A fiery student leader in the 1970s, Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali said today the issues championed by students activists today paled in comparison with those he fought for 40 years ago.

NONEAs such, he said, students today should not resort to street demonstrations and that such acts are no longer relevant today.

"I'm not saying (their cause) is not justified at all.

"(But) things are different today, from when the country was less developed, commodity prices were unstable, poverty was abundant and... the threat of communism was strong," Ibrahim said.

Speaking at a press conference today, the Malay rights NGO leader said street demonstrations should be the last resort, even for Perkasa, because today there are more avenues to get one's point across.

“These students, they are dissatisfied so they lower a flag, when they haven’t even met with all parties yet... they haven’t met with us. We might even support them.

“Go step by step... the course must be right. Don’t wage war before anything even happens,” he said.

The matter of academic freedom, Ibrahim added, was also “unjustified” because the government was already in the process of making changes to the Universities and University Colleges Act to allow students greater freedom.

The Pasir Mas MP, who was a key player in the Baling demonstrations on poverty-stricken villagers, said in the 1970s students spoke up on “poverty and national issues like corruption and abuse of power”.

“I still strongly believe that students should play this role, but the methods should be different. Demonstrations are no longer relevant,” he said.

He added that today, students could engage in a more “intellectual and healthy” manner with leaders and the government.

No Faculty of Demonstrations in university

Commenting on the bloody New Year Day protest in front of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Ibrahim said “only one percent, at most, of the entire student body buy into these actions of creating chaos and acting aimlessly (membabi-buta)”.

“You enter university to study. If you just want to demonstrate, then don’t enter university. There is no Faculty of Demonstrations in the university,” he quipped.

Ibrahim also said that student activists should stop crying foul when university authorities and police take action against them as they had willfully broken regulations and the law.

“Don't say the authorities have been cruel. I never questioned being detained under the Internal Security Act. You know the law prohibits it but you do it anyway, so why make noise? Face the music,” he said.

He noted that as activists, students should also realise that the existence of prohibitive laws added to the “thrill” of their struggles.

“Any fighter must be prepared to take risks, the risks are part of the thrill. If I was (UPSI student leader) Adam Adli, I would just drop out of university, since his university is bad and doesn’t afford freedom.

“Just go to Australia, or the USA, where you are free to do whatever you want, but don’t go to China because students who gather there get shot,” he said in a tongue-in-cheek remark.

VIDEO | 9.30 mins


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