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NZUSA concerned at pressure on Malaysian students

The President of the Auckland University Students' Association, Mike Law, has written to the Prime Minister, Mr Holyoake, expressing the concern of NZUSA at the pressure being applied by the Malaysian Students' Department for Australia and New Zealand of the Malaysian High Comission in Sydney on Malaysian students at Auckland University.

Mr. Law said they were concerned because the "Malaysian Singapore Student Association is not being treated as a private body and allowed to determine its own membership".

Mr. Law said the society received a letter from the Malaysian High Commission advising members to set up a Malaysian Students Association with associate membership for non-Malaysians

But the AGM of the society this year resolved by 224 to 24 not to split into separate groups.

"However the matter did not finish there", said Mr. Law.

"The fourteen dissenting students took steps to form a separate Malaysian Students Association."

"The Malaysian High Commission sent a telegram of recognition to that body.

"This recognition meant that all Malaysian students would have to join MSA in order to retain liason with the Sydney office, a function which had formerly been carried out by the MSSA". Mr. Law said.

"Thus. the scholarship students, if not the private students were indirectly being forced to join MSA."

Mr. Law said a letter from the Sydney office to the chairman of an investigating committee which was set up to ascertain the views of students, "made it quite clear the Sydney office is determined to influence students in establishing an exclusively Malaysian society".

"This was personally reiterated by the Malaysian Minister of Information when they spoke to Malaysian students at Auckland" Mr. Law said.

"A further representative from Australia. Mr. Rahim Jalal, revisited this university recently and discussed the same matter with Malaysian students."

The letter said that notice of these visits were communicated to students through the MSA, a course of action which Mr. Law termed "indicative" of the High Commission's attitude.

He said the President of NZUSA Mr Peter Rosier would probably be discussing the matter with the Malaysian High Commissioner after his appointment to New Zealand shortly.

"In the meantime the effect of the present pressures is being reflected in the academic progress of Malaysian students at Auckland University.

"Already several lecturers have expressed concern and may well bring the matter to the attention of the University Senate.

"With exams only five or six weeks away. I feel that urgent steps need to be taken to allay the fears of Malaysian students at Auckland University", Mr. Law said.

Mr. Rosier said that the Government seemed quite sympathetic to NZUSA's point of view.

"The matter has been held over until the appointment of a High Commissioner to New Zealand in a few months time.

But we're quite confident that the matter will be resolved then", he said.