Last week, a female student made a Facebook post about herself and her friend, both of whom received a scolding by their lecturer, when they attended her class. The posting which was called “Voice of an Indian student”, has gone viral.
The allegedly racist lecturer has been identified. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Malaya. Her Facebook page profile has since been deactivated. She studied at a mission school in Seremban and read electrical engineering at Monash University.
According to the Facebook posting, the professor reprimanded the two girls, and did not have the courtesy, to call them by their names. Instead, she addressed them by their ethnicity, and referred to them as “India”.
She said, “India…I don’t like Indians sitting together. Don’t you dare bring the UNITAR culture (UNITAR is a private Malaysian university) here! When Indians sit together, they will plagiarise and copy one another’s assignments. I recognise Indian traits.”
The abuse continued. She pointed to the student who had made the original Facebook posting and said, “You, in the red dress, sit in front, now”.
Pointing her finger elsewhere, she told the other student to “Sit there…I will ensure that the two of you, will not be in the same group for your assignment. I know what Indians are like.”
The lecturer then insulted the other Indian students in the class. She made no excuses for her behaviour and said that she did not mind if no one promoted University Malaya, because she preferred to teach smaller classes.
This professor was alleged to have been abusive and confrontational, during the university’s orientation day, when she had threatened the girl in the red dress.
University reputation
Is this what you learn in a top Malaysian university? Racism. Intolerance. Crassness. Rudeness. Arrogance. Insensitivity, and how to insult and belittle others.
Three days after the Facebook posting was made, the Deputy Education Minister, P Kamalanathan said that University Malaya had formed a five-member panel to investigate the allegations of racism.
What happened to the other allegations of racism which he had to investigate? Were they swept under the carpet? Were the perpetrators just given a rap on the knuckles?
Lecturer should be sacked
The student who wrote the complaint has demanded an apology from the lecturer.
I think that is not enough!
The lecturer’s public apology should be printed in all the mainstream papers and on the internet. She must then be sacked. If University Malaya wants to uphold its good name, and standards, it must remove the dross.
What happened to the lecturer? Has the whole issue been brushed under the carpet or should I say mat?
i think the lecturer should be expelled from university and government should ban him to enter any other university as well