Ivory Tower Reform: A Vision for Higher Education in Malaysia is a bold and urgent exploration of Malaysia’s academic landscape, chronicling decades of critique, resistance, and calls for university reform. Drawing from hundreds of media statements, seminar reports and public interventions over more than three decades, this book highlights the painstaking work of The Malaysian Academic Movement (Pergerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia) or Gerak.
Ivory Tower Reform dissects the structural decay, political entanglements, and ideological conflicts that have shaped Malaysian universities since independence. With clarity and conviction, the editors unpack the tensions between academic freedom and state control, exposing how global pressures, neoliberal metrics, and internal political dynamics have undermined the integrity of higher education in Malaysia. More than just a critique, the book offers a holistic, historically grounded, and deeply human call for educational transformation—one rooted in justice, autonomy, sustainability, and inclusivity.
Accessible yet rigorous, this work is essential for scholars, policymakers, educators, and any Malaysian invested in reclaiming the university as a vital space for thought, change, and social purpose.
Foreword
Introduction
PART I: “SOUL-SEARCHING” AND POLITICAL WILL
1. Academias Search for the Truth
2. ‘The Criminalising and “Policing” of Academic Opinions
3. Reflections on the ‘Gilley Affair’: The Fight Against Intellectual Mediocrity
4. ‘Kangkung’ Professors and PhDs
5. Vacuous Minds Who Give PhDs a Bad Name
6. Reforming Higher Education in Malaysia: Combating Entrenched Patronage and Racial Politics
7. Townhall with the Minister of Education: Reforming Universities, and Addressing the Relevance of the Malaysian Council of Professors
8. From “New Malaysia” to “Malaysia Madani”: Hopes and Aspirations for Malaysian Academia
9. Malaysia Madani and Higher Education
10. Rescuing Malaysian Higher Education from Neoliberalism
11. Response to Higher Education Minister’s Statement on Hybrid Education
12. Budget 2023: A Higher Education Wishlist
13. Political Chokehold Perpetuates Unresolved Problems in the Education System
14. A Career Academic as a Higher Education Minister is Not the Solution
15. Mental ‘Bonsaisation Stifles Progress
16. Fresh University Graduates Lack Passion?: A Critique of BEM
17. The Crisis of Leadership in Malaysian Higher Education
18. Rebooting Malaysia’s Public Universities to Higher Standards May Be a Colossal Task
19. Are We Proud of Our Universities?
PART II: AUKU/UUCA, ACT 605, AND OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO UNIVERSITY REFORMS
20. About the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (Act 30) and Other Harsh Legislation
21. Debating the VUCA Amendments 2008
22. Why UUCA Amendments Need More Debate
23. University Rules Violate Freedom of Expression and Assembly
24. Reclaiming University Autonomy
25. The Resignation of Newly-Appointed Minister of Education Dr. Maszlee Malik
26. Judicial Review of the Appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu
27. The 4A Committee Appointment Cannot Simply Be Revoked
28. Review Government Control Over Higher Education Institutions
29. How Can Universities Be Agents of Change’ While UUCA Remains Law?
30. The Repeal of UUCA Will Not Nullify Public Universities
31. UUCA Amendment: The Real Meaning Behind Student Empowerment–Just About Granting Them the Right to Raise Funds
32. Alarm Over the PADU Personal Information Database
PART III: RANKINGS, INTELLECTUAL IMPERIALISM, AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
33. Opaque Data Policy: A Problem for Academic Research
34. Academic Cheating and Intellectual Theft
35. Our Varsities: Magnets For “Glorified High School Teachers”
36. Citation Stacking Is Academic Fraud
37. The Growing Menace of On-Campus Sexual Harassment
38. Acting Decisively Against Academic Misconduct in Varsities
39. Suggestions on How to Tackle ‘Creative Plagiarism’ in Academia
40. Addressing Intellectual Imperialism and Mediocrity in Malaysian Universities: Relevance of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
41. Alternatives to Global University Rankings (GURs)
42. Global University Rankings, a Form of Symbolic Violence
43. Radicalising the Debate on Global University Rankings
PART IV: SCHOLACTIVISM, STUDENT ACTIVISM, AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM
44. The State of Malaysian Scholar-Activism
45. Najibs Supporters Assault on Universiti Malaya Students
46. Gerak’s Letter to Barack Obama: Gaza, Epistemicide and Educide
47. Palestine Solidarity Week: Content and Context Matter
48. Give UMS Students Clean Water!
49. We Stand with the Pro-Democracy Defenders of Hong Kong
50. Overreaction and Knee-Jerk Reactions are Disappointing
51. Global Campaign for Academic Freedom
52. On the Intimidation, Silencing and Deplatforming of Scholars
53. A Statement on Mustafa Akyol
Conclusion
Bibliography
