Kuala Lampur, Dec. 4 -- Malaysia's higher education sector stands at a precipice. Public universities, once pillars of national aspiration and social mobility, grapple with chronic underfunding. Now, whispers and actions, point towards a radical solution: privatisation. Framed as a path to financial sustainability and competitive autonomy, this shift is presented as a necessary evolution. But is privatising our public universities truly a healthy development, or a dangerous gamble that risks exacerbating the very decline it purports to solve? Is mixing public and private healthy? The popular view is no. Instead, leave private higher education to the fully private universities, which have demonstrated recognised global credibility.

Propon...