PUTRAJAYA: Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Idris Haron yesterday dared former Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor Datuk Rafiah Salim to write her "expose", saying the ministry had nothing to hide.

"We have no control over her decision to write a book. Lots of books have been published. It is an individual's right to author a book. The question is whether the public would purchase the book based on its author or its contents."

He said he was not worried about any expose as the ministry had always conducted matters transparently.

He had been asked to comment on a report that Rafiah was working on publishing a book based on her 21/2-year tenure at UM that would expose the "political nuisances" she had allegedly endured.

Idris said he had not singled out Rafiah in Parliament last Thursday by saying she had not performed or that her track record was not up to mark.
"It was never my contention to defame any particular person. If you check what I had said in Parliament, you would know I had not mentioned any names and I stand firmly by this," he said after closing the first International Seminar on Comparative Law 2008 at Putrajaya Marriott.

Idris also denied there was any gender discrimination involved when Rafiah's contract was not extended.

"She was the first woman to be vice-chancellor and that in itself proves she was worthy of the post. The decision to not extend her tenure was made by the selection committee and is not to be questioned."

On a separate issue, he said two of the seven Malaysian students on scholarships from a government-linked company who "went missing" in Australia had been tracked down.

He said the ministry was depending on the Umno Youth social welfare secretariat to help bring them back home.