Kamalanathan says indeed a graduate

By Neville Spykerman, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA KUBU BARU, April 21 — P. Kamalanathan was forced today to defend his academic qualifications after the Malaysia-Today website claimed that his alma mater, Edith Cowan University, had no records of him ever attending.

According to the website run by fugitive blogger, Raja Petra Kamarudin, Kamalanathan’s CV listed an overseas education at the Edith Cowan University, where he was awarded a degree in Mass Communication, but that the Australian university had no records of him ever going there.

The website then called on Kamalanathan to clarify the matter and prove his academic background.

When contacted, the 44-year-old Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Hulu Selangor by-election explained that he had entered a twining programme with Olympia College in Kuala Lumpur, and was subsequently awarded a degree from Edith Cowan University.

“I never said I went overseas,” he told The Malaysian Insider, adding that a scanned copy of his degree from the university would be up on his website, pkamalanathan.com, within 24 hours.

Aside from claiming to have contacted Edith Cowan, Malaysia-Today also posted screenshots of what appeared to be a search conducted on the university’s alumni site for records of Kamalanathan’s attendance there. Additional screenshots showed that no such records were found.

Kamalanathan was, however, unfazed by news of the images, and said Olympia College would have his records.

“They are the best people to check with and clarify.”