[UPDATED] PM: Academics must defend their views without govt constraints

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has urged academic staff at Malaysian universities to be free to express their views without government constraints, emphasizing the need for universities to foster an environment conducive to inquiry. He stated that while certain civil service regulations apply to academics in public universities, their views should not be stifled due to their status as government employees.

At the Forum Ilmuwan Malaysia Madani Series 13, titled "The Future of National Education and the Universities and University Colleges Act (AUKU)," Anwar highlighted that universities must be ready to fully open up space for research and academic discourse, provided academics can defend their arguments effectively. He stressed the importance of building a fully open space for research, given that academics are willing to rigorously defend their viewpoints.

Anwar's remarks coincided with his directive for universities to immediately grant students complete freedom, bypassing the formal abolition of the Universities and University Colleges Act (AUKU). He called on university leadership to promptly relax regulations that unnecessarily limit student expression and to cease all non-criminal disciplinary actions against students.