Flashback to 17 May 2005. An item in the International Herald Tribune. The report is well worth revisiting!
Reuters report on the Permatang Pauh by-election.
AH SO... ARIF SHAH ALMOST GOT HIS DOCTORATE FROM THE EDISION UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY...
Arif drops out of 'bogus' PhD study
Kuek Ser Kuang Keng & Wong Teck Chi | Malaysiakini | Aug 22, 08 10:51am
Barisan Nasional Permatang Pauh candidate Arif Shah Omar Shah has stopped pursuing his PhD degree after questions were raised over his academic credentials.
“The PhD is not recognised, so I have quit. I am finding a paper that is recognised,” he told Malaysiakini when met at the sidelines of his election campaign on Tuesday.
He was asked to respond to questions raised on the Internet, asking how he could pursue a doctorate degree when he possessed only a diploma and no other intermediating qualification.
An English daily had carried a profile of Arif Shah’s educational background, reporting that he was a diploma holder in civil engineering and currently pursuing a PhD at the ‘Edison University of Technology (off-campus programme).'
The report sparked debate among bloggers who could not verify his academic credentials as they could not find his university name on the Internet.
The 52-year-old Seberang Jaya state assemblyperson clarified the university should be ‘Edision University of Technology’, a university registered in the British Virgin Islands offering distance learning courses.
Registered in British Virgin Islands
After checking the Internet and a local industry expert, Malaysiakini found the university has been accused of being a bogus diploma mill.
The local expert, who asked for anonymity, pointed out that the address of the university’s international distance learning centre is shared by hundreds of other companies.
It is believed the address belongs to a company secretary.
[Read the rest here. "Bagus/Bogus" graphics from Zorro Unmasked.]
GOOD REASONS FOR NOT VOTING ARIF SHAHFrom MarGeeMar (22 August 2008)
MALAYSIAKINI reported that PERMATANG PAUH by election candidate from BN, Arif Shah Omar Shah has stopped pursuing his PhD degree after questions were raised over his academic credentials.
The big question here is if Arif still continued to pursue this bogus Phd. up till April 21, when did he stop then? Did he decide to stop because of the heat coming from Bloggers? First and foremost, how can someone with just a Diploma go on and pursue a Phd. The so-called International Distance Learning Centre of Edision University of Technology is a mailbox office:
International Distance Learning Centre
2nd Floor, 145-157, St. John Street
London EC1V 4PY, UK. / Tel:0845-8790040
If you do a Google search on the above address, you will find hundreds of companies using the same mailbox address.
This clearly proves that it is a Bogus University.
Edision University of Technology is accredited by WORLD ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES (WAUC). The WAUC is global accreditation association founded to establish and promote global standards in higher education among colleges and universities worldwide."
The "accreditor," WAUC, is owned by Dr. Maxine Klein Asher. (Her own degrees are real.) She also owns American World University, which, according to Wikipedia, sells degrees.
You can also find some "ripoff report" articles if you Google her name or WAUC. With just US$1,699 anyone can register a business entity in the British Virgin Islands under the name of university.
Two things bother me about this guy Arif Shah: one, if he knew the PhD from Edision was bogus but yet continued to pursue it, he must be a person of the lowest level of integrity who would be willing to deceive the Rakyat (People) with his phony Phd. If Arif Shah got into the PhD program without checking the University's background (remember, you have to pay a lot of money to get a PhD), then, he must be the biggest oxymoron around. In other words, he is not fit for public office, i.e. State Assemblyman or Member of Parliament.
However, The Scribe has other reasons why Arif Shah should never be voted in as Permatang Pauh MP let alone be the Seberang Jaya Assemblyman for the following reasons:
1. He was the most notable Indian Muslim who claimed himself Malay and participated in the illegal protest at Komtar against YAB Lim Guan Eng and the newly installed Pakatan Rakyat State Government in support of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy). A man who forgets his origin just because of his religion, calling himself another can never impress me and any right minded person. The Permatang Pauh Indians need to take note of this.
2. The BN had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to put up Arif Shah as the BN candidate because Arif Shah is the ‘least-hated’ of the five warlords of Umno Permatang Pauh so they hope that with him as the candidate this would reduce the possibility of internal sabotage. Never before had Umno needed to have an Assemblyman to stand for elections as an MP as well.
3. Arif Shah is the brother of Tan Sri Amin Shah Omar Shah who is in now in self-imposed exile in the UK. He shuttles between London and Dubai but would never dare come close to Malaysia because there are criminal breaches of trust (CBT) allegations he may have to answer to. Amin Shah’s company, PSC Industries Berhad, was awarded more than RM24 billion in naval contracts around 1998 at the time Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was already the Defence Minister. The government paid him billions in upfront money but Amin Shah’s company never fulfilled its side of the bargain. Billions of Ringgit of Malaysian taxpayers’ money went down the drain in the biggest fraud in Malaysian history. Amin Shah’s brother, Azlan Shah Omar Shah, was the Managing Director of the company.This guy (Arif Shah) is obviously lying when he says that he did not know his university is a bogus one. If he can lie about this, can you believe him when he says that he has no interests in his corrupt brother's business? In other mature democracies, Arif Shah would not even be considered as a candidate.4. Arif Shah was the Indian Muslim Malay wannabe who made the call as Seberang Jaya state assemblyman to rename George Town “Bandar Datuk Abdullah Fahim”.
5. The BN controlled MSM keeps on spinning that Arif speaks Mandarin and Hokkien and can read and write in Chinese as well. I hope the Permatang Pauh Chinese will remember that this same Arif Shah marched to Komtar with the rest of the Umno racists chanting "Ketuanan Melayu" with the perceived fear that the Chinese have taken over the State. Do you want this racist as your MP? Don't fall for the pictures of Arif Shah reading Chinese newspaper and speaking in Chinese in the local BN controlled MSM.
6. Arif Shah joined the rest of his racist pals from Umno to pressure the Federal Government to scrap all Mega Projects in Penang as punishment to Penangites for voting Pakatan Rakyat. Do we need to add another Umno racist who punishes Penangites to Parliament.
This Scribe hopes that whoever reads this will print and pass this blog posting around. This Scribe gives consent to fellow Bloggers to reproduce this Blog Posting in their own Blogs. If possible, share this by word of mouth with those who have no access to the Internet. Let's expose Arif Shah for what he really is!
