Dr Edmund Terence Gomez, the top Universiti Malaya academic who was 'forced' to quit and later reinstated, tells malaysiakini the problems afflicting our universities in this first of a three-part series.

Malaysiakini: What lessons have you learnt from the controversial rejection of your application for secondment?

Gomez: My biggest fear is that the active involvement of politicians in the running of the university will curb academic freedom, and it has come to that.

According to the Universities and University Colleges Act, the vice-chancellor is appointed by the minister of higher education. It is unfortunate that we have a system where the minister, in consultation with the prime minister, decides who should be the vice-chancellor of the university. That means the vice-chancellor himself would probably recognise he is rather indebted to the executive for his appointment.