Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, at a forum on “The student, student politics and politics” organised by the University of Malaya Law Society on Tuesday, 5th November 1973 at 8 p.m.
The student, student politics and politics
Last month, the Thai students gave the world another demonstration of the ability of student power to bring about changes in society, and in this case, it was to bring down the corrupt and inept government of Thanom Kittikachorn.
Seven years ago, the Indonesian students led by KAMI played a major role in toppling the Sukarno regime. There are many other such examples of students-induced changes in other parts of Asia and the world.
It must be this awareness and realisation of the potential power of student idealism to challenge and expose the forces of corruption, injustice and reaction which motivated our Alliance government to enact a particularly obnoxious Act in the form of Universities and Colleges Act prohibiting university students from any form of political participation.
This is all the more unacceptable when we note that the government-appointed committee into the racial polarization and campus life of the students of the University of Malaya reported in 1970 that there was no reason to deny the right of political participation to the university students. Continue reading The student, student politics and politics