic (formerly of the UM) and one of the brains behind the setting up of ACMS. Having said that, I will try to be objective in this post regarding the aforementioned conference.

Firstly, I think that such a conference was both timely and necessary. Some of our more cynical readers might think that this kind of conference was a lot of hot air (and a way for ACMS and the Star to make some money on the side) but one has to understand that the process of change usually occurs slowly in Malaysia. By bringing together different academics from internationally reknowned institutions such as Harvard and the University of Sydney, local politicians and policy makers (such as our DPM and Higher Education Minister as well as our VCs) can once again be reminded of how far behind we are in terms of higher education and what needs to be done to rectify the current situation.

I think that while we have shed off our colonial shackles for almost 50 years, we are (or at least some of us) still more inclined to listen to a 'white man' from Harvard or Cambridge, than a fellow Malaysian who is as knowledgable and articulate on these issues. That being said, it was nice to see our very own Prof. Azmi Sharom as one of the panelists and Prof. Wang Gungwu giving the keynote.

Secondly, it was also a way for the strengths and weaknesses of our local universities to be analysed and publicly debated in a setting that is relatively 'safe'. There are many ways of making the weaknesses of our local universities known. This blog and other forums out there is but one method. Policy makers in Malaysia don't necessarily respond well with complaints and criticisms being shoved down their throat. But if these criticisms are pointed out in a non-threatening and analytical way, such as is the case in these conferences, it is more likely that our policy makers would be inspired to take action. Of course, we also need push factors like members of the public making hay at the appropriate times (e.g. when the former UM VC pasted billboards all over town proclaiming the 'achievements' of UM).

We need conferences like these to be part of the deliberative process of change and understanding. However, the downside of such conferences is that too much is done to avoid politically sensitive issues such as some of the causes of why our local universities are not performing up to standard - recruitment and promotion policies, research incentives, the role of UUCA and Akujanji, and so on.

This not wanting to tread on toes mentality is just not restricted criticism directed at the public universities. I would have liked to see a session on the future of private higher institutions of learning in Malaysia (and not the marketing overseas session that they had). Will these institutions continue to be money making degree churning institutions or will they have genuine research activities? This question is particularly relevant to those full fledged private universities such as Monash and Nottingham who have set up shop here in Malaysia or who have licenses to issue their own degrees such as LimKokWing.

I certainly would have liked to attend this conference. I've not met or heard Wang Gangwu before so that would have been a treat. It would also have been interesting to see the interactions between the different panelists. And it would have been a good opportunity for me to catch up with some old friends and perhaps make new acquaintances. My feeling is that this won't be the last conference on higher education that ACMS-The Star will organize. Maybe next time.

The full program details and presentations can be found here.