Khaled Nordin: UM brought graduate's protest on themselves

JOHOR BARU: Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin has called upon his alma mater, Universiti Malaya (UM), to look in the mirror following a protest by a graduate against its vice-chancellor, Datuk Abdul Rahim Hashim.

The former Johor mentri besar, who is a UM law alumnus, said he did not condone the actions of the student, Wong Yan Ke, as it was uncalled for and should be criticised.

"My concern that I have voiced about the organising of Malay Dignity Congress has come true.

"UM and public higher learning institutions, which aligned itself by having the congress, have brought its authorisation to a level (that's) difficult to defend," Khaled said in a statement here on Tuesday (Oct 15).

He added that UM's action has brought protest, objection and ridicule that have tarnished its good name where it would continue to haunt the university if there was no effort in clearing it immediately.

"As a UM alumnus, I urged the university's top leadership to come forward and convince this country to reaffirm its national mission from such a disgraceful episode.

"UM, as a national higher learning institute, should be free and stand firm with its intellectual tradition and become the heart of Malaysia forever," he said.

Earlier, UM lodged a police report against Wong, a civil engineering graduate, who staged a protest calling for the resignation of Abdul Rahim.

"The university will leave it to the police to investigate the incident and take the appropriate action," UM said in a statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday (Oct 15).

Student activist Wong displayed a placard on stage after he received his degree scroll on Monday (Oct 14).

A video clip of his protest has since gone viral with almost 73,000 views.

Denouncing the act as disrespectful to the ceremony, UM said Wong's action had disrupted the proceedings and protocol.

"As a world-renowned university, UM has always adhered to the right to free speech but it must be expressed at a proper venue and in a proper way. His actions were rude and unacceptable."

The varsity said it was the responsibility of UM to ensure that every graduate is not only educated but more importantly, is able to use that knowledge to become a "learned, respectful and polite individual".

Less than 24 hours ago, Wong posted a lengthy explanation on his Facebook – in Bahasa Melayu and Chinese – on the reasons behind his action.

He said it was done to protest the vice-chancellor's recent speech at the Malay Dignity Congress in Shah Alam.

He claimed that the speech was racially charged and as a graduate, he had a right to criticise and call for the individual to be courteous.

The Malay Dignity Congress was organised by four public universities – Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) – to discuss and find solutions to problems faced by the Malays.