Five BN Selangor candidates alleged to have fake degrees

The Malaysian Insider, 17 April 2013

By Debra Chong
Assistant News Editor

Kohilan was among the five whose paper qualifications were called into question. — File picKUALA LUMPUR, April 17 ― The DAP put the integrity of five Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) election candidates under the microscope today after it accused the men, including a deputy minister, of having “bought” their high-level academic qualifications.

The opposition party’s election strategist Ong Kian Ming named interim deputy foreign minister A. Kohilan Pillay, Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman Teh Kim Poh, MCA’s Ching Eu Boon and Lee Ban Seng, as well as an Umno religious affair chief, Ab Wahab Ibrahim, as having padded their résumés with academic degrees from universities that have been exposed as degree mills.

“Candidates who feel as if they had to ‘buy’ a degree, either at the undergraduate, masters or postgraduate levels, inevitably call their own integrity into question.

“If these candidates are willing to dupe voters about their academic qualifications, which is an important part of any person’s life, what other areas of life would these candidates be willing to lie about including in areas of public interest such as the management of public funds and the proper and responsible use of public resources?” he asked in a statement today.

Malaysian election law does not require nominees to have a degree in order to run for public office, Ong said, adding that such qualifications did not automatically elevate a candidate’s social standing.

Ong urged the five to withdraw their candidacy from the May 5 polls if they could not deny or explain their questionable degrees.

He reminded them that Selangor BN coalition chief Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed had vouched for their integrity when their names were listed as part of the state line-up, saying it was a disgrace to have their academic qualifications exposed as “fake” to bolster their credentials.

Kohilan, who has been named as the BN’s man for the Puchong federal seat, was alleged to have bought his Master of Science in Commerce and Industrial Economy from the Pacific Western University in the United States, which had been sued and shut down after it was found to have churned out degrees for payment.

Teh, 62, and the parliamentary candidate for Klang, was accused of buying his Doctorate in Business Administration from another American degree mill, New Port University, which Ong claimed was the same dubious university that had awarded the caretaker Perlis mentri besar Datuk Seri Dr Md Isa Sabu his PhD.

Umno’s Ab Wahab, who is running for the Taman Medan state seat, was listed has having a PhD in Public Service from the infamous Irish International University that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had in 2008 reported to be bogus, Ong said.

Pandamaran state candidate, Ching has a PhD in Network Marketing from the suspect St George University International, while the BN’s man for Kajang, Lee, is alleged to have paid for his business administration bachelor’s degree from Rutherford University in the US.