UPM board chairman terminated less than a year into job - but why?

The timing of the recent removal of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) board chairperson Syed Razlan Syed Putra Jamalullail has been called into question as he was investigating allegations of misconduct among the varsity’s top management.

According to a report by The Malaysian Insight, Syed Razlan was given a termination letter dated July 17 and signed by Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik (photo, above). He is set to be replaced by former Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor Ghauth Jasmon, effective Aug 19.

Syed Razlan was only appointed UPM board chairman last October for a three-year period, and the letter did not provide any reasons for his dismissal.

He said that he intends to complete his investigations before leaving and that he wanted to do so "for the sake of UPM's future."

“Although the minister has the power to end the contract, it would have been polite if he had discussed this with me first, before issuing the letter.

“People will now think I might have done something wrong because they do not know the essence of the letter I received," he said, adding that he hoped his termination was not due to the internal probe or reforms at the university.

Syed Razlan said in carrying out the probe, he was just following orders from the Higher Education Department based on a report he received in April.

Last year, as part of efforts to bring reforms to public colleges and universities, Maszlee terminated the board chairpersons of several varsities, including UPM, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin and Universiti Sains Malaysia.