The University of Malaya (Malay: 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. Students were posted to several hospitals, initially at the Singapore General Hospital. From 1908 onwards, attachments were made to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (for medicine and surgery) and Kandang Kerbau Maternity Hospital (for midwifery).
In 1912, the medical school received a endowment of $120,000 from the King Edward VII Memorial Fund, started by Dr Lim Boon Keng. Subsequently, on 18 November 1913, the name of the school was changed to the King Edward VII School of Medicine. In the first batch of 16 students of 1905, only seven made it to the final and graduated in May 1910, while the remaining six students graduated four months later, and others resigned from the school. In 1919, the drop-out rate had risen to 35%, while in 1939 the number of students who failed in their final examinations stood at 44%. At this time, a hostel was built to accommodate 72 male students from the Federated Malay States. In 1921, the school was elevated in status to a college. Between 1920 and 1930, the college went through a series of transformations, by replacing the old teaching staff with a younger generation of professionals and also nine new Chairs were created, the first in Anatomy in 1920, followed by Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery & Gynaecology in 1922 and Clinical Surgery, Bacteriology, Biology, Bio-Chemistry, and Dental Surgery in 1926. And the tenth chair for Pathology was created in 1935. In 1923, the college's new building at Outram Road was commenced. It was completed in November 1925 and officially opened by Sir Laurence Guillemard in February 1926. During the opening ceremony, the college conferred Honorary Diplomas on Sir David James Galloway, Dr Malcolm Watson and Dr Lim Boon Keng. In 1929, Dr George V. Allen, the new principal, took the helm, succeeding his predecessor, Dr MacAlister.
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