The Malaysian Insight

A NEW council of academics, which replaces the disbanded National Professors’ Council (MPN), will be free of politics, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said.

He said the appointments of professors to the new body would be based on merit to ensure they were truly independent and capable of helping the government, instead of becoming “government spokesmen”.

Citing some examples, he said several professors had made statements against PH in the past, in favour of Barisan Nasional.

Among them was a remark by a professor in the council’s political cluster, who had called for the execution of people who “tarnished” Malaysia’s reputation overseas or cooperated with the US Department of Justice.

Hanipa did not name the professor but said the partiality of professors in the MPN made it necessary to disband the council.

The current Pakatan Harapan administration decided in May to disband MPN because it was found that some professors were pro-BN.

“We think it is not right for them to be in the council. We don’t even want those pro-PH to be in the council. We want academics who are truly independent,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during question time this morning.

Hanipa was responding to a question from Dr Rusnah Aluai (PH-Tangga Batu).

In a supplementary question, she had asked if the government planned to recruit experienced academics who were “genuine and not government brownnosers” into think tanks.

Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali (PH-Bagan Serai) concurred, saying that many senior professors were good in their respective fields, suggesting that they be taken out of retirement for their expertise.

“It should not be ‘sebab nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga’ (a drop of indigo dye, the whole container of milk is spoiled),” he said.

Hanipa said the government was urged not to just disband MPN, so last month it was decided that a new body be set up to replace it.

“But the new entity has to be free of politics. I agree with Bagan Serai…but the ‘nila’ (dye) problem, especially if it is blue,” he said, making a reference to the colour of BN.

Hanipa also took a question from RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong), who asked if professors in the past were appointed because of their political affiliations rather than their qualifications.

“Some professors have not contributed to nation-building, but they were instead used for propaganda, to influence people into supporting BN blindly,” Rayer said.

Hanipa said when academics earned their professorships, they were entitled to be part of the council.

“The government is not going to check how they obtained their qualifications, although it is evident that some are on BN’s side.”