Sultan: Institutions must stay independent

PUTRAJAYA: Education, administration, judiciary, regulatory and enforcement agencies and institutions have been reminded to be independent and strong.

Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah said leaders and administrators placed by the public in positions of trust should act as reliable trustees and perform their duty with integrity.

“They should recognise the importance of preserving and strengthening our institutions and maintaining their integrity and independence,” he said in his speech at the World Islamic Countries/University Lea­ders Summit 2015 yesterday.

The Sultan said stress tests for institutions are the truest measures of whether they were able to weather the storm.

“Because once lost, the trustee fails his or her test and it will be difficult to regain the trust, integrity and independence of our institutions, be it in education, administration, the judiciary, regulatory and enforcement agencies, and even the monarchy,” he said.

The Sultan hoped that leaders and administrators would continue to strengthen the country’s institutional quality and not let the capabilities, integrity and independence of national institutions be undermined.

He also said that universities as a humanistic institution should not only produce individuals with broad knowledge and critical intelligence but also those with moral decency and social sensitivity.

“It ought to be an institution that can fundamentally develop and even transform human beings, both materially and spiritually.

“However, I would argue that this traditional humanistic role of universities has changed since the onset of the Industrial Revolution.

“It has increasingly diverged from its historical mission as a place of human transformation by seeking knowledge and understanding for their own sake, towards becoming a place for training graduates solely to meet the needs of our industries and businesses,” he added.