At least I have the last laugh
Investigations carried out by the UPM in Serdang, near here, found that a large chunk of the book contents were lifted from the websites, and some materials are said to have been lifted word-for-word.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Raja Petra ordered to pay RM4 million in damages
Tan Chew Chin, New Straits Times, 27 March 2008
The Alor Star High Court yesterday ordered blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin to pay RM2 million to Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) vice-chancellor Tan Sri Dr Nordin Kardi in general damages over an article he posted on his website "Malaysia Today" two years ago.
Deputy High Court Registrar Priscilla Gengadaran also ordered Raja Petra to pay RM2 million to the university over the article which appeared on the website on Dec 16, 2006.
Raja Petra and two defendants did not defend themselves and they also failed to appoint counsel.
Nordin, the first plaintiff, and UUM, the second plaintiff, had filed a defamation suit against Raja Petra (first defendant) and three others — Parti Keadilan Rakyat (second defendant), chief editor of the opposition party's organ, Suara Keadilan (third defendant) and editor of the bulletin (fourth defendant) — on Feb 25 last year.
Nordin and UUM claimed that Raja Petra and the three other defendants had published the libellous article with intention to tarnish his and UUM's good name and integrity.
The article Dato' Dr Nordin Kardi Ciplak Karya Saya? Mohon Penjelasan… (Dato' Dr Nordin Kardi plagiarises my works? Please explain…) was first published in Raja Petra's website, "Malaysia Today", on Dec 16, 2006.
The article authored by Muhtar Haji Suhaili had claimed his works Mahasiswa dan Tanggujawab Menguruskan Kejayaan (Graduands and the Responsibility in Managing Success) was plagiarised by a person who had used the name Dato' Nordin Kardi.
As it turned out, Raja Petra had picked up the article which was posted on a website at http://muhtarsuhaili.tripod.com.
The article was subsequently published in Suara Keadilan on Dec 27, 2006.
In her judgement, Priscilla also ordered the chief editor and editor of Suara Keadilan to each pay Nordin RM1 million for publishing the article.
They also each have to pay UUM RM500,000.
Nordin and UUM were represented by Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz.
Priscilla, however, has yet to fix a trial date for the PKR which is represented by R. Sivarasa.
Meanwhile, Nordin described the judgment as a landmark decision against a cyber misconduct.
"I hope others who might have been defamed by cyber misconduct would consider legal action against the wrongdoers.
"I also hope the High Court decision would serve as a deterrent against any attempt to invade the integrity of an individual or institution," he said.
FURTHER READING: Others, not you, decide what you are
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Copy-cat lecturers 'wrote' guide book for UPM
Malaysian Mirror, Tuesday, 15 September 2009
We all know about lazy students who siphon information from the Internet and passing it to their lecturers as ‘research’.
What we do not expect is lecturers doing the same thing and passing their work to the students as a ‘guide book.’ Worse, they were getting royalties for what they did.
A 64-page book, titled Writing an Effective Resume and authored by two academicians of the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) was said to have contained plagiarised materials of several American university websites, including Harvard and Albion College.
It was meant to help management students on writing resumes that are impactful and attractive to potential employers.
However, investigations carried out by the UPM in Serdang, near here, found that a large chunk of the book contents were lifted from the websites, and some materials are said to have been lifted word-for-word.
A professor and a PhD holder
Media reports said the book was written by two academicians and published two years ago. One of the authors is a professor while the other had just received her PhD from the university, recognised as a leading research-intensive public university.
Formerly known as Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, UPM offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses with a research focus on agricultural sciences and related fields.
Suspicions that the guide book may have been plagiarized, arose about a year ago and investigations were immediately started.
The two lecturers have since been questioned and given a warning, which will be included in their service record. It does not look for their career development.
UPM vice-chancellor Dr Nik Mustapha R Abdullah said the university’s legal department had advised the management to give ‘’very stern warnings’ to the two lecturers.
Book will be removed from shelves
He added, however, that neither one will be suspended but they have to return to the university any royalties they had received from the book.
The plagiarised guide book will be removed from the varsity’s shelves, he told The Star.
He said officers from the legal department had questioned the authors and had made suggestions to the UPM management on the disciplinary action that could be taken against the two, who had regretted their action and had apologized for it.
Contacted by the daily, Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the ministry viewed that matter seriously, adding: “We will leave it to the university to conduct their investigation and to take the necessary action.”
Higher Education Ministry director-general Prof Dr Radin Umar Radin Sohadi acknowledged receiving complaints, adding that investigations are ongoing.
"We certainly cannot accept plagiarism, especially in the higher education environment," he told theSun daily, adding that punitive action would be taken under the Universities and University Colleges Act and Statutory Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act (Act 605).
The authors and publishers of the original material have not been notified.
