Protection for Whistleblowers in the Public Universities of Malaysia

Abstract

This article examines the protection to the whistle blower who discover misdeeds and complaints internally in the
public universities of Malaysia. The key legislation that accords protection to whistle blower is the Whistleblower
Protection Act 2010 (WPA) which arguably unable to protect employees in most of the public universities, a
statutory body govern under the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (Act 30) and the Statutory Bodies
(Discipline and Surcharge) Act 2000 (Act 605). It has been debated that complaints made externally are treated
differently when complaints are made to the enforcement agencies. Therefore the first objective is to identify to
whom and what protections are conferred to whistle blower under the WPA 2010. Secondly to make a critical
analysis for the whistle blower protection under the WPA 2010 in public universities which are to be achieved
through a doctrinal research studies. The third objective is to suggest a comprehensive whistle blower policy
framework to be adopted and enforced in public universities that focus on primary literature as well as social
science research. This methodology shall be conducted as this study attempts to fill the vital gap in whistle blower
protection in the public universities in order to ensure the highest standard of integrity in their performance of their
duties.