Universities are under attack for being too theoretical in educating students which leave in turn; graduates who are apparently ill-prepared for ‘practice’ or the ‘real world’. This article is an attempt to explore and address basic assumptions of the university curriculum and the context in which universities (in the West) have developed since the middle of the nineteenth century which saw the expansion of what has come to be known as the ‘modern’ university. This is because the university, through time, has always had to absorb and accumulate changing aspirations-and perhaps also the presumptions- of successive generations and not surprisingly, it has also come to disappoint them. What this short piece hopes to do is to stimulate dialogue on an issue of public discourse that has directly and indirectly shape the way we think about university education in Malaysia.