how long must this go on?

The recent news of the slip of University Malaya in the Times Higher Education Supplement ranking from the 89th place last year to the 169th place this year is nothing but shocking and highly embarassing.

One wonders how an institution which was once regarded as one of the top universities - if not in the world - but in Asia could have slipped lowly in the short span of 1 year.

The fact that the UM is the country's premier university makes this drop in ranking even more troubling. If such a 'renown' academia was ranked so badly globally, what hopes are there for the other less 'renown' universities and colleges in Malaysia? How would they compare to other universities overseas?

And what does it say about the quality of the graduates these institutions produces? What kind of signals are we sending to the parents who sent their children to these institutions for their further studies about the quality of the education which they are receiving? Are they going to be well-equipped to face the challenges of the increasingly borderless world?

More importantly, how does this reflect on the graduates from these institutions which are supposed to be the next generation of the country's leaders, thinkers, movers and shakers? What does it bid for the future of Malaysia?

What puzzles me even more is the seemingly lack of appropriate response from the government leaders concerning this matter; the Prime Minister said he was "very sad" over the news and - true to the typical Malaysian way - immediately after that he added that "sometimes, the criteria used in the rankings may differ from what we have set for our own institutions of higher learning" and that ours are "mainly focused on human resource development".

How could the Prime Minister only felt "very sad" upon hearing this news; the lack of indignant and fiery emotions the Malaysian public are normally treated to whenever the issues concerning the political, social and economic position of the Malays cropped up were sorely lacking this time round.

Why aren't the same urgency in the efforts to revive the NEP trumpeted during the previous UMNO General Assembly are exhibited here to root out the main causes of the drop in rankings? Why aren't the UMNO Youths shouting their usual brand of rhetorics to ask the government to stem this decay of our public educational institution?

The Deputy Education Minister was even more andamant when he said that "there is obviously some inconsistency in the ranking criteria" and claimed that the drop in UM rankings is "inconceivable."

These are all hardly comforting words for the Malaysian public especially for those who wished for a radical and complete overhaul of our slowly decaying education system.

Why are we quicker to dismiss the rankings as irrelevant to our country's aims rather than to examine the rankings carefully and used it to reflect on our educational standards?

Granted, Malaysians are generally more inclined to reject any comments or criticisms which came from the West but is the West really bent on wrecking havoc with our political, economic and social affairs?

It is not beneficial to us in the long run to continue to label everything with a Western tag on it as attempts to destabilize our country and a threat to national security and racial harmony. What kind of national security or racial harmony are we talking about? And for that matter, whose security and harmony are we referring to?

I believe that there have never been a documented case of constructive criticisms causing severe physical harm to anyone. If there is, then I believe it is not the fault of the criticism but due to the defficiency of those on the receiving end to openly accept and thoroughly examine the contents of the criticisms.

Besides, whatever happens to "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me?"

As for his argument that we may have our own standards, criterias and aims for our universities and that we are focusing more on human resource development, I think the ranking is not so myopic so as to list the university based solely on its technological prowess.

A university can only be as excellent as the people studying and working within it and those governing it; they are the prime driving force to propel the university to greater heights.

And if the rankings used that as a measure of a university's position, then doesn't it apply to all countries? Therefore, issue whether the criterion used is suitable in the Malaysian context should not have arisen in the first place because wherever you might be, a dilligent, resourceful and creative workforce is a common denominator by which we could judge all institutions of higher learning.

In this era of intense of globalization, we cannot afford to produce graduates only to fit our Malaysian political, economic and social moulds, as pressing as the need might be to us. To do so will greatly put us at a disadvantage to other nations as they prepare to embrace the waves of globalization.

To still cling on to the mentality of a "jaguh kampung" or a "big fish in a large pond" only serves to satisfy our ego but does not produce any practical results.

It is a common fallacy among Malaysians to expect that universities with greater technological facilities will automatically fare better than those without. It is also a common fallacy among Malaysians to think that rankings, awards, reports derived from the West are always insidious and contains hidden agendas of recolonization.

Of course, we always need to be on our feet and be mindful of Western maneuveres but we need not turn it into a habit which eventually becomes a knee-jerk reflex reaction because when we are so consumed in trying to read between the lines, we may end up missing the whole story.

And in the end, we might risk being left in the dust.