Columnist faces police probe over ‘apartheid academy’ comment

 

FMT:

Columnist faces police

probe over ‘apartheid

academy’ comment

FMT Reporters-24 May 2024, 11:28 PM

Andrew Sia had criticised the protest by UiTM’s student council against calls to admit non-Bumiputera students to its cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme.

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Razarudin Husain said the investigation was over intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of the peace, and the use of insulting language.

PETALING JAYA: The police are investigating Malaysiakini columnist Andrew Sia over an opinion piece about Universiti Teknologi Mara in which he labelled it an “apartheid academy”.

Sia’s column had criticised a protest by UiTM’s student council against calls to admit non-Bumiputera students to the university’s cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme.

Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said the investigation against Sia was over intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of the peace under the Penal Code, and the use of insulting words under the Minor Offences Act, Harian Metro reported.

Razarudin said 14 police reports had been lodged about the opinion piece as of 6pm today.

He said the police would obtain information from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission for details about the writer.

Yesterday, Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh said Sia’s column had depicted UiTM as a “legacy of hateful and cruel Malay racism”. He demanded that Malaysiakini take down the article and for Sia to issue an apology.

UiTM has been in the headlines after the Malaysian Medical Association recently urged it to temporarily open its cardiothoracic surgery programme to non-Bumiputeras amid a shortage of specialists.

In response, UiTM’s student council urged all students to wear black for several days last week in protest against the calls. It said it was intent on firmly defending the university’s founding objectives as an institution for Bumiputeras.