Page 175 - VC Message

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10. Today, I will speak about how universities can navigate the trends, challenges,
and opportunities of this geopolitical, digital, and sustainable era, and how we at
Universiti Malaya are striving to lead the way with a bold, future-driven approach.
11. Our era is marked by intense geopolitical rivalry and power realignments. From
great-power competition to regional conflicts, global instability is on the rise.
12. One consequence is the diversion of resources away from education and research
towards immediate security needs. Global military spending hit a record high in
2024 at $2.7 trillion, expanding by over 9% from the previous year.
13. More than 100 countries ramped up their defense budgets in 2024 alone. The
share of government spending worldwide devoted to the military climbed to
7.1%, reflecting a widespread prioritization of arms and defense.
14. Education and research are among those foundations of stability that risk being
undercut.Indeed, we see worrying signs that education budgets are stagnating or
shrinking in many countries.
15. This trend is not limited to our region. Globally, aid to education is projected to fall
by a staggering 25% between 2023 and 2027. In fact, new analyses show that aid
to education already fell by 12% in 2024.
16. To put it bluntly, the world’s investments in weapons far outstrip its investments in
classrooms – the entire annual international aid for education is equivalent to just
two and a half days of global military spending.
17. Many governments, grappling with economic uncertainty and defense pressures,
have reduced research grants, university subsidies, and scholarship programs.
Our higher education institutions thus find themselves fighting for support, even
as expectations of them grow.
18. National security is not achieved by arms alone; it crucially depends on educated, 167
healthy societies and robust economies.If billions can be found for weapons,
surely we can find the will to fund laboratories, libraries, and learning.
19. As university leaders, we must also be proactive in diversifying our funding
sources – strengthening links with industry, fostering public-private partnerships,
and collaborating across borders – to ensure our important work continues.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

20. Equally transformative in this era is the digital revolution. Over the past decade,
digital technology has been prevalent in every aspect of life – from how we
communicate and work to how we teach and learn.
21. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerated this transformation, pushing
education systems worldwide. This digital leap has opened exciting opportunities:
education can now reach across borders at the click of a button.
22. Yet alongside these opportunities, a stark digital divide persists. Millions of
students and citizens remain excluded due to lack of connectivity or skills.
According to the latest data, 2.6 billion people – roughly one third of humanity –
are still offline in 2024.
23. This divide is also mirrored in education access: in high-income countries, 93% of
people are online, whereas in low-income countries only 27% are online.
24. Higher education has a pivotal role in bridging this digital divide. Firstly, universities
must work with governments and industry partners to expand connectivity and
technology access for our communities.
25. Secondly, our curricula need to integrate digital skills and literacy across all
disciplines, ensuring graduates are prepared for a world where digital fluency is
essential.