On Saturday, I had said that Malaysian universities are still in the international backwaters with the country fighting a losing battle to enhance international competitiveness in the quest for academic excellence and university quality — pointing out that Malaysian universities have been omitted in the 2007 Webometrics Ranking (WR) of 3,000 Premier Universities, based on their commitment to Web publication and to the Open Access initiatives.
I said that the National University of Singapore tops the Asian universities in the WR, ranked No. 139 internationally, with the Nanyang Technological University ranked No. 18 among the top Asian universities. Chulalongkorn University of Thailand has again confirmed that it is recognised internationally as in various recent world universities rankings as of superior quality to all the 17 Malaysian universities. Chulalongkorn University is ranked No. 21 among the top Asian universities and No. 505 in the world ranking of 3,000 Premier Universities.
I found that I had made a mistaken when I downloaded the 3,000 universities for more detailed study as there are 10 Malaysian universities in the WR list, but they rank from No. 1193 for Universiti Sains Malaysia to No. 2969 for University Malaysia Sabah.
The Higher Education Ministry and the ten universities ranked in the Webometrics Ranking (WR) of 3,000 Premier Universities cannot be unaware of my mistake, but for 48 hours there had been no attempt by anyone of them at correction or clarification. Why?
Clearly, they are all too shy to point out the mistake, for it will only highlight their lowly ranking in the WR list.
This is because the best Malaysian university ranked in the 2007 Webometrics Ranking (WR) of 3,000 Premier Universities, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) is not only ranked No. 1193, and is ranked behind eight Thai universities and two Indonesian universities — showing how serious had been the drop and decline of Malaysian universities standards for the past three decades even for the region of Southeast Asia.
The Regional and Global Ranking of South East Asian universities are:
Top South-East Asian Universities
(SEA Rank) (University) (World Rank)
1 National University Singapore (Sg) 139
2 Nanyang Technol University (Sg) 150
3 Chulalongkorn U (Th) 505
4 Kasesart U (Th) 577
5 Asian Inst of Tech (Th) 721
6 Chiang Mai U (Th) 861
7 Thammasat U (Th) 894
8 Prince of Songkla U (Th) 896
9 Mahidol U (Th) 909
10 Inst. of Tech Bandung (Id) 927
11 Khon Kaen U (Th) 1009
12 Gadjah Mada U (Id) 1076
13 Universiti Sains Malaysia 1193
14 Assumption U of Thailand (Th) 1195
15 University of the Philippines Diliman (Ph) 1226
16 Universiti Technologi Malaysia 1317
17 Multimedia University 1338
18 King Mongkuts Inst. of Tech (Th) 1419
19 Universiti Putra Malaysia 1426
20 King Mongkuts Inst. of Tech Ladkrabang 1460
21 University Malaya 1475
22 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 1503
23 Suranaree Univ of Tech (Th) 1735
24 De La Salle University of Manila (Ph) 1798
25 Ramkhamhaeng U (Th) 1801
26 King Mongkut’s Univ of Tech North Bangkok (Th) 1811
27 Naresuan U (Th) 1890
28 International Islamic University Malaysia 2056
29 Ubonratchathani U (Th) 2068
30 Universiti Utara Malaysia 2085
31 Bangkok U (Th) 2109
32 Universiti Teknologi MARA 2110
33 Ho Chi Minh City U of Natural Sciences (Vn) 2120
34 Sukhothai Thammathirat Open U (Th) 2125
35 Mahasarakham U (Th) 2180
36 Burapha U (Th) 2181
37 Sipakorn U (Th) 2196
38 Srinakharinwirot U (Th) 2204
39 Ateneo de Manila U (Ph) 2240
40 Can Tho U (Vn) 2364
41 Sdusuan Dusit Rajabhat U (Th) 2374
42 Singapore Polytechnic (Sg) 2415
43 Bach Khoa U (Vn) 2432
44 National Inst. of Education (Sg) 2450
45 Singapore Management U (Sg) 2494
46 Walailak U (Th) 2602
47 Rangsit U (Th) 2635
48 Univ of the Philippines (Ph) 2745
49 Mahanakorn U of Tech (Th) 2922
50 University Malaysia Sabah 2969
The Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad must regard it as a national shame that the best Malaysian university ranked in the 2007 Webometrics Ranking (WR) of 3,000 Premier Universities is ranked behind eight Thai universities and two Indonesian universities, and that generally, Malaysian universities are losing out to the universities in other countries in South East Asia — a grim warning that Malaysia is losing out in the stakes for international competitiveness to ensure our rightful place in the global arena.
Mustapha should present a special report on the latest dismal rankings for Malaysian universities to the Cabinet on Wednesday and report to Parliament in two weeks’ time as to the strategy not only to reform but even to revolutionalise tertiary education in Malaysia if we are not to become a laggard in development in the 21st century.
P.S. I thank johnsee for drawing attention to the South-East Asia WR ranking, which would have made life easier all round – but it was not there on Saturday.