The latest edition of the QS World University Rankings by subject shows that five subjects of Universiti Malaya made it to the world’s top 50. Three other local universities also recorded top 50 performances.
The best ranked was UM’s electrical engineering, at 23 among 400 universities surveyed. I checked that its ranking was even higher than some of the most renowned universities in the world, including those in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.
Other subjects, such as mechanical engineering, chemical engineering and education were also placed very high.
This is an uplifting piece of news, but I am worried many Malaysians are not that ready to accept it.
Or, should I say, they simply don’t know how to accept a positive piece of news like this.
The first reaction one might have could be: “It’s impossible! You’re not kidding me, right?”
A second reaction might go this way: “QS? What the hell is it? Has it been bought over?”
Sorry, for the first scenario, it was real. No kidding! It was as real as Kim Jong Nam’s death from VX poisoning and not heart attack.
As for the second one, QS is an independent UK institution and one of the world’s three most influential educational survey organisations.
Logic tells us that UM and other high-ranking Malaysian universities like USM, UKM, UTM, UPM, Taylor’s and IIU indeed boast very high educational standards.
But, I am not here to convince you that our academic standards are among the highest in this world. I have found out that if past surveys showed that our universities fared very badly, people would start lashing out their verbal onslaughts, including those who have never attended a university and have all of a sudden become education pundits.
Some even get so excited that they can’t wait to share the “great” news with their acquaintances or strangers online, just because they have one additional excuse now to trash this country.
And this time, when our universities have put up an excellent showing, what we’ve seen are hushed reactions and intentional apathy, as if this thing never happened at all. Some even questioned the credibility of the source.
Such an attitude reflects the reality of a Malaysian society that seriously lacks a sense of honour.
People are stingy in showing their recognition of other people’s accomplishments or positive developments in our society, as if doing so will hurt their own interests.
Such attitude is rare in other counties. If Tsinghua University is ranked on top, the Chinese will feel a boosted ego, and if the University of Tokyo is placed ahead of Harvard, the whole of Japan will jubilate in pride.
This is what we call collective community sense of honour, seeing the achievements of our compatriots and country as our own. When we link our own honours with those of the nation, a common understanding will emerge, and we will work hard in unity towards our common goals.
It is this collective community sense of honour that has the power of lifting our nation.
Unfortunately, the Malaysian society is somewhat deformed, and we seriously lack this vital element. We can infinitely amplify and mercilessly slam anything which is negative in order to justify our claim that this country is downright no good or worthless.
As for the good things that happen here, we will choose to ignore or deny them.
The recent assassination of Kim Jong Nam offers a perfect glimpse into such anomaly in the Malaysian society. Right from the very start many cursed that the Malaysian police would be incompetent, and when the diplomatic row with Pyongyang erupted, they hoped the North Korean missiles would come our way soonest.
With so many of these people around, Malaysia Boleh will always remain a myth.
Tay Tian Yan writes for Sin Chew Daily.
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