Universiti Malaya

The Universiti Malaya (abbreviated UM) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in newly independent Malaya.

The predecessor of the university, King Edward VII College of Medicine, was established on 28 September 1905 in Singapore, then a territory of the British Empire. In October 1949, the merger of the King Edward VII College of Medicine and Raffles College created the university. Rapid growth during its first decade caused the university to organise as two autonomous divisions on 15 January 1959, one located in Singapore and the other in Kuala Lumpur. In 1960, the governments of Malaya and Singapore indicated that these two divisions should become autonomous and separate national universities. One branch was located in Singapore, becoming the University of Singapore (merging into the National University of Singapore in 1980) after the independence of Singapore from Malaysia, and the other branch was located in Kuala Lumpur, retaining the name Universiti Malaya. Legislation was passed in 1961 and the Universiti Malaya was established on 1 January 1962. In 2012, UM was granted autonomy by the Ministry of Higher Education. The university also collaborated with the University of Wales in 2013 to establish the International University of Malaya-Wales (IUMW), a private university in Malaysia, which is now known as the University of Malaya-Wales (UM-Wales).

Today, UM has more than 2,300 faculty members and is divided into fourteen faculties, two academies, three institutes and two academic centres.

History

King Edward VII College of Medicine

The establishment of the university began with the issue of a shortage of medical assistants in Singapore and Penang during the late 1890s. The problem was addressed in a report published by the Education Commission in April 1902. The report stated that the commission was in favour of establishing a medical school to fulfil the demand for medical assistants in government hospitals. However, such a view was not in favour among the European community.

Legislation was passed by the Straits Legislative Council in June 1905 under Ordinance No. XV 1905. The school opened on 3 July 1905 and began functioning in September. On 28 September 1905, Sir John Anderson officiated the school under the name 'The Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School.'

The school was located in the old Female Lunatic Asylum near the Singapore General Hospital at Sepoy Lines off New Bridge Road, where four of the asylum buildings were converted into a medical school. In 1907, a lecture hall and laboratory were added. There was no library and room to keep pathological specimens.

In 1905, there were 17 medical students, four students attending the hospital assistant course. Five years later, the enrolments increased to 90 medical students and 30 trainee hospital assistants. The school had only one permanent staff, which was the Principal; the teaching staff were employed on a part-time basis. The Principal was Dr Gerald Dudley Freer, who previously served as Senior Colonial Surgeon Resident of Penang.

The School Council wanted to gain recognition of its Diploma by the General Council of Medical Education in the United Kingdom to ensure that the Licentiate of Medicine and Surgery Diploma offered by the school would gain worldwide recognition. In 1916, the GCME recognised the Licentiate of Medicine and Surgery Diploma offered by the school. The licentiates were placed on the General Council's Colonial List of the British Medical Register and were entitled to practise anywhere within the British Empire.

In 1910, Dr Robert Donald Keith became the second Principal of the School. The first two years of the five-year course were devoted to pure science studies. Physics, biology, and chemistry were taught in the first year, followed by physiology and elementary anatomy in the second year. The remaining three years were attachment to clinical clerkships in medicine, surgery, and midwifery, which covered pathology, hygiene, and medical jurisprudence. Materia Medica was integrated into the fourth year, where practical pharmacy was taught.

Coat of arms

The UM's coat of arms was designed under a council established in 1961, chaired by Tan Sri Y.C. Foo. The members of the committee involved in the design were the chairman of the council, Y.C. Foo, Professor A. Oppenheim (the vice-chancellor) and Professor Ungku Aziz (later regius professor). The coat of arms was officially chartered in April 1962 by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the university's first chancellor.

The coat of arms is divided into two parts, namely the chief (upper part) and the base (the remainder). The chief is a bundle of seventeen strips of the leaves of Borassus flabellifer or the Palmrya palm. These strips were used as printed material for ancient books by the Malays, long before paper was invented. On the centre of these seventeen strips is the university's motto 'Ilmu Puncha Kemajuan'. The motto consists of 'Ilmu' derived from Arabic, 'Puncha' from Sanskrit (Za'aba Spelling for 'Punca'), and 'Kemajuan' from Malay. These words mean knowledge is the source of progress.

In the centre of the arms is a Bunga Raya or hibiscus rosa-sinensis species encircled by three Malayan tigers. The tigers symbolise the three main races in Malaysia (Malays, Chinese and Indians), who work hand-in-hand to protect the nation and uphold the duty to serve the country. It is blazoned:

Azure, parted per fess by a line Or. In base a Bunga Raya (hibiscus flower) between three tigers passant regardant two and one all proper; and in Chief a bundle of seventeen strips of the leaves of Palmyra Palm Or inscribed with the words 'ILMU PUNCHA KEMAJUAN'.

The current arms design was derived from the original arms in 1949, which was blazoned as such:

Per fess Azure and Argent, in base a tiger passant reguardant proper; in chief an open book also proper, bound, edged and clasped Or.

Academic profile

Currently UM is ranked 58th in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2026, 331st in the USNWR 2025 global rankings, 304th in the 2025 CWTS Leiden Ranking, and among the top 200 universities in the 2026 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.

The business school of UM has achieved two international accreditations i.e. Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and Association of MBAs (AMBA).

The Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Japanese Language and Linguistic Course was awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation for their contributions to promotion of Japanese language education in Malaysia on 1 December 2020.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Department of Chinese Studies

The Department of Chinese Studies (Chinese: 马来亚大学中文系), commonly known as UM Chinese Studies was established in 1963, and the department is one of the earliest university-level Chinese studies units in Southeast Asia. The department offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Chinese studies. In addition to teaching, it conducts research in Chinese language, literature, culture, and Sinology, and organises academic conferences, public lectures, student orientation activities, and outreach programmes. The department's stated objectives include advancing Sinological scholarship, promoting the translation of Chinese classics, and contributing research expertise to the humanities and social sciences, while fostering intercultural understanding within Malaysia's multilingual society. The dean of the department is Datuk Professor Dr. Danny Wong Tze Ken.

Faculty of Dentistry

The Faculty of Dentistry (Malay: Fakulti Pergigian) was established in 1971 and traces its origins to the Dental Department of the King Edward VII College of Medicine (1927–1949) and the University of Malaya's Department of Dentistry in Singapore (1949–1961), making it the oldest dental school in the country. The faculty is located in Kuala Lumpur, near the University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia's largest teaching hospital. The faculty offers a five-year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) program, first introduced in 1972. For postgraduate studies, the faculty provides disciplines including oral surgery, orthodontics, and oral cancer research, combining clinical coursework, research, and international collaborations. The dean of the faculty is Professor Dr. Firdaus Hariri.

Organisation and administration

Vice-chancellors

This is a list of vice-chancellors of the Universiti Malaya.

Student life

Student bodies

The UM's campus student bodies, known as Universiti Malaya Students' Union (UMSU) are elected by the students to have representatives engaging in policies and matters relating to student affairs. As such the elections, known as 'PRKUM' which is acronym for Pilihanraya Kampus Universiti Malaya in Malay language is seen as a precursor to a student leader. Whilst prior elections before 2019 was organised by the Student Affairs Department of the university, the first election managed by the students was conducted on 4 March 2019, marking a historic first whereby an all student affair made the elections a milestone. Suara Siswa, a pro-student group won the elections which saw 61% of 13,671 students cast their votes. UM also has its own radio station, UMalaya Radio which is under the auspices of its Student & Alumni Affairs Division.

Facilities

The university houses 13 residential colleges (11 in-campus, 2 off-campus), an Olympic-sized swimming pool, the Rimba Ilmu Botanical Gardens, the UM Arena which boasts a full course running track, several museums of different fields as well as numerous sports facilities (gymnasiums, courts and fields) in the campus. The university's teaching hospital, Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) is located at the boundaries of UM near the Petaling Jaya gate.

Residential colleges

Unlike other global universities, colleges in UM does not function as accommodation and institution. They are only functioned as hostels for students.

During the pandemic, all colleges were at limited capacity or closed. In September 2021, they were in the process of being reopened in conjunction with the loosening of pandemic measures by the government. Many colleges have their own basic facilities, such as a restaurant. In the 12th college (UM labels their residential colleges by name and dedicated number) lies a well known hipster cafe called He and She Coffee.

In the media

UM became a subject matter in the 1987 documentary film, Dari Desa Ke Kampus (lit. From the Countryside to the Campus), produced by Filem Negara Malaysia.

Notable alumni

Multiple alumni of UM were noted to have played significant role in the development of Malaysia, and its graduates have been notable in various fields within the country. Five out of nine Malaysian Prime Ministers were UM alumni, with Mahathir Mohamad becoming the only prime minister to be elected twice. Numerous UM graduates have been elected as members of parliament to the Dewan Rakyat, senators to the Dewan Negara, members of the State Legislative Assembly, as well as being ministers of the federal cabinet, chief ministers, governors, and speakers to both houses of representatives. Notable politicians include current Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat Johari Abdul, former president of the Dewan Negara Vigneswaran Sanasee, former Minister of Finance Daim Zainuddin who finished his doctoral thesis at UM, former Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Malacca and Menteri Besar of Pahang Mohd Khalil Yaakob, and Member of Parliament for Sungai Buloh and Rhodes Scholar Sivarasa Rasiah.

UM has also produced a large number of lawyers, diplomats and public servants that have hold top posts within their respective fields. In diplomacy and foreign affairs, 51st President of the United Nations General Assembly Razali Ismail, and 8th Secretary General of the ASEAN Ajit Singh, both studied at UM for their undergraduate degrees. More than half of the Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia has been a graduate from UM where out of fifteen of them, eight has studied at UM, where Ismail Bakar is the most recent alumnus to hold the post. Two former Inspector-General of the Royal Malaysian Police Norian Mai and Mohamad Fuzi Harun also attended UM. In law, two Chief Justice of Malaysia, three President of the Court of Appeal of Malaysia, three Attorney General of Malaysia, three Chief Judge of Malaya and one Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak have all attended UM Law School.

Four governors of the Malaysian central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia, Ali Abul Hassan bin Sulaiman, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Muhammad bin Ibrahim, and Shaik Abdul Rasheed Abdul Ghaffour all studied commerce at UM. Business people include billionaires such as the founder and chairman of Top Glove Corporation Bhd, Lim Wee-Chai, CEO of Westports Holdings G. Gnanalingam, founder and chairman of Public Bank Berhad Teh Hong Piow, and founder of NagaCorp Ltd Chen Lip Keong.

Various corporate figures such as the former chairman, president and CEO of Petronas Azizan Zainul Abidin, president and CEO of Maybank Amirsham Abdul Aziz, co-founder of AirAsia Pahamin Rajab, and former CEO of Permodalan Nasional Berhad Khalid Ibrahim.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)