TUN Arshad Ayub passed away peacefully on June 14 at a ripe old age of 93 and was laid to rest at the Shah Alam Royal Mausoleum, Selangor. Since then, endless tributes poured to our country’s eminent educator.
Although I have never met him and not in the education field, I am happy to have written about him seven years ago. My letter published on Oct 27, 2015, is reproduced in full below.
A giant in education
It was reported that Perkasa Youth chief Irwan Fahmi Ideris rejected a proposal by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) pro-chancellor Tan Sri Dr Arshad Ayub to open UiTM’s doors to students of all races.
Irwan said UiTM’s mission was to produce graduates and intellectuals from the bumiputra community alone and non-bumiputras were always free to study at other public higher education institutions.
Such views stem from insular thinking and run contrary to progressive societies and nations. Top universities around the world welcome students from around the globe but here we have people who try to champion a community by insulating them.
Although the aim is to raise the quality of post-graduate studies, I would not be surprised that bumiputra students outshine non-bumiputras if they are admitted to UiTM.
This is because people of all races are equally intelligent but are often held back by the mindset of a family or community.
If a Bumiputra child were to grow up in the US, he or she would be speaking, thinking and acting like a typical American, as his genes would have no bearing.
No academic worth his salt would rebuke Arshad, a Merdeka Award winner in 2013, who is a giant in Malaysian education.
In 1965, he was principal of the Mara College of Business and Professional Studies. The college was upgraded to Institute Technology Mara (ITM) in 1967 and Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in 1999.
Arshad was the first director of ITM and laid the foundation for our nation’s largest institution of higher learning in terms of size and population.
He blazed new trails instead of conveniently taking the well-trodden paths. He assembled a multiracial team of educationists with the right mix of courage and passion to do things not done before.
Ahead of his time
His achievements are too numerous to mention here but one of the most notable was that he stuck to English as the medium of instruction.
Today, while we are grappling with introducing Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as the second pillar of education, ITM began producing skilled graduates in hotel, catering and management from its Jalan Othman campus in Petaling Jaya in 1967.
It took in school leavers who were not qualified for a place in Universiti Malaya, the only university then.
Many of these graduates went on to become captains of industry. They were easily heads and shoulders above today’s tourism undergraduates who enter university with high academic scores in school examinations.
Following his 10-year stint at ITM, Arshad went into the civil service and had the distinction of serving in not one but three ministries as secretary- general.
His parents were humble rubber tappers and both died young, leaving Arshad to take care of his four younger siblings.
He suffered poverty and hardship but succeeded through sheer determination and diligence.
In 1953, he obtained a scholarship to study in Britain and graduated with an honour’s degree in economics and statistics in 1958, and the rest is history.
But history is a subject that many of our pseudo-politicians and self-styled champions know little about.
Abraham Lincoln once said: “I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”
In the minds and hearts of many Malaysians, Arshad is such a man. – June 18, 2022
YS Chan is Asean Tourism Master Trainer for travel agencies, master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel & Tours Enhancement Course. He is also a tourism and transport industry consultant and writer.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
