Participation in politics will promote growth of students

Reading the report "Khaled: Political parties will stunt growth of students" makes me think some people's thoughts never grow with time. The experience of the biggest electoral setback in history has failed to wake our Minister of Higher Education up to the new political wind.

"The Government believes that allowing university students to join political parties will restrict their development into holistic first-class human capital, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin said." This cannot be further than truth. Not allowing students to participate in politics will hinder the development of their minds, will encourage rote learning and worse still, involvement in unhealthy activities.

"He said that if students were allowed to join political parties, they would have to adhere to the party's policies and would not be allowed to offer their own independent opinions on issues raised. " Was he referring to his own party?

“This is simply a waste of talent,” he was quoted to have said. Do you mean economics/law/medical/engineering grads, who are involved actively in politics, instead of practising their professions, have been wasting their talents away?

However, he noted that under the new University and University Colleges Act (Amendment) Bill, all political party members would be allowed to take part in “any fruitful and intellectual discourse in public universities”. You are contradicting yourself here. Do you mean you disagree with the cabinet's collective decision?

Khaled said that another reason for the continued ban was that the Government did not want public university students, who are heavily subsidised, to “play around” and waste taxpayers' money. This is no more than an ill-informed personal opinion, not based on any evidence. Instead of tapping into the most fertile minds brimming with fresh ideas, restricting their participation in nation building would probably count as waste of taxpayers' money.