A public university has banned activist Marina Mahathir from entering its campus grounds to attend a student programme.
Marina – daughter of Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – did not identify the university in question.
“That makes it the fifth time I’ve been ‘banned’ from a public university. I must be damned powerful.
It’s OK. Tomorrow I’m going to speak at a private college. And the students from the public university who had to cancel my invitation have a standing invitation from me to come and have a chat anytime,” she said in a Facebook post yesterday.
Marina reproduced the message conveyed to her by the student: “I am very sorry that they (Jabatan Hal Ehwal Pelajar – Students’ Affairs Department) strictly deny permission for your entry to our campus.”
This is not the first instance that selected speakers have been barred from entering public universities.
Last year, in the thick of his sedition charge, Universiti Malaya law lecturer Associate Professor Dr Azmi Sharom was stopped at the gates of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, where he was supposed to deliver a talk on the Sedition Act.
Photo credit: The Star Online
