Muhyiddin: UKM proves Malay language works

BANGI: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s (UKM) contribution to the national education system proves that Bahasa Malaysia can be used in higher education, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Set up on May 18, 1970, it is the third local public university, but the first to use Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction.
The founders of UKM had provided the confidence that Malay was a modern language of knowledge, capable of discussing complex scientific, technological, spiritual and humanitarian issues, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
“Much work has been produced in the Malay language, thanks to the efforts of the UKM lecturers, researchers, professors and the students for the past 40 years,” he said at the UKM alumni dinner held at Dewan Canselor Tun Abdul Razak.
Muhyiddin, also the Education Minister, said these included academic papers, books and doctoral theses written in the Malay language.
“We are proud of UKM’s achievements of being recognised as a research university which has been given self-accreditation status,” he said.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin announced last month that UKM was one of eight higher education institutions given the status.
As such, it can now accredit its own programmes without going through the Malay-sian Qualifications Agency.
Muhyddin said the ethos and philosophy of UKM were based on the people’s struggle.
“This is the soul of UKM,” he said.
The university has produced 132,000 graduates to date.