Maszlee to meet student activists

PUTRAJAYA: Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik will hold a meeting with a group of students who had protested over his appointment as president of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), on Wednesday.

In a statement yesterday, Maszlee said the meeting would take place at the Education Ministry here at 6.30pm.

He hoped through the meeting he would be able to listen to the students' concerns in keeping up with the concept of an open door policy as practised by the government.

"As I have said earlier on Sept 8, I am committed to meeting up with the students on Wednesday, Sept 12.

He said his officers had contacted the students' representative Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi who had agreed to the date and time of the meeting. The statement was issued following a report on a news portal today titled "Maszlee Malik's open door policy is just ‘rhetoric' - Student Activist ", which among others quoted Asheeq Ali as saying that the open door policy which the minister had been championing were just talk.

Last Saturday, Asheeq Ali, 23, and Siti Nurizzah Mohamad Tazali, 23, were detained by police after refusing to disperse from the main gate of Parcel E, Putrajaya, which houses several ministries including the Education Ministry.

Asheeq Ali and Nurizzah together with a few students from several universities who called themselves Coalition for Academic Freedom-Institute of Higher Learning had organised a sit-in to protest against Maszlee's appointment as IIUM president.