Razali Agus Sacked
Malaysiakini reported that Razali Agus was sacked from University Industri Selangor:
| Selangor MB sacks vice-chancellor |
| Jun 28, 08 3:25pm |
| University Industri Selangor (Unisel) vice-chancellor Professor Dr Mohd Razali Agus has lost his job. He was sacked by the Selangor government on Thursday.
According to the 53-year-old academician, he had received a letter terminating his services from Pendidikan Industri Yayasan Selangor Sdn Bhd/ Unisel chairperson Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. “I have been given a month’s notice, with full pay, and will go on leave immediately,” he was quoted by the New Straits Times as saying. Mohd Razali said he was appointed to the position 11 months ago, with a six-month probation period, but was never confirmed. “I was shocked to receive the letter, which was delivered to my personal assistant at my office,” he said, adding that no reason was given for the termination.Uncomfortable with Pakatan gov’t According to NST, Mohd Razali had served as deputy vice-chancellor at the state-owned university for more than four years before being appointed vice-chancellor. He was previously attached to Universiti Malaya. He refused to comment on whether the move was politically motivated. The Selangor Today website claimed that he had written to Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin recently to say that he was uncomfortable with the Pakatan Rakyat state government. The website alleged that the letter had found its way to the state government. But the sacked don refused to comment when questioned on the allegation. However, he added that he would consider appealing against the decision or taking legal action. Meanwhile, a spokesman from the menteri besar’s office has denied that the move was politically motivated when contacted by the paper. |
As a former student of Universiti Malaya (and a students’ representative), when Razali Agus was Deputy Vice Cancellor for Students’ Affair, I fully commend the Selangor government’s move. Razali Agus, in my opinion, was not suitable for the high chair of academia, firstly he can’t give a decent speech in English (and even then, I do not think he has any substantial points to make at any given time), secondly, during my second year in the University, Razali Agus violated his supposed neutrality and has been involved directly with the university election, promising the so-called pro-university candidates “brownie points” for their “right choice” and thirdly, he was not able for goodness sake to engage professionally and reasonably with the students’ council except to dismiss our points with arrogant deafness (or did he really have hearing problems?) on a number of occasions.
This is a good start and a cause of celebration for Education in Malaysia; remove these politically-connected university management and replace them with REAL educators and managers.
Updates: See my junior and friend’s entry on Razali Agus…juicier stuff.
