Unfortunately, it is not "exactly" good publicity, it turns out that Help University has bestowed an honorary doctorate title to none other than Kim Jong-Un, the leader of North Korea. The New York Times does not think that is a wise thing to do, to put it mildly.
Dr. Kim Jong-Un
The article can be found here. Some excerpts:
"If the North Korean state news agency has it right, the particular doctorate is perhaps as much of a surprise for those outside the isolated nation as the honor itself. Dr. Kim, it says, is now a doctor of economics. The news report does not mention that he oversees one of the world’s poorest and most dysfunctional economies.
The university that did the honors, a private school known by the acronym HELP, took the action as a way of “building a bridge to reach the people” of North Korea, according to the president of the university, Paul Chan. He has since come under an onslaught of criticism online for honoring a man who Western and South Korean intelligence officials say appears comfortable as the ruler of the brutal police state he inherited, and who continually defies the world’s calls to dismantle his country’s nuclear arsenal. (An announcement on the school’s Facebook page does not specify what doctorate the North Korean leader was awarded.)
The university, whose initials stand for Higher Education Learning Philosophy, elevated Mr. Kim to Dr. Kim during “a simple ceremony” in the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur this month, according to the statement by Mr. Chan on Facebook.
The North Korean ambassador received the certificate on Mr. Kim’s behalf, and the event was covered in the propaganda-filled North Korean media, which reports acknowledgment from abroad for its leaders as proof of the adoration it says they enjoy around the world."
A simple check on HELP lecturers' publication shows that the staff published mainly in questionable journals. An example is:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/mas/article/view/23117
Both Modern Applied Science (the publisher is “canadian centre of science and education”) and Macrothink are notorious fake publishers. See widely recognised list of fake journals/publishers http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/12/06/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2013/
What’s more shocking is that these publications from HELP have co-authors from Monash University – Dr. Poon Wai Ching and Dr. Tam Cai Lian. Dr. Tam Cai Lian has more than one publication in questionable outlets. The name 'Poon Wai Ching' rang a bell as she is the only recipient in the recent Malaysian Competition Commission Research Grant. I ran a check on Dr. Poon Wai Ching's publication -- I regret to say that Dr Poon Wai Ching’s publication is full of JUNK! I read an abstract of her working paper that made no sense: http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/ajfa/article/view/1443
She has a recent book publication with 'Lambert Academic Publishing' -- this publisher is a scam.
I'm sure there will be interesting finds if someone really runs a check on the quality of the publication of academics in the country.