Malaysia has fallen completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)-Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.
This is a national shame, especially as occurring during the nation’s 50th Merdeka anniversary and it must serve as the latest warning to the national leaders to end their complacency and delusion that Malaysia is becoming more competitive globally when the reverse is actually the case.
The national shame of Malaysia falling completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)-Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings had been equaled by the scandal that this Malaysian ignominy had been totally ignored by the UMNO General Assembly, whether by UMNO delegates or leaders, as release of the rankings coincided with the Umno General Assembly.
This shows the superficiality of the commitment of UMNO leaders to the slogan of “Cemerlang, Gemilang and Terbilang” and to transform Malaysia into a knowledge-based innovative economy marked by a world-class university system.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had after the UMNO General Assembly expressed his concern about the fall of Malaysian universities from the international league of best universities, but why wasn’t there a single reference to this shocking result in the UMNO General Assembly, touted as the most important national political assembly of the country?
Malaysian universities suffered a very serious drop in the international league of the world’s best universities in the 2007b THES-QS rankings,
For the first time, there is not only not a single university in the Top 200 Universities list, there is also not a single university in the separate ranking of Top 100 Universities for five subject areas — Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities; Life Sciences and Biomedicine; and Engineering and Information Technology.
For the Top 200 Universities List, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) had fallen out of the ranking, with UKM plunging from 185th slot last year to 309th while University of Malaya plunged from 192nd last year to 246th spot. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which was ranked as the only “outstanding” five-star university in a recent government survey, has fallen to 307th spot from 277 last year. In 2005, USM was in the 326th spot.
The performance of Malaysian universities in the Top 100 lists for the five subject areas are even more dismal, with not a single university making into the five lists although last year University of Malaya was ranked 49 in Social Sciences and 95 in Natural Sciences, UKM was placed No. 62 in Natural Sciences, and University Sains Malaysia placed No. 96 for Life Sciences and Biomedicine.
The National University of Singapore (NUS) (No. 33) is ranked among the Top 100 Universities for all the five categories while Nanyang Technological University (NTU) (No. 69) is ranked among the Top 100 universities for three categories, viz: Engineering & IT; Natural Sciences and Social Sciences.
NUS is ranked No. 10 for Engineering & IT; No. 12 for Life Sciences and Biomedicine, No. 25 for Natural Sciences; No. 20 for Social Sciences and No. 21 for Arts & Humanities.
NTU is ranked No. 25 for Engineering & IT; No. 99 for Natural Sciences and No. 88 for Social Sciences.
Even Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University is rated among the Top 100 Universities for two categories — Engineering & IT (No. 100) and Social Sciences (No. 83)
Last year Malaysia was placed in four of the 500 slots in the five Top 100 Universities for the five subjects.
This year, Malaysia was completely excluded in all the five listings of Top 100 Universities for the five categories.
There are 38 “elite of elite” universities, which are not only ranked in the Top 200 Universities list, but also ranked in every one of the five Top 100 subject list. The country breakdown and details for these 38 “elite of elite” universities are:
| Country | No of “elite of elite” Universities |
|---|---|
| United States | 15 |
| United Kingdom | 4 |
| Australia | 6 |
| Canada | 5 |
| China | 2 |
| Japan | 2 |
| South Korea | 1 |
| Taiwan | 1 |
| Singapore | 1 |
| Hong Kong | 1 |
| Total | 38 |
Universities in the Asia-Pacific region which are in this exclusive 38 “elite of lelites” list are:
| Country | University | Ranking in Top 200 Universities |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | ANU | 16 |
| Melbourne | 27 | |
| Sydney | 31 | |
| Queensland | 33 | |
| Monash | 43 | |
| New South Wales | 44 | |
| Japan | Tokyo | 17 |
| Kyoto | 25 | |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 18 |
| Singapore | National University of Singapore | 33 |
| China | Peking | 36 |
| Tsinghua | 40 | |
| South Korea | Seoul National | 51 |
| Taiwan | National Taiwan | 102 |
Why is Malaysia not in this “elite of elites” listing and when will Malaysia have an university which will have all-round excellence as to be included in this list?
Until some 35 years ago, there was no doubt that University of Malaya was one of the world-class universities and if its university standards, quality and excellence had been maintained and not suffered any precipitous plunge, University of Malaya would not only have taken her place in the Top 200 Universities ranking but would be one of the two scores of “elite of elite” universities enjoying all-rounded excellence to be ranked among the Top 100 universities for all the five different categories!
Today, Malaysian universities have plummeted so badly that nobody could now answer the question: Which is the Malaysian premier university?
Nobody knows and this is a big shame as it is caused not by competition by universities to be the best but to avoid the bigger plunge in international rankings.
Is it University of Malaya?
Until two years ago, there was no dispute if University of Malaya claimed to be the nation’s premier university — a position it had occupied unchallenged for over three decades.
It was also internationally recognized as the premier university in Malaysia as reflected by the 2004 and 2005 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) World Universities Rankings for Top 200 Universities, being positioned No. 89 and 169th slots respectively.
However, it was toppled from the pedestal by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) when UKM beat University of Malaya in the 2006 THES ranking, placed No. 185 as compared to the 192nd position for University of Malaya.
Is it UKM then?
UKM’s placing on the top of the university pole in the country lasted one short year as in the 2007 THES Top 200 Universities ranking, UKM plunged a shocking 124 places from No. 185 to No. 309, not only behind University of Malaya’s No. 246 but also Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) which is placed No. 307.
Furthermore, in the recent government ranking for public universities, both UKM and University of Malaya was ranked behind USM, the sole university to be placed on the five-star Outstanding Category, with no university rated for the top-rung Excellent Category.
Is it then USM, to lay claim to be the nation’s best university?
Not so, although in the 2004 THES ranking, USM was rated among the Top 200 Universities when placed No. 111, but it plunged 215 places to No. 326 ranking in 2005, 277 in 2006 and 307 in 2007.
| Year | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USM THES Ranking | 111 | 326 | 277 | 307 |
With no single university currently able to lay claim as the nation’s premier university, this sad state of affairs is a reflection of the very troubled public university sector.
May be this confusion awaits resolution when a private higher education institution establishes its claim as the nation’s premier university, better than anyone of the public universities — especially as the Chinese government has recognized 43 private universities and colleges as compared to only seven for public universities.
One aspect which had been overlooked in the latest THES Top 200 Universities ranking is that Malaysia is losing out badly in the international competition for excellence, not only to universities of developed nations but even those of developing nations.
Thailand, for instance, has established its superiority in university excellence to Malaysia when for three consecutive years, Chulalongkorn University of Thailand beat Malaysian universities in the THES ranking — 121 in 2005, 161 in 2006 and 223 in 2007 as compared to Malaysia’s best of 169 in 2005 (University of Malaya), 185 in 2006 (UKM) and 246 in 2007 (University of Malaya).
Also for the first time in the THES Top Universities Ranking, Malaysia has lost out to three other third-world nations, viz.
| Country | University | Ranking in Top 200 Universities |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | University of Sao Paulo | 175 |
| University of Campinas | 177 | |
| Mexico | Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico | 192 |
| South Africa | University of Cape Town | 200 |
Just as Vice Chancellors must be held responsible for the poor rankings of their universities, the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad must bear personal responsibility for the dismal international ranking of Malaysian universities – particularly for Malaysia falling completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) – Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.
I was very surprised that the Higher Education Minister, who visiting universities in China last month, had asked the Chinese government to recognize more Malaysian universities and colleges for two reasons.
It was news to me and to most Malaysians that China has recognized 50 institutions in the public and private sector in Malaysia — 7 IPTAs (public institutions of higher learning) and 43 IPTSs (private institutions). This is a clear indicator that public universities in the country are losing out in terms of academic excellence and international recognition to private institutions.
Secondly, the Chinese government has recognizing more Malaysian universities and colleges than the Chinese universities and colleges recognized by the Malaysian government — when many Chinese universities are internationally recognized for their academic merit and excellence while Malaysian universities have disappeared from the international radar of academic excellence.
In the 2007 THES-QS World Top 200 University Rankings, six Chinese universities were ranked but not a single one from Malaysia.
The six Chinese universities are:
| University | Ranking in Top 200 Universities |
|---|---|
| Peking University | 36 |
| Tsinghua University | 40 |
| Fudan University | 85 |
| Nanjing University | 125 |
| University of Science and Technology of China | 155 |
| Shanghai Jiao Tong University | 163 |
China has two universities, Peking University and Tsinghua University, which are among the 38 “elite of elite” universities, as they are also listed in all the Top 100 Universities in all five different categories.
Altogether, Chinese universities occupy 21 spots in the 500 slots in the five Top 100 Universities for five categories — but Malaysia does not recognize anyone of them although we do not occupy a single spot in the 500 slots for the five lists of Top 100 Universities.
Malaysia even refuses to accord recognition to the degrees of Peking University and Tsinghua University, two of the “elite of elites” universities as the Malaysian government only recognizes their degrees for Chinese language studies.
Why has the Malaysian government not recognized these internationally-acclaimed Chinese universities for their world-class degrees and courses, when Malaysia does not have any equivalent whatsoever?
It is most strange and extraordinary that a country which has dropped out of world-class university rankings is asking for more recognition for its universities from another country with universities of international repute but which it has refused to recognize?
The Malaysian government should promptly and forthwith recognize all the degrees of Chinese universities which are internationally-recognized as among the world’s top universities, and not just the Chinese Language Studies of four Chinese universities, before we can righteously ask China for more recognition of Malaysian universities by Chinese government.
Malaysians have not been told the real and true reasons for the shocking performance of Malaysian universities in the THES-QS Top 200 Universities ranking. Malaysian universities have been consistent in increasingly deplorable results in world rankings, whether the THES-QS, Shanghai Jiao Tong University World’s Best 500 Universities or the Newsweek’s Top 100 Global Universities.
If the government is serious about its slogan of “Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang” to create a world-class university system to transform Malaysia into a knowledge-based innovative economy, it must end the New Economic Policy (NEP) in the universities and fully restore the policy of meritocracy and academic excellence coupled with social need to provide university education opportunities to economically-backward Malaysians regardless of race.
It is the NEP policy and mentality which caused University of Malaya to fall 213 rankings behind University of Singapore in less than four decades as both universities had started on the same footing some 50 years ago. University of Malaya is ranked No. 246 as compared to the 33rd ranking for National University of Singapore.
The government must recognize that so long as the NEP is kept in place in the universities, there would be no way for any Malaysian public university to compete with other universities from other countries. This is why Malaysia is also losing out to universities from Thailand and Africa — which was unthinkable four decades ago!
If Malaysia is to get back to the trail of world-class academic excellence, all universities should be allowed to enroll the most qualified students, employ the most competent professors and researchers with competitive remunerations and restore a culture of academic excellence and freedom.
One simple test of whether the government is seriously committed to abandon the baggage of past NEP policies to create a world-class university system is whether it has the political will to end the annual brain drain depriving Malaysia of the best and brightest for the development of the country.
For a start, the Higher Education Minister should ask the Cabinet to check the annual four-figure brain-drain of the best and brightest STPM students and Chinese Independent Secondary school students to Singapore by providing them equitable higher education opportunities at home to demonstrate that the government is serious in wanting to build a world-class university system.
Secondly, the Higher Education Minister must ask the Cabinet to end the present fraudulent meritocracy using both STPM and matriculation by having a common university entrance examination.
This is the recommendation of the World Bank study on “Malaysia and the Knowledge Economy: Building a World-Class Higher Education System” submitted to the government in March this year.
Otherwise, the Higher Education Ministry is only continuing to pay lip service to university excellence and quality without the political will to bring about the institutional changes without which there is no way for Malaysian universities to return to world-class university status.
(Opening speech when moving RM1-cut motion for salary of Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday, 6th December 2007)
Step 1: Sack the two Education Ministers(Higher Education and Keris)
Step 2: Do away with matrikulasi or STP. Use only one as entry to IPTA.
Step 3: Sack all Profs who cannot lecture in English.
Step 4: Sack all UMNaziO appointed State DGs, National DG and all inefficient MOE staff.
Step 5: Impose merit applications only. Not quota or race based.
Ha, ha, ha…..no hope until and unless Malaysia abandons its skewed policies and replace it with meritocracy.
Even then, it will take at least 10 tough years thereafter to clean up the mess and set the systems right which will make it at least 2020 or beyond before Malaysia can come anywhere near those top rankings.
Seems like light years away….meanwhile, don’t just twiddle your thumbs, parents. You just have to do what you have to do.
The 1,250 Malaysians involved must have come from the staff in AAB’s Prime Minister Department
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Frontpage/20071206081314/Article/index_html
With a sample size of 1,250 Malaysians, 74 per cent felt that elections in this country were legitimate and 69 per cent believed that government was by the will of the people.
We are not here to make everyone smart for the country development as the political front are more attractive power and wealth to focus.
Over the years, though our country shared many historical development worldwide, we have completely wiped out our children future.
Those that were put into the education system to passed according to quota are having mindset problem to survive in the business world. They also trapped in their faith beliefs and social responsibilities.
They are a much sad bunch rather then fortunate as we look.
Handicapped from birth until they kicked the bucket by their leaders whom riding on the rewards.
This is what malaysia should emulate
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article3012556.ece
Kevin Rudd, the new Australian Prime Minister, has announced a tougher code of conduct for government ministers, placing restrictions on shareholdings and investments and barring them from taking certain jobs once they leave office….ministers risked losing their jobs if they breached guidelines.
Ministers will be barred from owning any shares unless they are held in pension funds, publicly listed funds or blind trusts. Departing ministers will be barred from having business dealings with MPs or public servants on any matter they dealt with in an official capacity during their final 18 months in office.
As we are too busy being #1 in having the longest satay, biggest roti canai, most corrupt police force, highly incompetent PM ,fattest woman minister and largest number of cabinet ministers in the world, our universities are fast being degraded to the level of a secondary school-level education institution.
Feeling proud to be a Malaysian anyone?
Even UM get the same amount of funding as NUS, she will still rank far behind than NUS? Why? Simple , NUS is practising meritocracy and use English. How about you, UM?
Mr. Lim. Please do not always encourage the bright Chinese with very good results to go over to Spore. It is a very stressful place with very little human touch. The exchange rate is at our disadvantage. You are not guaranteed a hostel place after the first year. Students squat with their friends 4 to 5 a room. The rental outside is around RM800 per person. If you include travelling and food, it can become a big burden. Eventhough they offer 80% tuition grant, you still need to pay a lot.
Think about UTAR Kampar. Bright students are given scholarships. Security is very good. Lodging is fair and reasonable. Food is nearby.
What is important is there is no politicking, no bullying and no victimising. Students just need to work hard, get their degrees and get a job. Better than any IPTA.
One can debate till the cows come home the authority will not listen.
They know very well the reasons why we are left far behind not only in education , but in all fields. Only they refuse to admit it.
Just compare ourselves with Singapore, Korea and Taiwan.
Basically we are made up of the same stock of poeple- Asians. In fact Malaysia has an advantage that we are multiracial-meaning we have a wider genes pool.
Further advantage we have over the said countris is our natural resources.
With all the advantages, yet we are left behind. WHY???
REASON: Only one-lousy policies!!!
YB,
As u called that national shame, i dont see the needs for this UMNO guys to discuss in the assembly. For them, they only talk or praise abt good things and all the glamours stuff. I remember they invited the spaceman to the assembly and some took pictures with him. I wonder what the spaceman can help in it. So, basically, the rules in UMNO is:
1. Never bring out any shameful issues like ranking drops,corruption,never do work,etc..
2. Talks only with petty issues like air-stewardess uniform, dress codes, our PM’s love life, and always put on act..etc
For them, is totally irrelevant coz i doubt there is any minister’s children will and ever study in local university. All graduated from overseas…Unless ask some VVIP to send their children or grandchilren there, then there is slight chance they will look into it. As usual, this people will work when there is VIP/VVIP involved. Otherwise, the priority is always last in the q..
Our government is merely following the “budget airline” model and strategy : ” Now everyone can have one (degree)”.
Frills like infrastructure are provided free by the generous government. All that is needed is to fill the “seats” (places) by providing everyone and anyone who wants one with a place. This way, we also achieve the “noble” objective of “human capital development”.
Hmmmmm. Many third world countries including some of our regional neighbours have many degree holders too who work as maids and other menial jobs. Thats human capital development for you.
But why we want and need to export our poor quality education befuddles me. More puzzlement is why are there so many students attracted to our poor quality and sub-standard education.
At the end of the day in Bolehland, who cares? Certainly not the authorities. We just do it our way.
Oh, by the way, is MUST still alive? They have been advertising again in the media. Anybody can give an update?
Kit got the slogan wrong. The true UMNO slogan is:
CEMERLANG, GEMILANG, TEMBERANG
The government tells us not to worry. Any position in the top 500 is OK according to Ong Ka Ting. Clearly they don’t know the meaning of the word “shame”.
In the US, faculty members in most public universities are required to submit an annual Conflict of Interest (COI) form to the state govt’s Ethics Commission. The COI is a declaration of the faculty member’s sources of income, company(ies) related to faculty member’s family, the company’s business dealings with the university in which the faculty member is employed, debts, etc. This is to prevent any corruption in the supply and procurement process. IPTA faculty members should do the same by declaring to the ACA (even if the latter is not doing its job). In this way, ACA can check whether IPTA faculty members, as govt servants, are involved in the sale of equipment and supplies to their own universities and possibly getting a cut of the proceeds. This would ensure that money spent on the IPTAs are not wasted.
There must be a common reason for the stubborn refusal by the Malaysian Govt. to recognise the degrees of Peking University and Tsinghua University and the acceptance of the Chinese Independent Secondary School certificate as entry qulaifications to universities. NUS and NTU Singapore equates the Chinese Independent Secondary certificate as equivalent to the STPM and A levels for acceptance into their undergraduate programs.
That is why we are losing the best students from the Chinese schools to Singapore. Typically these students are very good at Maths and the Sciences and when I was working in Singapore, I had the good fortune to interview and recruit some of these graduates. Many of them graduated with sterling results and made excellent engineers and some have gone on to further their studies in the West. With the blinkers on in our Govt., we have lost these people for good. Perhaps this is deliberate and we know why.
I am sure the MCA is aware of all this. As the party claiming to champion Chinese rights, you have not only betrayed Chinese rights but also the national interest by not taking up these matters and help to keep such talents in the country to help with Malaysia’s development.
As long as such blinkered policies remain, the universities in this country has no hope. The best non Malays are not only lost as mentioned above, the others are going abroad for further studies as they have lost faith in the local universities. The best Malays are also sent abroad usually on scholarships to the best universities. We also read of many ministers sending their own children overseas for studies and this clearly indicates their lack of confidence in the local universities.
As long as we are in power…..semua OK!!!!
UMNO is using local Universities as one of its political tools to win the minds and hearts of kampung Malays. Those Malays with so so SPM results are ALL pushed into matriculation courses and then Universities.
When kampung Malays are happy, UMNO will survive.
Who cares about the rankings of those Universities. Political survival is more important to them.
If the current trend in training manpower continue, by 2020, Msia will probably depend on foreign talents in, unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled labour , sub professionals, professionals etc l No country with 25 million or more population can develope like this !
If these foreign people leave suddenly due to political reason etc, just think what will happens? Is this the intention of Wawasan 2020?
Don’t think Msia can still depend on oil, n other natural resources by 2020.
On 5/12/2007, Ong Tee Keat said:
“Local private universities and colleges should strive to be listed among the top 500 institutions of higher learning in the world.
…Private institutions of higher learning should not only compete against each other locally, but internationally as well. Currently, none is listed in the global top 500,†he said.
————–
Ong Tee Keat should ask Ong Ka Ting why he did not bother to reply when a foreign Chinese academic proposed to Ong Ka Ting to consider a twinning program between KTAR with a more prominent US university listed in the top 500 Shanghai JiaoTong Ranking (in which none of the Malaysian universities are included).
The education ministers thought they are being saved by hindraf, because uncle lim and the media all focused on hindraf. uncle lim is now back to the ranking again.
the first step should be to get experts from outside boleh to study the problem. to find out our problems first! do you think the education ministers are the real expert?
don’t blame the bumi. if you get more chinese like ong, it is not going to help as well.
——-
Seek top 500 listing, says Ong
JOHOR BARU: Local private universities and colleges should strive to be listed among the top 500 institutions of higher learning in the world.
Deputy Higher Education Min-ister Datuk Ong Tee Keat said having reputable educational institutions would consolidate Malay-sia’s position as a regional education hub.
“Private institutions of higher learning should not only compete against each other locally, but internationally as well. Currently, none is listed in the global top 500,†he said.
To improve their standings, Ong suggested the institutions work on getting better peer reviews, more citations, have more international students and staff, and improve their research and development.
“To get more peer reviews, you have to have more outreach programmes with foreign universities.
“In terms of citations, your work should be cited and published in high impact journals,†he told reporters after launching Sunway College’s Johor Baru campus here.
Ong said private higher education providers should also focus on the field of research and development by collaborating with the corporate sector.
They should also build up their networking to provide internship opportunities for their students.
Whether our university is in the top 10 or number 1 is not important anymore.
What is the point of being number one when our public universities keep on churning out graduates who are mostly unemployable.
Its rubbish in,rubbish out.
remember – Pensyarikatan Malaysia – mean gomen administrate Malayisa like a company, ketuanan melayu mean owner of company (tuan punya), wise man say that the 1st generation build fortune, 2nd generation spend fortune, 3rd generation bankrupt company lah apalagi, happen to all big company already, like Nissan, better get VSS and move to other company. Malaysia will hit the ground hard. rakyat sure suffer. can not change the owner anyway, is there a way?.
Rubbish in Rubbish out
MCA’s Ong recently made some announcement about recruiting Malaysian expat to return to Malaysia and join govt. sector. Personally, I have a few highschool classmates who are Phd. and in some top notch US universities right now. Would they go home to any of the Universities in Malaysia to teach? Even 3 year old children will know the answer—-> NO. Why? Common sense would tell us, when you were rejected by the U (govt.) or offer lousy courses before, and now you are successful…… would you come back and contribute to the place who rejected you in the 1st place??????
Why not focus the energy on solving the issue of people leaving this lovely country? Oh… I forgot… those MCA people are total useless idiots with IQ worst than worm.