Malaysia Flip Flop: Rampant academic dishonesty is alive and well in Malaysia

Excerpt:

'ONE of the more destructive traits of Malaysia society today is academic dishonesty. It runs throughout many facets of society. Academic dishonesty is not just an education issue, it’s also prevalent within the civil service, business, and even political walks of life.

A few high profile cases of academic dishonesty have arisen over the last few years. Two Federal deputy Ministers, Richard Riot (Human Resources) and Dr Ewon Ebin (Science) were found to have fake degrees a couple of years ago. An executive director of a private college of higher education affiliated with a UK university, and pop star Fazley Yaakob was found to hold two fake degrees, and two public company directors were also found to have fake degrees.

Many prominent figures in Malaysian society have bought ‘bogus degrees’ from unaccredited universities to enhance their qualifications and CVs. There are also cases of Malaysians trying to use fake degrees to get work overseas in countries like New Zealand. However, this lack of academic integrity is not limited to acquiring fake degrees.

A prominent academic has developed a collection of awards that could be considered dubious. Awards such as the Socrates Award in Education, Best Manager Award, and ‘The Name in Science’, awarded by “a designer award mill” called the Europe Business Assembly (EBA), purportedly located in Oxford, UK, appear to grant awards on application and payment, rather than being scrutinized by any international panel. Other such dubious awards include the “Merit of Commandeur” conferred by an organization called the Belgian Chamber of Inventors (BCI), of which any trace cannot be found through internet searches. This is not the first time such awards have been controversial in Malaysia and the region.

There have been numerous issues in regards to plagiarism. Back in 2013, an Utusan Malaysia writer Ridhuan Tee was accused of plagiarism by a Universiti Teknologi Malaysia lecturer Dr Aril Yasreen Mohd. Yassin. Although the matter was never resolved, Ridhuan Tee was appointed an associate professor at Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (National Defence University).'

Rest of article: http://malaysiaflipflop.blogspot.my/2015/11/there-are-more-bogus-scientists-in.html

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Examples of people without common sense

The guy who doesn't know how to block the sun

The man who forgot how to use an umbrella

The guy who is more concerned about his hair's safety

The singer who forgot how to hold the mic

The person who is wondering why her/his bike is always stolen

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Oxford's response to PC idiocy

I haven’t been able to verify the veracity of this item, but if it hasn’t been said, especially on all “institutions of higher learning” here in the Colonies, perhaps it should be?

This message came from a Family in South Africa. It appears that some black students from South Africa are studying at Oriel College, Oxford, on Rhodes Scholarships. They have taken exception to the presence of a bronze bust of Cecil John Rhodes, the great imperialist and the one who established the trust from which the scholarships that bear his name are funded to this day. They are demanding that it be removed. This is the wonderful response by the Dean of the College. Students at that College are known as "Scrotties" for some reason.

“Dear scrotty students,
Cecil Rhodes’s generous bequest has contributed greatly to the comfort and well being of many generations of Oxford students – a good many of them, dare we say it, better, brighter and more deserving than you. This does not necessarily mean we approve of everything Rhodes did in his lifetime – but then we don’t have to. Cecil Rhodes died over a century ago. Autres temps, autres moeurs. If you don’t understand what this means – and it would not remotely surprise us if that were the case – then we really think you should ask yourself the question: “Why am I at Oxford?”

Oxford, let us remind you, is the world’s second oldest extant university. Scholars have been studying here since at least the 11th century. We’ve played a major part in the invention of Western civilisation, from the 12th century intellectual renaissance through the Enlightenment and beyond. Our alumni include William of Ockham, Roger Bacon, William Tyndale, John Donne, Sir Walter Raleigh, Erasmus, Sir Christopher Wren, William Penn, Rep. Adam Smith, Samuel Johnson, Robert Hooke, William Morris, Oscar Wilde, Emily Davison, Cardinal Newman. We’re a big deal. And most of the people privileged to come and study here are conscious of what a big deal we are. Oxford is their alma mater – their dear mother –and they respect and revere her accordingly. And what were your ancestors doing in that period? Living in mud huts, mainly. Sure we’ll concede you the short lived Southern African civilisation of Great Zimbabwe. But let’s be brutally honest here. The contribution of the Bantu tribes to modern civilisation has been as near as damn it to zilch. You’ll probably say that’s “racist”. But it’s what we here at Oxford prefer to call “true.”

Perhaps the rules are different at other universities. In fact, we know things are different at other universities. We’ve watched with horror at what has been happening across the pond from the University of Missouri to the University of Virginia and even to revered institutions like Harvard and Yale: the “safe spaces”; the blacklivesmatter; the creeping cultural relativism; the stifling political correctness; what Allan Bloom rightly called “the closing of the American mind”. At Oxford however, we will always prefer facts and free, open debate to petty grievance-mongering, identity politics and empty sloganeering. The day we cease to do so is the day we lose the right to call ourselves the world’s greatest university.

Of course, you are perfectly within your rights to squander your time at Oxford on silly, vexatious, single-issue political campaigns. (Though it does make us wonder how stringent the vetting procedure is these days for Rhodes scholarships and even more so, for Mandela Rhodes scholarships). We are well used to seeing undergraduates – or, in your case – postgraduates, making idiots of themselves. Just don’t expect us to  indulge your idiocy, let alone genuflect before it. You may be black – “BME” as the grisly modern terminology has it – but we are colour blind. We have been educating gifted undergraduates from our former colonies, our Empire, our Commonwealth and beyond for many generations. We do not discriminate over sex,  race, colour or creed. We do, however, discriminate according to intellect. That means, inter alia, that when our undergrads or postgrads come up with fatuous ideas, we don’t pat them on the back, give them a red rosette and say: “Ooh, you’re black and you come from South Africa. What a clever chap you are!” No. We prefer to see the quality of those ideas tested in the crucible of public debate. That’s another key part of the Oxford intellectual tradition you see: you can argue any damn thing you like but you need to be able to justify it with facts and logic – otherwise your idea is worthless.

This ludicrous notion you have that a bronze statue of Cecil Rhodes should be removed from Oriel College, because it’s symbolic of “institutional racism” and “white slavery”. Well even if it is – which we dispute – so bloody what? Any undergraduate so feeble-minded that they can’t pass a bronze statue without having their “safe space” violated really does not deserve to be here. And besides, if we were to remove Rhodes’s statue on the premise that his life wasn’t blemish-free, where would we stop? As one of our alumni Dan Hannan has pointed out, Oriel’s other benefactors include two kings so awful – Edward II and Charles I – that their subjects had them killed. The college opposite – Christ Church – was built by a murderous, thieving bully who bumped off two of his wives. Thomas Jefferson kept slaves: does that invalidate the US Constitution? Winston Churchill had unenlightened views about Muslims and India: was he then the wrong man to lead Britain in the war?” 

Actually, we’ll go further than that. Your Rhodes Must Fall campaign is not merely fatuous but ugly, vandalistic and dangerous. We agree with Oxford historian RW Johnson that what you are trying to do here is no different from what ISIS and the Al-Qaeda have been doing to artifacts in places like Mali and Syria. You are murdering history.

And who are you, anyway, to be lecturing Oxford University on how it should order its affairs? Your Rhodesmustfall campaign, we understand, originates in South Africa and was initiated by a black activist who told one of his lecturers “whites have to be killed”. One of you – Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh – is the privileged son of a rich politician and a member of a party whose slogan is “Kill the Boer; Kill the Farmer”; another of you, Ntokozo Qwabe, who is only in Oxford as a beneficiary of a Rhodes scholarship, has boasted about the need for “socially conscious black students” to “dominate white universities, and do so ruthlessly and decisively!”

Great. That’s just what Oxford University needs. Some cultural enrichment from the land of Winnie Mandela, burning tyre necklaces, an AIDS epidemic almost entirely the result of government indifference and ignorance, one of the world’s highest per capita murder rates, institutionalised corruption, tribal politics, anti-white racism and a collapsing economy. Please name which of the above items you think will enhance the lives of the 22,000 students studying here at Oxford.

And then please explain what it is that makes your attention grabbing campaign to remove a listed statue from an Oxford college more urgent, more deserving than the desire of probably at least 20,000 of those 22,000 students to enjoy their time here unencumbered by the irritation of spoilt, ungrateful little tossers on scholarships they clearly don’t merit using racial politics and cheap guilt-tripping to ruin the life and fabric of our beloved  university.

Understand us and understand this clearly: you have everything to learn from us; we have nothing to learn from you.


Yours,
Oriel College,
Oxford

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Nurul Izzah Anwar: KEADILAN's Five Rising Stars: A Commitment Towards Reform and Change by 2021

In 2015, the United Kingdom elected its youngest Member of Parliament since the 17th century, 21-year old Mhairi Black. Her maiden speech in the UK Parliament garnered the attention of more than 10 million people worldwide and the praise of many fellow Members of Parliament. 

 

Back in Malaysia, Barisan Nasional has always criticised the young opposition candidates, citing inexperience, forgetting that the youth is the future leaders of our country. At KEADILAN, we believe that it is imperative to support the youth in their endeavours to strengthen their voice for Malaysians. In the face of the 11th Sarawak elections on 7 May, KEADILAN is fielding numerous young, promising candidates.

 

Abdul Raafidin Majadi, a 32-year old of Melanau descent is representing the party at N55 DUN Nangka. Formerly a Government Legal Officer at the High Court of Miri and the High Court of Kuching, Abdul Raafidin is now a full-fledged civil lawyer and Syariah practitioner in Islamic law. Abdul Raafidin calls for the people of Sarawak to vote with integrity and to choose wisely for a competent leader.

 

Athina Klaywa Sim makes Malaysian history as she becomes the first Bidayuh woman to run for state elections in Sarawak. Running for N18 DUN Serembu, the 27-year old lawyer at Baru Bian Advocates And Solicitors criticises BN for its disappointing track record of not having fielded a single Bidayuh lady for state elections. She concedes to being a young face in Malaysian politics, but cautions that “a novice but sincere politician, is far better than an experienced but dishonest one.”

 

At N20 DUN Tarat, 34-year old Musa Anak Ngog has stepped up as KEADILAN’s candidate. Although bearing a full-time job as an IT Engineer, Musa has remained an ardent supporter of the party’s efforts as the KEADILAN Coordinator at Tarat. Musa is especially concerned towards the marginalised indigenous people of East Malaysia, publishing a book titled “The Lost Aborigine in His Own Country Home" to narrate the neglected history of the Dayak-Bidayuh. For Tarat, he aspires to reform education to put an end to illiteracy and poverty.

 

As AMK Malaysia’s Environmental Bureau Chief, Jamilah Baharuddin has always been a budding youth leader at KEADILAN. In three days time, she will be running for the Sarawak state assembly at N25 Simunjan. Currently 30-years old, she is a lawyer for Baru Bian Advocates and Solicitors. 

 

Mohamed Salleh Shawkatali, 35 years old, will be standing as the KEADILAN candidate for N8 DUN Satok. He is an entrepreneur passionate about matters pertaining the youth. Currently, he is the Chairman of local NGO, the Association of Sarawak Youths. Salleh has unveiled a five-point manifesto outlining his plans for Satok, inclusive of many entrepreneurship programmes to boost the local economy and free tuition programmes to improve education quality. 

 

Just as how young Mhairi Black has drawn the attention of the UK Parliament to the concerns of the Scottish, I believe these young leaders of KEADILAN will play a pivotal role in surfacing the concerns of the Sarawakian population, in a bid to better their lives.

 

On 7 May, these rising stars in Sarawak's political landscape will make their first bid for public office. Each of them continues to fight the good fight and campaign tireless, against forces that possess Goliathan resources. But what these young politicians have is a deep passion and commitment to the future of Sarawak. It is young Sarawakians like these five who hold the key not only to the future of PKR Sarawak but also to the fate of Sarawak in the next great battle of 2021.

 

Help them realise their dream and aspiration for Sarawak by donating through Hong Leong Bank, PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT - JPRP,  account number: 22500010828.

 

On 7 May, I urge all my Sarawakian brothers and sisters to vote for these candidates not only for a stronger opposition in the state assembly but also for a stronger future for Sarawak! 

 

Ngap Sayot! Demi Sarawak!

 

Nurul Izzah Anwar
KEADILAN Election Director
KEADILAN Vice President

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Citizen Nades - It’s not know-how but know-who

Because it had been mentioned over the years, the phrase has become a cliche. And also because Umno-led coalition had been in power since 1957, the corruption modus operandi continued and has become even more blatant. There is no fear of display of ostentatious wealth (not commensurate with official incomes) among political leaders and their key supporters. They seem immune to possible investigation by MACC. Recent arrests of top civil servants by the new head of the agency attracted comments like 'for show only, after the court case, they will be set free'; 'why no mention of names? If it involved opposition leaders, there would be maximum publicity in the mainstream media'; and of course, 'why is MO1 still untouchable?'

Anyway, excerpt from Nades' article in The Sun:

'IF the government wants to buy a baggage handling system to replace the current one at KLIA, it will have to go to manufacturers like Beumer, Zafire, Daifuku or Siemens, just to name a few.

Perhaps, a tender notice in the International Herald Tribune or the Financial Times inviting qualified manufacturers.

On a much smaller scale, if it wants to buy stethoscopes or plaster, it invites medical supplies manufacturers.

In the absence of manufacturers, the invitation to tender ought to go to their appointed local representative.

Why is it necessary to call Mr A to get the supplies.

He would then go to the supplier, place his order and then inflate the price and sell it to the government.

This is the Malaysian malaise where political cronies have thrived and lined their pocket much to the loss to the nation.

In almost all developed countries, the open tender system is the foundation of their good governance – Malaysia being the exception.

For several years, it is no secret that the key in winning government contracts is not the know-how but it is the "know-who".'

Rest of the article: 

http://www.thesundaily.my/node/389777

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