During my first term as an MP, I was in a dilemma. Should I or should I not raise the issue in Parliament — the imposition of the headscarf on non-Muslim students at the university. Would I be damaging the image of my alma mater? Why did those questions bug me?

What did Foo Yueh Jiin have in mind when she emailed Kit Siang and requested that he bring up the imposition of the headscarf on non-Muslim students at IIUM? Why didn’t I speak up when I was at IIUM? Why was I not as courageous as Foo Yueh Jiin?

Foo Yueh Jiin, an IIUM law graduate, missed her graduation ceremony because she refused to wear a headscarf, which was the requirement. IIUM authorities said the requirement was for “uniformity” purposes.
When I was in my third year, I recommended that a friend’s sister, a Chinese girl from Ipoh, do her degree at IIUM. Like me, she was interested in studying law but the quota system left her with no choice. Her co-curricular record was excellent and she was the head prefect at her high school. She was admitted to IIUM and was active in mooting and represented IIUM in many competitions. Currently, she is practising law in a K.L. firm and has been offered a partnership position, I’ve been told.

After I graduated, I again recommended that a male friend from Bidor do law at IIUM. He is now practicing law in Ipoh. I also recommended a friend — whom I met when I was practising law in KL — to take a diploma course in Company Law at IIUM, which he did.

Some time after I was elected, I was asked by a friend to talk her younger sister (who had been admitted to IIUM to do law) into staying on when most of her friends were leaving for better offers at other universities as well as for a more “conducive” environments. She stayed on and completed her degree.

The great lecturers at IIUM were the main factor that made me promoted IIUM. I would like to thank them for imparting their knowledge to me, to name a few, Puan Zubaidah (Law of Contract), Dr Syed Ahmad Alsagoff (Law of Contract), Dr Mohsin Hingun (Law of Torts and International Trade and Shipping Law), Prof Dr Mohd Altaf Hussin Ahangar (Law of Torts), the late Tan Sri Prof Dato’ Prof. Harun Mahmud Hashim, En Baharuddin (Professional Practice) and Dr Zaleha (Family Law).

I can still recall that a lecturer from India, who taught Constitutional Law, had asked if the meaning of “when the King thinks fit” includes “the power of the King to call for an emergency even if he sneezes?” I replied yes.
He also compared us to his former students in a foreign university, calling us lazy as we would go back to sleep immediately after class, whereas his former students went to his house for classes even if it was raining.

After I graduated, I applied to do my Master’s at IIUM as a part-time student but that did not materialise as I was required to take a few pre-requisite subjects.

I cherish fondly my experiences when two good friends of mine from Albania, Brikena and Zamira, brought their friends to visit me in Ipoh and we travelled by bus to Cameron Highlands. We had a good time. Once, they brought back food from their country for me to try. They also showed me photos of their families and their lifestyles back home.

The law faculty was the first (if I am not mistaken) to move to the new campus. The air was fresh and you can always hear the crickets. Both of them were staying in the same block with me but at the 1st floor. The furniture in my cubicle was in my favourite colour - blue.

I realize now how brave I was when I decided to study at IIUM, but I also realise the need to speak up for the university. IIUM is a great place. It is unique — a place not just for studying but it is a centre for cultural and religious exchange.

After Yueh Jiin spoke out about missing her convocation, I got to know her better. She shared her comments with me through email, mainly about headscarf-related issues. How both of us were criticized! I have not heard from her for some time, until recently, she mentioned through SMS that she was at the Syariah Court and was asked to put on a headscarf!

Putting on and removing a headscarf is simple. But the feeling of being forced to do it against our will remains till today — nine years after I’ve left IIUM!

To IIUM, mutual respect and understanding of our differences will go a long way towards fostering a culture of tolerance and acceptance that is so lacking in the fragmented society we live in today. Unity in diversity is what IIUM should be striving for.

I have no regrets about being a graduate of IIUM but I do hope the juniors and future non-Muslim students will not leave IIUM with the same feelings I had — it’s something that will never go away.