Morshidi Sirat

Building future scenarios for Malaysian universities

Malaysian higher education institutions, particularly universities, are critical to the economic and social future of the nation. This is so as demands for pursuit of knowledge and innovations as well as for highly specialized and educated people have made university education highly important and a priority for the Malaysian government. This article presents the alternative models for Malaysian universities by establishing a set of scenarios based on the current model and future trends of Malaysian higher education institutions. The first section gives a brief overview of the Malaysian university system and the main forces that drive changes in the system. The second section discusses the project undertaken in scenario building which aims to develop alternative models of universities in Malaysia. The alternative scenarios conceptualized provide three main paradigms on the future model of higher education in Malaysia. The concluding section highlights the importance of understanding the scenarios applied to the future of the university as well as of understanding the changing role and contribution of Malaysian universities in the future.

Changing state–university relations: the experiences of Japan and lessons for Malaysia

This article investigates the changing state–university relations in Japan and Malaysia. Its main objective is to identify and examine possible lessons for Malaysia, based on the Japanese experience. Notably, since the late 1970s, Malaysia has been looking towards Japan as a model for socio‐economic development (the ‘look‐east’ Policy) and this article was written with the same underlying thrust. Of particular interest in this article is the Japanese experience with the Incorporation of National Universities in 2004. Malaysia has corporatised all state‐controlled universities since 1998 but has stopped short of implementing the kind of institutional autonomy, which resulted in precarious state–university relations in Japan. Based on the situation in Japan with regard to incorporation of national universities, what steps should Malaysia take in order to develop a higher education system and higher education institutions that are comparable to that of matured higher education systems?

Teaching and Research in Malaysian Public Universities: Synergistic or Antagonistic?

The Malaysian higher education system has undergone many reforms in the last two decades. These reforms have had radical implications for all aspects of the professional lives of university academics, particularly in their teaching and research as well as in their relations with institutional governance, infrastructure and facilities and remuneration. This chapter briefly discusses the consequences of the changing university system and institutional environments for teaching and research in the Malaysian public universities. It then examines a set of available data from the 2007 CAP study to investigate how academics use their time for teaching and research and how they perceive the teaching and research nexus. This chapter explores aspects of teaching and research using several determinants—perception of teaching and research environment, workload and preference, teaching and research processes, perception of a nexus—and compares them by university type. Several implications particularly in relation to the institutional policies and practices are offered to provide support for the coexistence of research and teaching in the Malaysian public universities.

Malaysia: Perspectives of University Governance and Management within the Academic Profession

The chapter presents the recent transformations in Malaysia’s higher education policy and systems with a focus on the management and governance of universities. It discusses how academics are presently interpreting their university’s internal governance system, how power is distributed and the main traits of decision-making processes within this period of policy and system change. The chapter sets the context by reviewing the structure of the Malaysian university system and its governance, and moves on to provide some descriptive data on the composition of academic staff in Malaysian universities. This is followed by a brief description of the working conditions for academics in the universities. It proceeds by examining selected data in relation to the management and governance of universities. The results, as well as trends and issues in the changing pattern of governance and management of Malaysian universities, form the background for a discussion of the Malaysian academic profession in the university system.

Malaysia’s World-Class University Ambition: An Assessment

‘World-class’ status is the ambition of universities and governments, especially those that take pride in their universities. This chapter examines the case of public universities in Malaysia, in particular reactions and responses of the top management of these universities to government-directed WCU objective. Malaysia is now halfway through the institutionalisation of the National Higher Education Strategic Plan 2020, with the WCU objective. Despite being institutionalised into the Malaysian higher education system, the idea of a WCU has received a variety of reactions and responses from Malaysian public universities. It is pertinent to connect these reactions to Malaysia’s regional education hub ambition.

Producer services and growth management of a metropolitan region: the case of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Producer services growth can change the character of a metropolitan region. Achieving that outcome may require the intervention of government, which is not necessarily a simple process as it creates tension between regulatory and developmental roles for government. This paper will address three interrelated issues in connection with the above-mentioned core idea in the context of the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: first, the extent to which the evolution of the Malaysian economy has been felt in the growth of the service sector; second, the way that evolution has led to change in the sectoral and spatial character of Kuala Lumpur; third, government’s responses in terms of spatial planning and management in order to accommodate producer services growth. The experience of the Kuala Lumpur region shows how global market forces and national development policies that influence producer service location and growth can reshape the spatial arrangement of a metropolitan region. Managing the growth of producer services calls for new approaches to manage metropolitan change. An ‘enabling’ model is proposed to replace the present ‘policing’ model of spatial planning.

Harmonization of higher education in Southeast Asia regionalism: Politics first, and then education

This original book provides a unique analysis of the different regional and inter-regional projects, their processes and the politics of Europeanisation, globalisation and education. Collectively, the contirbutors engage with international relations and integrations theory to explore new ways of thinking about regionalisms and inter-regionalisms, and bring to the fore the role that higher education plays in this.

Malaysia's National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN): narrowing the research-policy gap in a dynamic higher education system

Policy decision-making in Malaysia has long used an approach based on intuition, ideology, or conventional wisdom. But as Malaysian society matures within an increasingly complex policy environment, a move toward an evidence-based approach to public policy-making is called for. This paper discusses the experience of the National Higher Education Research Institute (IPPTN) in its attempts at linking research to higher education policy formulation. The main aim is to understand the perspectives of the IPPTN researchers regarding the use and impact of higher education research on policy-making, and the challenges they experienced. The findings provide insights into the future of evidence-based higher education policy-making in Malaysia and the IPPTNs capacity and capability for evidence-based policy research.

GLOBALIZATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY AND THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF KUALA LUMPUR CENTRAL PLANNING AREA

Abstract The paper discusses some of the most apparent changes affecting the built environment of the Central Planning Areas of the City of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a result of its integration with the global economy. It is argued in this paper that even though Kuala Lumpur has been successful in attracting capital flows into its built environment it has not responded well to the demands of globalization process especially from the point of view of overall growth management and planning. However, with conscientious city planning and management the city should be able to benefit from this process in the long term.

The development of Malaysian higher education: Making sense of the nation-building agenda in the globalisation era

Purpose Universities in Malaysia, particular public universities, have been tasked not only with the traditional focus on the pursuit of knowledge, but also the important role of nation-building. This paper explores the nation-building agenda in the development of Malaysian higher education in the globalisation era. Design/methodology/approach Grounded within the literature of nation-building and globalisation and neoliberalism, the approach of this paper examines the development of higher education in Malaysia across time. Findings Two particular aspects in the Malaysian higher education that have seen tension and changes emerging from the interaction between globalisation and nation-building: the medium of instruction and hybridisation in universities. Originality/value The paper illustrates the ways in which universities have adapted in terms of the medium of instruction between the Malay language and English, as well as hybridisation that has taken place as a result of globalisation on the local visio...