KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim urges the local institutes of higher learning not to go for ‘excellence without soul` as academic achievements must include the study of the community’s problems and current situation outside the campus.
Anwar, who is also the Minister of Finance, cited a university in the United States of America that is famous for its academic excellence but does not bother about its surrounding situation, where discrimination in religion and poverty prevail.
“The university should portray humanitarian values, be aware of what is happening outside, and evaluate race, religion, and economic problems in good faith,” he said at the ‘Temui Anwar’ session with university students held at the Dewan Tuanku Canselor University Malaysia Kelantan, Bachok Kelantan, today.
The Tambun Member of Parliament has also touched on how some individuals are very ‘reckless’ in exercising their political powers to the extent of legalising corruption and cheating by citing the ‘ayat Al-Quran’.
The prime minister said in 1999, when he was in Sungai Buloh prison, the then Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir had stopped all the aid provided for the religious school for reasons that the PAS sympathised with him (Anwar).
“Now the government helps the religious schools with immediate effect, putting aside the principle that they (leaders) are not the party candidates.
‘‘At the same time, the government helps the poor Malay, Chinese, and Tamil schools, including the needy people. The Unity Government consistently upholds the sovereignty of the Malay rulers and never questions Malay rights,” he said.
Anwar added, the Unity Government uses its power to raise the dignity of the people by instilling the meaning of humanitarian values and ‘freedom’ and subsequently hopes the young generation will stand up to uphold the religion and work hard for the nation.
Meanwhile, in the dialogue session with the prime minister, the students raised among them the banning of concerts held on campus, the current Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) that seems not popular among the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) school leavers, interns’ allowance, and insufficient facilities in the universities.
In response to the students’ questions, the prime minister said that he would bring the matter to the cabinet meeting next Wednesday to further look into it. –Malaysia World News
