IT is only the beginning. We are seeing the Malaysian university of the future -- Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been chosen to be the country's first Apex university.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, who made the announcement last Wednesday, said that the choice of USM for the Accelerated Programme for Excellence (Apex) was based on the university's transformation plan and its state of preparedness.

Much has been said at the popular, academic and policy levels, about the state of Malaysian universities.

And advocates in various guises have liberally indulged in university bashing.

Perhaps the announcement could mitigate the unnecessary comments on Malaysia's higher education and intellectual production.
The selection of USM for the Apex programme has raised a number of questions.

Why the need for Apex in the first place and what does it mean to Malaysian universities? What are the implications on students and faculty?

How do we place social expectations of universities? Are we seeing (or seeking) the end of political interference in universities?

We may want to ask: how else do we develop the Malaysian university and how do we imagine USM moving forward?

The move by the Higher Education Ministry in initiating Apex as a feature in the National Strategic Plan to transform Malaysia's higher education and selecting USM for the programme has implications beyond the local university fraternity.

The initiative has to be seen in its proper context. No university exists in a vacuum. It is an integral part of nation and society.

In this regard, what does the Apex programme say of its objectives?

My reading suggests that the Higher Education Ministry does not pretend that our universities have reached global stature.

Instead, it wants to ensure that the entire higher education system moves on to a new level of excellence.

It is a process -- which has to be seen as such -- that sees a university in its entirety and, at the same time, pays attention to the specific areas of excellence within higher institutions.

It promotes excellence at both the entire university organisation and/or parts of a university, for instance, individual institutes and faculties.

Modelled on and adapted from similar initiatives in Germany, Taiwan, China, South Korea and Singapore, the Apex initiative is designed, among others, to achieve the following:

• Help fast track the transformation of higher education in Malaysia.

• Stimulate universities to think of new ideas and best strategies to adopt in achieving future goals.

• Promote top-level research and teaching, and to benchmark them against the world's best.

• Encourage local tertiary institutions to cooperate with the world's top universities and with other top non-university research institutes.

• Provide the opportunity for universities to reexamine existing forms, structures, norms and business models so as to craft new instruments, regulations and procedures necessary for good performance and competitiveness.

• Serve as pathfinders and catalysts for the transformation of other institutions through best practices, first-class human capital development, and policy improvements; and

• Sustain growth and enhancement of higher education.

Much as we imagine the university to be a republic of ideas and existing on its own authority, government intervention is necessary.

USM can expect this through generous government funding. But that does not mean that other universities would be short of endowment.

It also does not mean the end of the road for other universities to be ranked among the top 100 (in five years' time) or top 50 (by 2020) universities in the world.

While the focus (and the pressure) may be on USM to position itself within the stipulated time frames, the university must continue what it has been doing.

It would be good if other Malaysian universities try to emulate USM.

What if USM does not make it by 2013 or 2020? And what if another university or universities which is/are not in the Apex programme (as yet) attain a higher ranking by then?

Perhaps these are moot questions. Nevertheless they evoke assumptions and thoughts on the fundamental role of a university.

What is important is that it is the beginning of a new era; a new consciousness in the development of universities in Malaysia.

Still, we cannot expect our universities to evolve like the older and established ones in the Euro-American world. This is because the sociological and historical conditions are different in the non-Western world.

The learning and knowledge culture in Malaysia as manifested in the publishing industry suggestsan underdeveloped state of intellectual production.

The reading habits of students and lecturers reflect this. How many students read beyond their notes and textbooks? I have encountered lecturers who said they have stopped reading after obtaining their doctorates.

The ideal university leader is one who has a penchant for lifelong learning and an appreciation of the arts and sciences, among other traits.

Interestingly, a recent study cited USM Vice Chancellor Professor Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak as a man who engages in reading and ideas.

These are not utopian expectations but are qualities that distinguish universities and their faculty from other organisations.

One of the Apex programme criteria revolves around the university's state of readiness and preparedness for change.

Actually, all universities in Malaysia must perpetually be in that state.

The change here must focus and move towards the core functions of a university, making it uniquely a university and not similar to some other entities.

Based on what has been disclosed, USM may have more of that uniqueness than other Malaysian universities.

This can be seen in the quality and reputation of its academic staff, research achievements, academic programmes of choice and relevance, strong leadership and management, strategic partnerships with industry and other stakeholders, and excellent infrastructure.

These were the criteria used for USM's selection as the Apex university.

Generous funding is just as important as an atmosphere of mutual trust between the university and its various stakeholders.

That trust has to be imbued throughout the university system, for example, between lecturers and deans; between vice chancellors and the authorities.

Equally important, a university must be conscious of its moral suasion to society. Its role is to influence society to accept the values of civility and tolerance.

The transformation plan for any university as spelled out by Apex is predicated on innovative and brave new ideas that challenge present thinking.

The first critical action would be to select university leaders who are "the change" themselves.

Kudos to USM.

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Professor A. Murad Merican is with the Department of Humanities and Management, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. He can be contacted at amurad_noormerican@petronas.com.my