KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 ― Popular motivational speaker Dr Azizan Osman has now claimed that he was “conned” into believing he was a recipient of a honorary doctorate from Universiti Malaya (UM), after the university quashed reports about Azizan’s doctorate last week.
In a statement released by his company Richworks International Sdn Bhd on Aziza’s official Facebook page, it said that Azizan was “targeted and misled” by several individuals not related to the university, into believing that he is to receive a doctorate from UM.
“We have since lodged a police report and this matter is currently under investigation,” it said.
The firm also claimed that Azizan had “never claimed to have” doctorates from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Infrastruktur Kuala Lumpur (UKL) despite both the doctorates having been listed on his website.
Instead, it said that the inclusion of the doctorates in the list of Azizan’s honoraries was due to “shortcomings in the operation procedures.”
“Regrettably, these shortcomings have also led to the inclusion of doctorates from Universiti Infrastruktur Kuala Lumpur and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in reference to Dr. Azizan Osman, which he has never professed to have,” it said.
Both UKM and UKL both issued statements last week denying they ever issued doctorates to Azizan. His website previously listed him as having a PhD in psychology from UKM and a PhD in business administration from UKL.
“We as an organisation are very concerned about the severity of this situation and have put a comprehensive plan in place to immediately correct the situation.”
“We are committed to upholding the integrity of our organisation and are dedicated to improving our processes moving forward so we can better serve our customers,” it added.
Instead, Richworks claimed that Azizah holds a Doctor of Science (Metaphysics) from Gordon University in Florida, United States since 2009.
It also claimed that Azizan is due to receive a doctorate in psychology from University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.
“His convocation at University of Hertfordshire is due to take place soon,” it said.
