USM student reps said to be under SB probe
Beh Lih YiPublished: Oct 22, 2004 4:58 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
Thirty-seven elected Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) student representatives have been told by the university authorities that they are under investigation by the special branch over their political stand.
Thirty-seven elected Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) student representatives have been told by the university authorities that they are under investigation by the special branch over their political stand.
Due to the investigation, the USM student representative council could not even be formed more than a month after the campus elections, carried out in local varsities nationwide on Sept 15.
The 'anti-establishment' camp won 19 seats in USM as opposed to the 'pro-establishment's' 18 seats in last month's campus polls.
Malaysiakini understand that USM student affairs department vice-chancellor Assoc Prof Dr Jamaluddin Mohaiadin has called for a meeting with all student representatives on Oct 7.
According to student sources, Jamaluddin has asked the students to state their political stand during the two-hour meeting, saying that he wanted to clarify a report in the latest issue of the USM campus newsletter that the university is controlled by the 'anti-establishment' group.
"The VC said he wanted to know the identities of the 19 'anti-establishment' and the 18 'pro-establishment' students, so he asked us to split ourselves into two groups," said one of the student representatives on condition of anonymity.
However, none of them declared their allegiance to the 'anti-establishment' faction.
This is said to irk Jamaluddin and when he recognised a student leader in the 'anti-establishment' faction, he started to question him.
"Give me a reason why you are supportive of the government. If you cannot give a satisfactory answer that means you are pro-opposition," Jamaluddin allegedly told this 'anti-establishment' student leader.
Second time
Following that, the 37 students were required to ink a document which gave them two options, to declare themselves 'pro-government/ aspirant' or 'pro-opposition/ idealist'.
Out of the 37 students, three chose not to sign the document while the others all declared they were in the 'pro-government' faction.
Jamaluddin then allegedly told the students that these documents will be handed over to the special branch for "investigation".
"He told us that as long as the special branch investigations has not been completed, we can't form the student representative council. He did not mention any time frame for the probe," the student added.
Students are prohibited to be in association with any political party or association before obtaining an approval from the VC under section 15 of the Universities and University Colleges Act.
Jamaluddin could not be reached for comment since yesterday.
This is the second time elected USM student leaders were asked to declare their political stand.
Last year, Jamaluddin was reported as saying that the move was to enable the authorities to "work easier" and to allow him to know the student council's "next development".
'Bad quality' photos
Meanwhile, in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 24 student representatives said to be aligned to the 'anti-establishment' group had received letters from the university authority requesting them to explain why they made amendments to their election campaign posters.
It is learnt that these students have replaced the poster photos taken by the university-designated photographer with their own photo after they found the photos were of bad quality
"The digital photos provided by the university was badly processed that we cannot recognise the candidates," the student complained.
The university's letters were sent out to the students in two batches. Thirteen of them were let off with a warning after the university was satisfied with their explanation but the status of 11 were still not clear.
'Pro-government' candidates took control of most of the major universities in this year's campus elections, despite being marred by boycotts and allegations of irregularities by their rivals.
Due to the investigation, the USM student representative council could not even be formed more than a month after the campus elections, carried out in local varsities nationwide on Sept 15.
The 'anti-establishment' camp won 19 seats in USM as opposed to the 'pro-establishment's' 18 seats in last month's campus polls.Malaysiakini understand that USM student affairs department vice-chancellor Assoc Prof Dr Jamaluddin Mohaiadin has called for a meeting with all student representatives on Oct 7.
According to student sources, Jamaluddin has asked the students to state their political stand during the two-hour meeting, saying that he wanted to clarify a report in the latest issue of the USM campus newsletter that the university is controlled by the 'anti-establishment' group.
"The VC said he wanted to know the identities of the 19 'anti-establishment' and the 18 'pro-establishment' students, so he asked us to split ourselves into two groups," said one of the student representatives on condition of anonymity.
However, none of them declared their allegiance to the 'anti-establishment' faction.
This is said to irk Jamaluddin and when he recognised a student leader in the 'anti-establishment' faction, he started to question him.
"Give me a reason why you are supportive of the government. If you cannot give a satisfactory answer that means you are pro-opposition," Jamaluddin allegedly told this 'anti-establishment' student leader.
Second time
Following that, the 37 students were required to ink a document which gave them two options, to declare themselves 'pro-government/ aspirant' or 'pro-opposition/ idealist'.
Out of the 37 students, three chose not to sign the document while the others all declared they were in the 'pro-government' faction.
Jamaluddin then allegedly told the students that these documents will be handed over to the special branch for "investigation".
"He told us that as long as the special branch investigations has not been completed, we can't form the student representative council. He did not mention any time frame for the probe," the student added.
Students are prohibited to be in association with any political party or association before obtaining an approval from the VC under section 15 of the Universities and University Colleges Act.
Jamaluddin could not be reached for comment since yesterday.
This is the second time elected USM student leaders were asked to declare their political stand.
Last year, Jamaluddin was reported as saying that the move was to enable the authorities to "work easier" and to allow him to know the student council's "next development".
'Bad quality' photos
Meanwhile, in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 24 student representatives said to be aligned to the 'anti-establishment' group had received letters from the university authority requesting them to explain why they made amendments to their election campaign posters.
It is learnt that these students have replaced the poster photos taken by the university-designated photographer with their own photo after they found the photos were of bad quality "The digital photos provided by the university was badly processed that we cannot recognise the candidates," the student complained.
The university's letters were sent out to the students in two batches. Thirteen of them were let off with a warning after the university was satisfied with their explanation but the status of 11 were still not clear.
'Pro-government' candidates took control of most of the major universities in this year's campus elections, despite being marred by boycotts and allegations of irregularities by their rivals.
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