PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - After the education credentials of Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Marzuki Yahya were questioned, a Cabinet minister has come under scrutiny on social media.
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin's science degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has been questioned by Twitter user Don Juan deRyezal @khairulryezal.
But Ms Zuraida says she never claimed to be a graduate of NUS.
"Assalamualaikum YBM @zuraida_my. Kami gagal menemui carian nama YBM di National University of Singapore. Mungkin tercicir agaknya? (We were unable to find your name in the NUS. Could it have gone missing?)" wrote Don Juan deRyezal on Twitter.
The tweet included a Bernama infographic, which stated that she had obtained a social science degree from NUS, while the university's online degree verification portal yielded no results in a search for the Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president's name.
"I have never claimed or held myself to be a graduate of NUS and I have never authorised anyone else to do so," said Ms Zuraida, according to The Star.
Ms Zuraida added that she was disappointed that no one had verified the fact with her before the news was published.
On its website, NUS stated that it was established in 1980 after a merger between the University of Singapore and Nanyang University.
Ms Zuraida also said that she was not responsible for any wrongful information online which stated that she was an NUS graduate.
A check revealed that there have been numerous edits to her Wikipedia page to reflect that Ms Zuraida had graduated from "Harvard University of higher learning" and even a "Syok Sendiri University".
However, Wikipedia shows that the username of the person who made those changes does not exist.
There are six autonomous universities in Singapore including NUS. Others are Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore Institute of Technology and Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Several Pakatan Harapan politicians have had their education credentials questioned recently.
Datuk Marzuki, whose degree, initially stated as from the University of Cambridge pursued through a distance learning programme, later admitted that his degree was actually from the Cambridge International University in the United States.
Following this reveal, two others have had their education background quizzed. They are Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Osman Sapian and Perak state executive councillor Paul Yong Choo Kiong.
