Our Antarctic legacy and the spirit of Merdeka
By Prof. TPr Dr. Goh Hong Ching
Every 31 August, Malaysians celebrate Merdeka with pride, remembering those who secured our independence and reflecting on the journey that has made Malaysia a confident member of the international community. Yet Merdeka is not only about looking back. It is also about having the confidence to decide where we go next, including what Malaysia can contribute beyond our own borders. One of the lesser-known chapters of that story takes us to perhaps the most distant place imaginable: Antarctica.
In 1982, Malaysia was among the developing countries that questioned how Antarctica was governed. At the United Nations, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad argued that decisions concerning the continent should reflect the interests of the wider international community rather than a select few. This was not a territorial claim, but a question of fairness and representation. More than four decades on, that argument carries new weight. What happens in Antarctica does not stay there: changes in its ice, oceans and ecosystems are linked to global climate systems and sea level rise, with implications for a coastal and biodiversity-rich region like Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Antarctic research is therefore not a scientific luxury reserved for countries nearer the poles. It is part of understanding the planetary systems that affect us at home.
Malaysia’s Antarctic story did not end with the diplomatic debates of the 1980s. Over subsequent decades, Malaysian researchers and institutions have steadily built our Antarctic research capability through expeditions, international collaboration and the training of new generations of scientists. This has been a collective national effort. Universiti Malaya’s own sustained involvement, marked by 25 years of polar expeditions through UM Polar 25, has contributed valuable experience and international networks. Through the National Antarctic Research Centre (NARC), this experience now provides a platform for Malaysia to further strengthen its Antarctic capability while connecting researchers and institutions nationwide.
This year, as Universiti Malaya marks 121 years of institutional excellence, a recent courtesy visit by Vice-Chancellor Dato’ Seri Professor Ir. Dr Noor Azuan Abu Osman to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad offered a timely moment for reflection. During the visit, held in conjunction with UM121, Tun Dr Mahathir called on the University to continue upholding integrity, good governance and excellence. For those of us involved in Malaysia’s Antarctic journey, the occasion also invites reflection on another dimension of his legacy: the question Malaysia raised more than four decades ago about who should have a voice in the stewardship of Antarctica.
That question, once articulated through diplomacy, has increasingly been given substance through science. The challenge now is to sustain that capability. As Malaysia’s leading university, Universiti Malaya is well placed to strengthen support for NARC through research funding, interdisciplinary collaboration and international partnerships. But leadership should not mean exclusivity. NARC is most valuable as an enabling national platform, and strengthening UM’s capacity should also strengthen the wider Malaysian Antarctic research community.
Today, the question is no longer whether Malaysia has a legitimate place in Antarctica but whether we are prepared to build the national framework needed to sustain that presence for decades to come. Malaysia already has researchers, experience, international partnerships and institutional foundations. What remains underdeveloped is the continuity linking science, funding, governance and diplomacy. Antarctic science cannot rely on fragmented funding; it requires sustained investment in people, long-term research and partnerships. This should not be seen simply as the cost of sending scientists to a distant continent but as an investment in Malaysia’s capacity to understand a changing Earth system and contribute meaningfully to global environmental governance.
Universities can lead, and UM can strengthen institutional support for NARC. Furthermore, Antarctica cuts across foreign affairs, environmental governance, higher education and research, international law and climate policy. Malaysia should therefore consider a coherent national Antarctic strategy to be supported by coordination across the relevant ministries, agencies, universities and scientific community.
Three priorities stand out. First, Malaysia needs sustained investment in Antarctic science and talent as scientific credibility is built over decades rather than through individual expeditions. Second, strengthening Malaysia’s domestic legal framework for Antarctic activities should form part of this longer-term national agenda, providing greater clarity for our work while demonstrating responsible participation in the Antarctic Treaty System. Third, Malaysia should chart a long-term pathway towards becoming an Antarctic Treaty Consultative Party not as a diplomatic badge, rather, as a voice earned through credible and sustained scientific contribution. Science and diplomacy must therefore move together.
More than four decades ago, Malaysia had the confidence to raise a difficult question about Antarctica on the world stage. Today, we have the opportunity to respond through science, stewardship and sustained participation alongside diplomacy. The next chapter cannot be written by a single university, ministry or generation. It must be a national endeavour that honours those who built Malaysia’s Antarctic programme, strengthens the institutions carrying it today and creates opportunities for those who will carry it forward.
Merdeka gave Malaysia the freedom to determine our own future. Perhaps its continuing meaning also lies in having the confidence to contribute to a future shared with others. Nations are remembered not only for what they protect within their borders but also for what they contribute beyond them.
Malaysia once asked the world to think differently about Antarctica. The challenge now is to ensure that we continue to make a credible scientific contribution and have a meaningful voice in its future. That, too, is the spirit of Merdeka.
The author is the Director of the National Antarctic Research Centre (NARC) at Universiti Malaya.