Tajuddin Rasdi, an Islamic architecture professor at UCSI University, said the council (known as MPN by its Malay initials) has yet to play a noticeable role in explaining national issues to the public.
“People are missing the bigger role that MPN should play. At the moment, I think MPN is only serving itself instead of being what I call the conscience of the nation,” Tajuddin told FMT.
He said membership of the council should be expanded to include credible academics not in public institutions or those who have retired. At present, only working academics are eligible to be members.
MPN was embroiled in controversy after the Auditor-General’s Report revealed several irregularities, including the misuse of funds and increment of the chairman’s allowances without ministerial approval.
In August, MPN president Raduan Che Rose was charged with seven counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM271,000 of the council’s money. He pleaded not guilty. The CEO of an MPN-linked firm also claimed trial to colluding with Raduan.
Tajuddin said the council’s credibility would be enhanced by recruiting those known for their ability and courage to share their opinions publicly without fear of reprisals from the authorities.
Academics are supposed to have great knowledge and great influence, but the MPN members don’t have the influence, he said.
He said most current MPN members “are already at the top of their careers, so they shouldn’t be looking for any promotions (through MPN)”.
Tajuddin’s comments come after the Public Accounts Committee suggested the council be moved from the Prime Minister’s Department to be placed under the higher education ministry.
Tajuddin said MPN should explain national issues to help the public to better understand complicated topics that can sway public opinion.“They don’t have to take sides, they just need to analyse the issue clearly and provide explanations from all perspectives,” he said.
He said the Keluar Sekejap podcast co-hosted by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin is popular because “Khairy has enough intellectual depth to frame such issues in a populist manner”.
Tajuddin claimed that MPN professors’ podcasts are not very popular as they rarely touch on popular issues. He said academics were very weak in this aspect, which is why many topics are left for social media influencers to explain.