RESULTS from some of the international university rankings were announced recently. Universiti Malaya (UM), the country’s oldest university, came out tops nationally once again. Globally, UM moved up some notches to be among the top 100 or 200, depending on which ranking you look at. It is still behind its contemporary, the National University of Singapore (NUS), which is among the top 10 or 20 in the world.
UM and NUS are about the same age. Why, then, does UM linger below NUS? The answer, it seems, has to with the difference in research support between the two. The research budget for NUS averages RM1bil. In stark contrast, UM has received only RM45mil a year for the last five years. Pittance!
