Academic freedom. Two noble words. And very difficult to fault. Yet, somehow, it remains a problem in Malaysia.

COMMENT

By Wong Mun Loong

We have seen Azmi Sharom, a UM lecturer, being charged for sedition. Why? Because he offered a view and exercised his academic freedom.

If we were to look back on our history, we would find many a public intellectual, including the late Usman Awang and Samad Ismail, experiencing the wrath of the colonial authorities and the sharp end of the Sedition Ordinance.

Somehow, history repeats itself and we are seeing the increased use of sedition charges against commentators, politicians, journalists and other members of our society.

Sadly, our body politic has not matured enough and we still cling on to this colonial legacy like Linus hanging onto his security blanket.

When are we going to be mature enough and practise, as our present prime minister has suggested, being the worlds best democracy?

Our prime minister in the last week has sought to impress upon us to be more educated, more global, more open, and yet somehow his words and pronouncements appear to be falling on desert land. There is a flurry of activity and then the new normal sets in and the landscape returns to being barren once again.

There are good things associated with academic freedom the exploration of ideas, the stretching of our imagination and the quest to be innovative. Academic freedom allows us to ask difficult questions and address them.

Continued here:

Should academic freedom be absolute?