Do your job, Kadir tells professors council

KUALA LUMPUR: The prime minister’s media adviser A Kadir Jasin today urged the National Professors Council (MPN) to fulfil its role as a council of academics in the wake of a spat between the group and Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy over a speech at the recent Malay Dignity Congress.

He said MPN should set a good example for intellectuals, adding that its members are “clever people” who can think for themselves.

“There’s nothing wrong with having it (the council), but everything is wrong if it’s made up of the wrong people,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an event here today.

“If their arguments are just like an ordinary person’s arguments, then I think MPN is not fulfilling its objective which is to be above the fray, to be better and more intellectual and wiser than the man on the street.”

Ramasamy had slammed MPN for openly defending academic Zainal Kling over his comments at the congress, saying the group still comprised those who had “held the fort” under Barisan Nasional.

MPN subsequently said it was an independent entity and not subservient to any political party. It also denied Ramasamy’s claim that it had blindly supported Zainal.

Kadir said the council, as a public entity, is subject to public scrutiny and would have to bear the consequences of its actions.

However, he disagreed that MPN should be abolished, saying it is supposed to represent the pinnacle of intellectuals in the country.

“As to whether it is relevant or not, it’s up to them. The objectives are there and very clear,” he said.