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History
Immediately
after the Second World War, two young Malayans were selected and awarded
scholarships for veterinary studies in the United Kingdom. More were
selected in the 1950's and 1960's for studies, not only in the United Kingdom,
but also in Australia, Canada and New Zealand under Federal, State and Colombo
Plan Scholarships. The number returning to join the Government
Veterinary Service was about 2-3 per year.
It became obvious in the 1960's that the number was too few for the need of
the expanding service especially after the transfer of full responsibility for
animal husbandry in 1962. During that year, the Department of Veterinary
Services submitted a memorandum to the Higher Education Planning Committee on
the need for veterinary education in Malaysia.
The need for a veterinary school in Malaysia was brought up for discussion at
the FAO Meeting on Haemorrhagic Septicaemia held in Kuala Lumpur in 1962 and a
proposal was actually discussed at the Second Meeting of the FAO/WHO Expert
Panel on Veterinary Education in Rome in 1963.
The
subject was again discussed publicly in 1968 at the first annual conference of
the Association of Veterinary Surgeons Malaysia-Singapore. His
Excellency Tengku Abdul Rahman Putra AI-Haj, the Prime Minister at that time,
in his opening speech at the conference, promised to study the question of the
establishment of a veterinary faculty if a proposal was made.
Consequently, a sub-committee on veterinary education was set up by the
Association to pursue the matter. A proposal was eventually submitted to
the Higher Education Planning Committee which recommended the establishment of
a veterinary faculty in the University of Malaya. There was, however, no
action taken.
In 1967 the Department of Veterinary Services published a report on the
"Proposals for the Development of the Livestock Industry and the
Reorganization of the Veterinary Services". A large section was
devoted to 'the Case for Establishing a Veterinary Faculty in Malaysia'.
The following year, one noted veterinary educationist, Sir William Weipers, of
the Glasgow University Veterinary School was invited out to Malaysia by the
Department of Veterinary Services and the Association of Veterinary Surgeons,
Malaysia-Singapore to deliver a paper on 'Veterinary education : A study of
the needs of Malaysia and Singapore', in conjunction with the Fourth Annual
Conference of the Association in Singapore in August, 1968. In November
the same year the Kajian Veterinaire carried a lengthy editorial on 'the Case
for a Veterinary Faculty in Malaysia'.
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