By FARIK ZOLKEPLI

JOHOR BARU, Malaysia: Malaysia is not a distributor of fake or express PhDs.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said there was no indication or report of public or private higher education institutions being involved in such unscrupulous activity.

"Our records show that no lecturers in local institutions are using the so-called fake or express PhDs," he told reporters after hosting a Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house in the Taman Johor Jaya multi-purpose hall yesterday.

He was responding to a statement by Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim that the buying of PhDs would reflect badly on local institutions of higher learning.

Mohamed Khaled said he would ask Dr Rais to supply the names of the institutions and the lecturers involved if such a claim was true.

"We will not hesitate to take action against any institution or lecturer who is involved in this unscrupulous activity.

"Among the actions that can be taken are suspending their permit or licence," he said.

On another issue, Mohamed Kha-led announced that the permanent campus for the National Defence University would be located in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the ministry was working towards intellectual development at the university compared to developing it physically.

"We are currently constructing buildings to house various faculties at the university.

"We will consider many aspects before deciding to move the main campus to a new location," he added.

However, Mohamed Khaled admitted that the Pahang government had offered land to build a new campus.

"We must consider a lot of things before making a decision, including strengthening the university's basis and performance," he said.