COMMENT | Recently, Malacca-based French historian Serge Jardin exposed, yet again, the erroneous content of an oral presentation made by an emeritus professor at a Malaysian public university.

His criticisms were centred on alleged factual errors, the absence of references to support these “facts”, and the overall lack of rigour in how the research findings were presented.

Gerak reiterates that this is the result of a fundamental crisis in Malaysian academe. The lack of critical thinking, analytical rigour, and academic honesty continue to be exposed in Malaysian higher education.

Our public university lecturers take pride in publishing a lot. With every promotion exercise, many brag about the numerous articles they can produce within one academic year. They also regularly present conference papers and give public talks around the country.

However, a number of these “scholarly” publications and activities are increasingly being exposed for fraudulent content, disjointed analysis, mediocrity, and irrelevance.