Pkr Senator Apologises Admits Speech Lifted From Research Coordinator

---

PKR senator Ahmad Azam Hamzah has apologised unreservedly after admitting that a speech on party-hopping he had made in the Dewan Negara was lifted from an article by Research For Social Advancement (Refsa) research coordinator Fakhrurrazi Rashid
Ahmad Azam (above), when contacted by Malaysiakini, said he was sorry for the mistake as he had initially been unaware of the plagiarism because the material and text of the speech were provided to him by his team
"I apologise greatly to the writer for what happened and I am also ready to meet him (over the matter)."In admitting the error which he deeply regretted, he said he had only instructed his team to provide a speech text with content related to the topic
Fakhrurrazi had accused Ahmad Azam of using his article almost wholesale in a speech on Sept 7 when the Dewan Negara was debating the Royal address by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Ahmad Azam's speech is in the Senate's official record, and the parts Fakhrurrazi was referring to can be found on pages 68 to 70
According to him, the content of the article was originally an opinion piece on party-hopping entitled "Penawar alternatif kepada penyakit lompat parti " and was published by Malaysiakini on July 27
"This action is very unfortunate because he did not give credit to the original author (me) in the article. Almost 80 percent of my article was taken as his speech in the Senate
"This senator should make a statement in the Senate on this issue and give credit to the original author of the article as well as apologise
"This plagiarism should not be repeated by all parties, especially members of Parliament who hold the trust of the people. MPs need to be honest when presenting ideas and arguments while discussing issues of the people in this glorious House," Fakhrurrazi told Malaysiakini today
Refsa is a progressive think-thank that used to be led by DAP's Liew Chin Tong who now sits in the Dewan Negara with Ahmad Azam
Fakhrurrazi had earlier raised the issue on his Facebook, saying that it also reflects the reality of what is happening in Parliament, where MPs do not get support in terms of quality research in debating a bill or delivering speeches. The is especially so for members of the Dewan Negara
"My suggestion after this is to improve the Malaysian parliamentary research division to assist senators in analysing bills and presenting debates in the Dewan Negara. "Appropriate provisions should be given to the parliamentary research division to improve the quality of the Dewan Negara debate
"It is hoped that this issue will not recur as it will impact the efforts of writers, think-tanks and those who work hard to complete studies for public awareness and policy debate," Fakhrurrazi added.  - Mkini

---