Malaysiakini plays host to a long-standing controversial topic on Malaysian government and government-linked scholarships. It’s been said many times, albeit rather quietly, that government scholars are "not recommended" to attend any undesirable political gatherings. Worse still, it has also been said that some students under Malaysian government scholarships serve as "spies" of a sort for the Government - reporting on their fellow scholars that go out of line, e.g. those who attend or worse still, organise, undesirable political gatherings.

Of course, let’s remember that all this is just rumor - with little evidence publicly available, so take whatever that follows with a pinch of salt.

So, the ex-student who published at Malaysiakini has these as his arguments:

First of all, I challenge the government in denying that some of the students in UK, as well as anyway else where it is deemed necessary, are acting as spies for the Special Branch.

The Malaysian Students Department in the UK, besides carrying out its normal duties, also tries to control the activities of Malaysian students, for example, when they are organising seminars involving personalities deemed unsuitable, for example, Anwar Ibrahim. In spite of him being described as irrelevant, wherever he went to, an alternate event was held to prevent the students from attending his, with warnings too. It was wasteful when coaches provided by the government for prescribed events go about almost empty.

Well, what do you think? I’m sure there’s at least some truth to this, but the question is: How much does it matter, especially to the scholars involved? Is it particularly bad advice to stay away from politics while under scholarship? I say no.

While you’re under scholarship, it is your responsibility to study, and come back with a solid degree. The government expects that, and so do your parents. After that, you have all the time in the world to do whatever you want.