I agree with Azly Rahman's column concerning UiTM. I was a participant at a regional conference held at UiTM in December 2005.
It was immediately clear that UiTM had deteriorated into insularity, where staff and students were woefully ill- prepared to welcome, let alone consider, the logistical needs of a large group of culturally-diverse international guests.
None of the staff or students volunteers seemed to have an appreciation of cultural diversity. The foreign participants who were lucky enough to be met at the airport were told to simply ‘Wait here, OK?’
After waiting an hour, one participant who spoke up and asked what the arrangements were was reminded, this time with greater severity: ‘Look! Just wait here, OK?’ . Ah, a truly Asian welcome.
I was shocked by the attitude and simple lack of common sense in terms of logistics and communication. For example, many Malaysian and foreign participants trying to attend the conference were lost for hours trying to:
1. Find the campus (because no maps and directions were provided, and KL and KLIA taxi drivers had no idea where this place was) and;
2. Find out where on campus we were supposed to register or stay, etc (because registration details were not provided in the programme, the powers-that-be had neglected to delegate a staff to pick up the phone for enquiries, and neither the UiTM phone operator or guards at the arrival gate had been informed about the conference!)
Many of the older guests, usually treated with greater respect and consideration in other parts of the world, were herded in different directions without being informed of the itinerary, forced to walk steep steps and slopes, and eat food that was inappropriate.
Guests were not warned that they would be housed in student dorms, without towels or toiletries. It was only after much complaint that arrangements were hastily made to allow participants to make a quick trip to the closest supermarket (some distance away) to buy what they needed.
Invitations had not included the standard logistics information that would have prepared participants, or sought information on their dietary and other special needs.
The staff involved were not being mean or malicious, they simply had no idea that different people could have different needs.
It was a painful realisation that, in this situation, the concept of Ketuanan Melayu had been perverted to transform what should have been an elite (in a positive sense) institution into an insular one, peopled by young people unprepared to interact confidently with the rest of the world (and I think, the rest of the country).
No. 48, Jalan Kemuja, Bangsar Utama 59000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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