MARCH 15 — There’s a joke about how lecturers in Malaysia today aren’t lecturers any more — we’re basically administrators who happen to teach classes.
Today things are even more complicated. Together with educator and administrator, I think lecturers have to take on another role: caregiver.
When we picture the caring industry, nurses or counsellors might spring to mind. But lecturers deserve a spot in that frame too.
In Malaysia, where classrooms hum with local and foreign voices, what lecturers do go beyond teaching — they nurture, support, and lift students up.
They’re vital caregivers, especially for international students, and their role echoes what anthropologist David Graeber saw as the quiet power of care-driven work (see Note 1).
I felt this personally many years ago.
Once, a lecturer drove me home through a storm when I was stuck after class.
Another ensured I ate before a late-night study grind. As I’ve written before, it’s these “extra things” that show lecturers as more than educators — they’re caregivers.
Graeber argued that society undervalues roles rooted in care, yet they’re what keep us human.
In Malaysia’s diverse lecture halls, this rings true, especially for foreign students navigating a new world.
Take the thousands who flock here for affordable, quality education — Chinese, Indonesians, Africans, those from the Middle East, etc.
They arrive with big dreams but also big hurdles: language barriers, culture shock, homesickness, immigration problems, sub-par university on-boarding, confusing course-selection procedures, etc.
Every new semester, me and my colleagues need to answer the desperate questions of hundreds of students from China, all semi-panicking about why their selected courses aren’t approved yet, will their attendance be affected, how to submit assignments, when will holidays begin, is there a “Certificate of Study” given so they can show the authorities back home, etc.
Now imagine those who fly in late. Me and my colleagues have to deal with all of them, answering their questions using Google Translator, giving them assurances we can’t really give, and so on.
I believe these moments reflect Graeber’s point: Caring work isn’t just functional — it’s transformative, building environments where people flourish.
Malaysia’s education hub status magnifies this issue.
Lecturers are cultural and institutional guides, make-shift uncles and aunties helping students, many of whom are well and truly lost procedurally, culturally and academically.
More than lectures, it’s about lifting students up, the columnist argues. — Pexels pic
I’ve heard of a colleague hosting a potluck so foreign students could swap dishes and stories, easing their isolation.
It’s not in their contracts, but it fosters belonging.
Many lecturers aren’t chasing prestige or pay — they’re fuelled by passion to see these students get through college in one piece and with their love of learning intact.
That’s the caring ethos Graeber championed: work that matters because it lifts others up.
Do I even need to mention that all this isn’t easy?
Picture a lecturer juggling packed classes, research deadlines, and endless paperwork, yet still finding time for a struggling student.
It’s late nights, quiet sacrifices — exhausting stuff. Caring roles demand resilience, often without fanfare.
For foreign students, that extra effort — a kind word, an hour of guidance can shift their entire experience. One lecturer’s patience might mean a homesick student sticks it out instead of booking a flight home.
Next time you walk by a lecture hall, look past the slides and exams. Lecturers are Malaysia’s unsung caregivers, shaping minds and lives — especially for those far from home.
They don’t get medals, but their impact ripples. I hope we’re proof that the most vital work isn’t always the loudest.
In a country like Malaysia betting big on education, lecturers are the ones ensuring no student gets left behind, living proof that offering care is the real backbone of learning.
Note 1: David Graeber’s posthumous book, The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World: Essays, is a collection of essays spanning his career. The section on “Revolt of the Caring Class” contains a few chapters elaborating his case that co-operation and caring are fundamental to an anthropology of freedom from coercive structures and authoritarianism.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
