YOURSAY 'I can't decide which is worse - Curtin's ignorance or its greed. But when education is reduced to a business, principles go flying out of the window.'

Curtin apologises over FLOM faux pas

Pemerhati: Curtin University vice-chancellor Jeanette Hacket is trying to do damage control by giving some lame excuses.

Curtin University is in the business of making money by selling its educational services. Like any other business, it will try and maintain a good relationship with the political leadership of the country.

Curtin has a branch campus in Miri, Malaysia, and so it makes good business sense to keep the prime minister of Malaysia happy by giving his wife a piece of paper with the words ‘honorary', ‘PhD', etc, written on it.

This is a very much cheaper way of apple polishing and keeping the VIP crooks happy than paying hundreds of millions as was done by the people who sold the Scorpene submarines.

If in the future Curtin decides that it wants to make more money in Malaysia by opening up more branches, then it can rely on the PM and his influential wife to ensure that all the necessary government approvals are speedily given.

Cloudnine: Curtin is careless and reckless in its evaluation, if there was one and if it was properly done at all.

I know Australians well. They call a spade a spade. They do their homework well. So VC Hackett, what is the actual motivation behind this award?

I would recommend a royal commission of inquiry into the whole matter to lay bare the facts.

Cala: Curtin spoils its own name. Curtin's conferment of the honorary PhD title on Rosmah is indeed mind-boggling.

First, while in numbers, Rosmah may have achieved something in establishing 600 Permata centres, how does Curtin know that the centers have attained the stated goals in such a short time since Najib's elevation to PM post, and she being his wife?

Second, it is all about morality. When Malaysians are in general suspicious of her role in the C4 case, there is no clear response from the powers-that-be that absolves her from the criminal act.

In the absence of more details, for Curtin to go ahead with bestowing the said title on her is a sign of carelessness. Its reputation as a serious institution of higher learning has been sadly put in doubt.

Cannon: Curtin has to apologise to its faculty members, students and alumni for its poor judgement and lack of wisdom in awarding FLOM (First Lady of Malaysia) an honorary doctorate.

The university is tarnishing its reputation lending its good name to the wife of the leader of a corrupt and repugnant regime.

Onyourtoes: On criticisms over the award to Rosmah, Hacket said that the university stands by its decision - another intransigence and obstinacy in the face of overwhelming lack of professionalism, governance and transparency?

I want the university to explain how much it knows about the Permata programme for which the award was based on? I also want the university to explain how much of the speeches given by the recipient of this award was actually believed by the speaker (after all, this is what the university said, the speeches she gave impressed you fellows).

If the university does not even know that the PM's wife under the Westminster system of government is not the first lady, how much does your university really know?

See, dear Rosmah; I told you earlier - you must decide in your heart whether you deserve the award or not. It does not matter the university wanted to give you the award. They could be just apple polishing, knowing who you are.

You should politely reject the offer, telling the university there are more deserving individuals in Malaysia who should be given the award.

This way, you not only gain goodwill but also some respect from among Malaysians. Now, the whole of Australia know that many Malaysians dislike you.

Holden: Is Curtin so weak on research skills that they think Rosmah merits this award? The names of at least half a dozen courageous women come to mind where education in this country is concerned.

Of course, they are not married to any PM, nor do they have unlimited resources from the country's coffers.

I can't decide which is worse - Curtin's ignorance, its elitism or its greed. But then, when education is reduced to a business, quality, ethics and principles go flying out of the window, don't they, Madame Hacket?

Abasir: Mother Mangalam, now 86 years, has dedicated her entire life to serve the under-privileged, children from broken homes, sheltering abandoned babies and orphans with no regard to ethnicity.

She started this life of service in her early 20s just as the country was picking itself up from the ravages of World War Two and the start of the communist insurgency. Due to her efforts, thousands of children since the early 50s have had a chance at leading simple but meaningful lives.

But in the estimation of Curtin University, she does not qualify for one very good reason: she has no means of granting the university any favours.

Curtin, we now know, fully subscribes to PM Najib Razak's mantra: ‘You help me, I help you.' That should now be the motto of this education enterprise.

Anonymous_3f7d: "Hacket explained that Curtin has a tradition of conferring honorary awards to recognise those who have given ‘distinguished service' to the university, to the community, to society or those who have made a distinguished contribution to a field of academic endeavour."

Distinguished service? Of what kind? For spending millions of taxpayers' money on herself? We may be Malaysians but we're not stupid, Curtin.

Knowledge: It can now be deduced that Curtin demeans itself to a classless university that confers dubious characters with its degrees that are reserved only for the truly deserved.

By this act, we can also surmise that among the list of such past recepients, the university would have also compromised its integrity more than once. Conferring Rosmah with such an honour is a travesty of justice to other worthy receipients of the past.

The committee that did this atrocity of destroying the image of Curtin should resign. There are numerous others here who deserve such an award. Curtin has erred in its judgement in a big way and this has invited scorn rather than fame.

Up2U: I just do not know whether to laugh or cry. A reputable Australian university like Curtin have to scoop low to ‘bodek' (apple-polishing). Business must be tough and bad.

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