Suara Siswa UM is a coalition of student associations at the University of Malaysia. This group includes UMANY, Demokrat UM, and Angkatan Mahasiswa UM. The organization recently criticized the police for intervening in their academic activities in order to please the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The university allows students’ associations to approve certain academic activities. In November, UMANY approved Professor Ho Ming-sho of National Taiwan University, to give an academic lecture on the topic of, “Reflections on Hong Kong and the Taiwan Social Movement. However, the political police of Malaysia questioned the organization and threatened the event.
UMANY approved Dr. Wu Ruiren, a researcher at Academia Sinica (the National Academy of the Republic of China) to conduct another speech event in later November. The topic was the impact of nationalism in China. The university rejected the organization’s facility application.
Suara Siswa UM felt that the political policing was due to the fact that these topics touched the politics of Hong Kong and Taiwan and thus got on the CCP’s nerves.
UMANY President Liao Yanghong said, “China has more and more influence over Malaysia. They don’t like any external statement or discussion on China’s politics which does not follow the CCP’s position. They have indirectly interfered with our society many times.”
He also pointed out that UMANY’s events related to Hong Kong, from June to now, including both gathering to support the Hong Kong people as well as speeches by people from Hong Kong, were suppressed.
Suara Siswa UM criticized the police for intervening in students’ academic activities and asked why they seemed to take action on behalf of the CCP but did nothing to protect the Malaysians’ freedom of speech and academic freedom under the Constitution.
Source: Epoch Times, December 7, 2019
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/12/7/n11707414.htm