KPUM

KPUM (Malay: Kesatuan Penuntut Undang-Undang Malaysia di UK dan Eire) (English: Malaysian Law Students Union in the United Kingdom and Eire).[1] is the official Malaysian Law Students Union in the United Kingdom and Ireland ("Eire"). KPUM promotes the interests of Malaysian law students, primarily by organizing events.


History

The organization was established in 1979 and enjoys the patronage of Sultan Azlan Shah, who is the current Sultan of Perak, and the previous Lord President of the Federal Court of Malaysia.[1] KPUM is recognized by the Malaysian Bar, and obtains its funding through sponsorship from firms in Malaysia, as well as through any profits made from organizing events.

Over the past 30 years KPUM has gone through a period of preeminence, decline, and subsequent revival.

KPUM is an affiliated member of the United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC) and is one of the member of UKEC's Supreme Council. The two organizations sometimes collaborate, particularly to promote events, for instances, KPUM and UKEC jointly organised the UKEC-KPUM Law debate competition in 2009. However, it does not collaborate with UKEC for the similar event in 2010. KPUM had been close to UKEC since 2005 as its past president Wan Mohd Firdaus (2004) was also the Chairman for UKEC in subsequent years (2005–2006). Its General Secretary for 2003, Nik Nazmi, was also the Vice Chairman of UKEC.

Purpose

The organization's promotes the interests of Malaysian law students, primarily by organizing events and opportunities with legal employers. KPUM is regarded as politically neutral, favoring neither Barisan National (the ruling coalition in Malaysia), nor Pakatan Rakyat (the opposition coalition).

It however commits itself to promoting justice, the rule of law, human rights, and free discussion and debate.

Membership

Every Malaysian law student attending a United Kingdom university, law school, or BPTC provider is automatically a member of KPUM. However membership is also open to any student holding a Malaysian passport, regardless of subject or country of study. Committee members have included Economics and Engineering students. Additionally, KPUM's committee includes a Malaysian Ambassador, who attends a Malaysian university.

Events

KPUM holds several events throughout the year. Events are typically open to students regardless of subject of study. The type of events tends to change with changing committees, however some events have become annual.

Board of Directors

The KPUM Board of Directors are the group of students who run the organization. The positions on the committee sometimes change with different years. Each KPUM committee serves for a term of one year, with elections taking place in London during Michaelmas term.

KPUM Board of Directors 2013-14[2]
Position Name University/BPTC Provider
President Ang Pei-Hsia University College London
Vice President Janice Tan Cardiff University
General Secretary Jasmine Cheng Queen Mary, University of London
Treasurer Lily Foong London School of Economics
Human Rights & Activism Coordinator JoFan Pang University of Hertfordshire
Careers Officer Arthur Ng Wei Meng King's College London

Criticism

KPUM has been criticized over its focus on London. Most, if not all, of the events held in the United Kingdom are held in London, making it more difficult for students from other regions to attend. Furthermore, the composition of its committees in recent years has seen London universities and London BPTC providers heavily overrepresented. Committees are often dominated by students from the City Law School, King's College London, and the London School of Economics.

Another common criticism centers around KPUM's sometimes conflicting goals of obtaining funding from firms in Malaysia as well as promoting justice and free discussion and debate. Criticism comes from both sides, with some advocating a stronger, more principled stance, and others advocating a more cautious approach in order to avoid upsetting firms so that more funding can be obtained. The balance may tip one way or the other depending on the views of incumbent committee members.

References

  1. 1 2 "About KPUM". www.kpum.org. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
  2. ↑ "KPUM Executive Committee 2014/2015". http://www.kpum.org/committee/201415-2/. External link in |website= (help);

External links

Official website - http://www.kpum.org/

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, September 29, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.