Aggrieved UTM students seek Suhakam's help
David Yeo, 22, a final year engineering student and group spokesperson, said the students want Suhakam to be aware of their plight. They also want Suhakam to conduct an inquiry into the matter.
About 30 students from the UTM main campus in Skudai, Johor will travel to Kuala Lumpur to submit the memorandum at Suhakam's office at 10am tomorrow.
"Representatives from other public universities who are concerned about developments in UTM will also be present," Yeo added.
Recently, several groups of students from UTM alleged there was mismanagement in the campus elections. The students claimed that ballot boxes were tampered with during the elections. Also, nominations of some candidates were made under questionable circumstances.
Two weeks ago, about 400 students demanded for an open dialogue with their vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mohamad Zulkifli Mohamad Ghazali.
UTM authorities however did not respond to their memorandum, insisting they would not entertain the students' objections as the election process was democratic and transparent.
Show-cause letter
The students also plan to highlight the plight of two former student council members, Mohd Mushriff Abdullah and Ng Tee Neng, who were served with show-cause letters from the university administration last Thursday.
They are being censured for airing their grievances and allegations to the media.
"We hope the university's administration will retract the show-cause letters as they were only expressing the grievances of the students," Yeo said.
Mohd Mushriff and Ng were quoted by the New Straits Times in a report about the UTM student council. In it, they claimed that there was foul play in the campus elections.
The show-cause letter is demanding that the duo explain their reason for giving statements to the press, failing which they will be charged under the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971, at a university tribunal.
