KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Contrary to allegations, the Ministry of Higher Education has not found strong evidence pointing to racism by senior management of the LimKokWing University of Creative Technology (LUCT).
Its minister Datuk Noraini Ahmad said the specifically formed Special Complaints Investigations Committee formed earlier this year to look into the allegations that surfaced in found insufficient evidence.
“This special committee has looked into the feedback provided by LUCT including the findings of their own checks which were carried out by a team of appointed investigators from the Department of Higher Education.
“Based on their findings, it was established that there was not enough evidence to state that LUCT committed any wrongdoings related to the issue of racism.
“Therefore, the Special Complaints Investigations Committee summarised as a whole that there is no issue of racism in LUCT,” she said in a written parliamentary reply dated December 10.
Noraini also said her ministry also looked into another allegation that LUCT had employed teaching staff without proper academic qualifications.
She said the matter had been addressed by the institute.
“By that, the Special Complaints Investigations Committee summarised that the issue of abuse of power against the management of LUCT specifically concerning the issue of teaching permits has been dealt with by the company accordingly,” she wrote.
Back in June, former LUCT staff accused the institute’s senior management of racist practices.
Their allegations garnered momentum after pictures of a controversial billboard on its campus grounds in Cyberjaya depicting founder Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing as the “King of Africa” spread online.
The billboard showed a digital illustration of Lim standing with a cheetah on the left and a photo of him surrounded by students in Sierra Leone on the right and drew online criticism.
