By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Sept 25: The Academic Senate of Swinburne University of Technology has agreed to establish a Faculty of Law in its Sarawak Campus to offer legal courses, with one of the elective subjects requiring students to study and learn about Sarawak-related laws such as the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
When announcing this, the Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said the Academic Senate had welcomed this idea that the Sarawak government recommended.
“I was made to understand that universities in Peninsular Malaysia do not offer such elective subjects teaching students about NCR (Native Customary Right) land.
“It is not taught, so people do not know how the laws came about and why. So, we need academic studies on our NCR land-related laws.
“MA63 is also not taught in law schools. Yet, these are all important legal knowledge relating to the constitution,” he said when attending an appreciation dinner at SMK Agama Tun Ahmad Zaidi last night (Sept 24).
On a related topic, Abang Johari said various postgraduate courses in line with today’s economic transformation are being offered in five Sarawak-owned institutions, namely Swinburne Sarawak, Curtin University Malaysia, University of Technology Sarawak, i-Cats University College, and Centexs.
He said student admissions under these institutions are not subjected to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), and students are free to select their desired courses. — DayakDaily
