“Are you running a higher education centre, kindergarten or tahfiz school?” Siti Kasim asks UM
HUMAN rights activist and lawyer Siti Kasim has slammed the eleventh-hour cancellation of the “Malaysia’s Identity Crisis: Is Malaysia a Secular or an Islamic Country” forum slated for tonight (Dec 17) at Universiti Malaya (UM) while admitting that this could be sparked by her role as a speaker at the event.
Stetting that she came to know of the event’s postponement which she interpreted as “cancelled” late last night (Dec 16), she said she would not blame the organiser – the UM Association of New Youth (UMANY) – but faulted the management of Malaysia’s oldest public university for deeming her as “a controversial figure, hence shouldn’t be invited”.
“They don’t want the UM students to hear alternative views that I could have triggered in the students’ mind,” justified Siti Kasim in a YouTube video.
“Similarly, I heard Fahmi Redza’s (human rights defender, satirical artist and filmmaker) talk was also brough down two to three days ago while he was livestreaming on TikTok a Student Power lecture session at UM.”
For context, the said forum was originally scheduled for 7.30pm to 9pm tonight (Dec 17) at the Auditorium 2 of UM’s Engineering Faculty.
Aside from Siti Kasim, it will also feature two other speakers in UM’s very own constitutional law expert Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi and Airin Hafizah Khusaini who is the National Union of Muslim Students’ (PKPIM) vice-president of women affairs.
The Orang Asli advocate went on to remind UM not to forget that “we’re living in the age of social media” as she reflected on the type of higher education that UM is offering.
“Are you running a kindergarten or a tahfiz school or what? You only want your students to hear what you want them to hear or are you getting directive from somebody who doesn’t want the students to hear alternative views?” fumed Siti Kasim.
“I’m so glad that I’m not a product of a local (public) university who is trying to stop people who can think outside the box to express their views openly. They want sheep in Malaysia, children who grew up incapable of thinking outside the box … shame on you, UM!”
“How dare you deem me as controversial just because I dare to speak up outside the box … You’ve totally lost your dignity by shutting down the event just because I dare to speak up on subjects that are not mainstream or outside the norm.
“Or just because I dare to speak up against the authorities or religious people when in actual fact, I’m just an ordinary lawyer who speak up my mind.
“Well done, Madani because if you’re behind this, you’re bound to suffer in the next election … I dread to imagine what type of products UM will be churning out in the future.” – Dec 17, 2024
“Are you running a kindergarten or a tahfiz school or what? You only want your students to hear what you want them to hear or are you getting directive from somebody who doesn’t want the students to hear alternative views?” fumed Siti Kasim.
“I’m so glad that I’m not a product of a local (public) university who is trying to stop people who can think outside the box to express their views openly. They want sheep in Malaysia, children who grew up incapable of thinking outside the box … shame on you, UM!”
“How dare you deem me as controversial just because I dare to speak up outside the box … You’ve totally lost your dignity by shutting down the event just because I dare to speak up on subjects that are not mainstream or outside the norm.
“Or just because I dare to speak up against the authorities or religious people when in actual fact, I’m just an ordinary lawyer who speak up my mind.
“Well done, Madani because if you’re behind this, you’re bound to suffer in the next election … I dread to imagine what type of products UM will be churning out in the future.” – Dec 17, 2024
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