University Autonomy

I was really amused after reading Tan Sri Prof. Zul's column in NST pg. 32 this morning on the autonomy of universities in Malaysia. The VC of USM lamented well on the history of university autonomy, while missing many important points. I was a student st the Universiti Malaya (1969-1973) and I thought at that time of Royal Professor Ungku Aziz tenure as VC, the UM has its autonomy. Thogh in 1973 the then Home Minister, the late Tun Dr. Ismail ordered the FRU men to enter the university campus and harrassed the demonstrating students, including beating the girl students. At least that is what I thought of university autonomy. It was only later between 1974-1978 when I was studying at Reading University UK, I understood what UK university autonomy meant.
When I came back to UKM in 1979, AUKU was in place and I thought UKM was another government department under the Ministry of Education. All procedures and mechanisms od administration were regulated by the Ministry of Education. Many trivial decisions were sought from JPA. Even the number of professor post were applied from JPA and the Ministry of Finance. I grew up at UKM until I retired at 56 in 2004. Nothing much has changed, universities were further regulated with ISO, MQF, MQA and various other acronyms, etc. The 4-year system for Science was cut-short to 3-years and the university teaching was changed from Malay to English. Now I have to take the attendance of my lecture! What autonomy are we talking about.
In 1987 the VC wanted to decentralise the financial spending to the faculties but the Deans didn't want anything to do with it, the Deans were just behaving like District Officers of the university, who refused to be accountable with financial expeditures. Then there were talks of corporatisation of university as another mean of autonomy, although not much came out of it until to-day. I thought it was was simply just the subtle way of controlling and regulating the academia! Even when Dato' Pa was the Minister of Higher Education, I gave hime full hope to change some paradigms ..... alas he is gone to grow more paddy now.
Last week the parliament revised the AUKU, and reading from the NST, I felt we can't expect much from it ....it was just another rounds of talks and talks for another 10 years.
Now I am in my fifth year of contract and I don't think I will see the light of university autonomy. All I hope USM, our APEX university will move a little in the rightt direction.
Indeed when I visited Chiangmai University on 29th November this year, the VP of the university proudly informed us that the 3rd best university in Thailand is autonomous. I was very proud of that .... and began to dream about UKM being somewhere there ....being able to decide what is best for us in our academic pursuits while remain accountable and proud as a lecturer. But then the MPs disagreed cos they believed they were the best brains in the country to run a university like what the corporate figures run a Proton assembly plant in Shah Alam.