f The trilemma of Malaysian higher education

Higher education in Malaysia has an important political and social dimension. The importance of maintaining national stability and authority and addressing the problems of horizontal inequality are ultimately unavoidable influences on Malaysian educational institutions. These issues act to temper the promises and impact of liberalization and globalization in higher education. The discourse of higher education in Malaysia and the way in which we formulate arguments about higher educational institutions, globalization, the state and democratic needs must be understood in historical and political contexts. The establishment of a post-independence national education system was informed both by Malaysia’s colonial inheritance and a desire to transcend its limitations. Malaysian public policy especially since the inculcation of the New Economic Policy has also had a strong focus on addressing inequality between ethnic groups in Malaysia and the legacy of horizontal inequality rooted in the unjust legacy of Malaysia’s colonial past. To understand Malaysian higher education, one needs an historical understanding of its colonial past and a sense of the local conditions that inform the difficult political choices that policy makers have. The limits of globalization and liberalization in higher education can be understood in reference to these historical, social and political issues.