Troubled world of Malay academia – how to make it shipshape
Every once in a while, like every year, some academics, actual or self-appointed, working or retired, will set off a firestorm with some controversial take on topics guaranteed to create a public uproar.
In Malaysia, the easiest way to create a public uproar is to touch on race or religion, or both.
Given the large number of Malaysian universities and the pressure their academics face to publish or perish, what passes for scholarly research can at times be controversial.
Right now, we’re knee-deep in yet another controversy. And it involves ships again!
I’m puzzled why ships tend to figure prominently in these controversies. If you remember last year’s controversy, that was about ships too.
I’ll spare you the actual substance of the current controversy itself. I’ll just generously describe it as an honest, well-meaning effort by an academic to uphold the dignity of race and religion.
Given the support but also the brickbats that the said academic received, it’s…
