Corrected BUT Still Incorrect

Looks like my editorial service to the quacks have been noticed ... was this a typo Dr. Tiew, or are you so oblivious of your new found (bought?) medical knowledge that you could not even spell some of the medical terminologies (like naturopHathic)?

While you are correcting your webpage, why not remove the bogus credentials entirely?

Incidentally, where did you completed your naturopHathic residency? Staring at your patients' smiles in Malaysia ... that is your sum total naturopHathic training, or was it hawking overpriced Detox crap (pardon the pun)?

Or was it the 3 minutes it took to write a cheque? Why not get a doctorate while you are at it ... just another 3 more minutes to write the name of the quack university (I can suggest some, or you can look up "Dr" Jessie Chung's CV), the amount and your John Hancock.

Dentist Cum NaturopHathic Physician

Looks like our dentist is now a naturopHathic physician.

Question is will you see such a naturopathic physician, allegedly someone trained professionally for a lengthy period of time in naturopathic medicine, who cannot even spell NATUROPATHIC?

Oh ... yes, we can use the same excuses used by "Dr." Jessie Chung ... it was a legitimate typo. Yeah, right ... downright quackery if you ask me. I do not spell professor wrong, nor engineer, nor research scientist.

So, if a dentist with a diet/nutrition diploma can become a naturopathic/naturophathic physician, can I - a physical science guy - be a naturopathic physician as well?

Perhaps I can do rocket science and brain tumour reduction at the same time, and sell herbal remedies to my research assistants and lab technicians?

And yes, Drs. Tiew and Chung, you are both welcome. I enjoy cleaning up bogus credenti ... er, typos on websites.

Malaysia and Back

I did my sabbatical year in Malaysia, and had a blast.

Even visited the "clinic" owned by the famous "Dr.", and met a few of the forum posters and bloggers and others who were equally concern about fraudulent degrees and credentials. It seems that fradulent degrees are rampant in Malaysia.

Out of the blue, I received an e-mail from a Malaysian friend two days ago, asking about an Edison University of Technology. Bottom line is I have never heard of it and I believe it has sorted itself out (as a diploma mill).

My curiousity, however, was piqued. I visited my old friend's website. It appears now that s/he is up to his/her old tricks. No longer a professor, she is now calling herself a "Dr." again ... and new credentials:

Dr. Jessie Chung NP,CMD,HMD
-NP(Naturopathic Physician, ANMCB)
-CMD (Chinese Medical Doctor, MTCMPA)
-HMD(Homeopathic Doctor,MHDA)
-Board Certified Naturopathic Physician (American Naturopathic Medical Certification Board, ANMCB)
-Board Certified Naturopathic Practitioner (Malaysian Society of Complementary Therapist, MSCT)
-Board Certified Chinese Medical Doctor (CMD) (Malaysia TCM Practitioners Association)
-M.Sc (University of Health Science,Hawaii USA)
-B.Sc (Oriental Medical Institute, Hawaii, USA)
-Bachelor of Homeopathic Medical Science (Homeo Research & Educational Institute, M’sia)
-Certified Nutritional Consultant (AANC,USA)
-Diploma in Diet & Nutrition (ITEC, UK)
-Diploma in Fitness & Nutrition (ICS, Pennsylvania, USA)
-Certificate in Internal & Cancer Therapy (The China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guang An Men Hospital, Beijing, China)
-Member of American Naturopathic Medical Association(ANMA)
-Member of American Association of Nutritional Consultants(AANC)
-Member of Malaysian Homeopathic Doctor’s Association(MHDA)

On this side of the pond, the ANMCB is a dubious certification body ... so being an invigilator, examiner & lecturer of this body is equally dubious. ANMCB was created to take fradulently advantage of some confusion in the certification/accreditation of naturopaths in the US.

Since 2003, under pressure from the US government, two legitimate certification/accreditation bodies were created and recognized: American Naturopathic Certification Board (ANCB) and the American Naturopathic Medical Accreditation Board (ANMAB). Naturopathy in the US is slowly being legitimized with a 4 year post-baccalaureate NDs or NMDs.

What's with all these fake credentials Jessie? To her credit, she has dropped her fake doctorates, but is still insistent on listing her diploma mill degrees from Hawaii. Till today, she has not come clean with the year of graduation or even a website of the universities.

Technically she cannot be called a "Dr.", fake doctorates not withstanding, as she does not have a doctorate (although the dentist Dr. Tiew did attest to seeing her dissertation), nor does she posseses a "doctor" degree.

Whatever the reason, Malaysians are impressed enough for her to open 5 more stores in August and an Academy (Natural Health Naturopathic Academy). I am surprised she is not offering PhDs and calling it a university while she is at it.

Or is that part of a bigger plan?

Parliamentary Report From The Malaysian Star

Parliament
Tuesday April 4, 2006


Most Fake Degrees From Abroad

MOST fake degrees in the country were MAs, MBAs, PhDs and honorary doctorates obtained overseas and via the Internet.

Higher Education Ministry Parliamentary Secretary Datuk Dr Adham Baba said although they had not received any official complaint on the matter, they were monitoring the situation.

He said the public could check the authenticity of degrees via the Public Service Department website.

“We currently recognise 25,236 courses from 55 countries,” he said at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

He said the National Accreditation Board had also been asked to strengthen its links with its foreign counterparts to overcome this problem.

Dr Adham said the ministry would make use if its collaboration with the British-based National Academic Recitations Information Centre (Naric) to monitor the authenticity of e-learning courses.

Naric contained information on higher education products from 180 countries.

“We will be able to check whether a particular e-learning university is giving out genuine degrees or otherwise,” he said.

He was asked about how the Government was monitoring e-learning or distance learning activities via the Internet.

Earlier, in the Dewan, Dr Adham said it was not easy for the Government to establish the authenticity of a particular e-learning course.

“This is why it is important for us to consult the Unesco/OECD Guidelines on Quality Provision in Cross Border Higher Education and Naric,” he said.

Dr Adham said the Government also relied on the Guidelines and Naric as well as the Lisbon Convention on transparency and procedures on academic qualifications to check on fake degrees.

Jessie and Joshua in a Medical School????

My friend Pierce, while we were still in talking terms, had told me in confidence that Jessie was going away to medical school. He just posted this news publicly on his blog, although he qualified it as a rumour.

I have unconfirmed info from someone claimed closed to Jessie Chung that both Joshua and Jessie has left to study for a medical degree. Cannot confirm this because I have not talk to her since CNY. I’ve no further details on this, so, don’t ask me for details.
Anyway, I’ll be going back to my usual self now to continue looking for projects and money to survive.

As far as I can tell, most North American ACCREDITED medical schools require a minimum of 3 years of pre-medical studies or in the life sciences in an accredited university (with a GPA of close to 4.0 - near perfect), a suitable GMAT score and letters of references. People with previous "other medical degrees" - particularly in alternative medicine (i.e. naturopathy, chiropractic, cosmetology, etc.) are not generally considered good candidates, although those with ACCREDITED engineering degrees and ACCREDITED Ph.D.'s in life sciences are welcomes. Naturally, alternative delivery degrees (i.e. on-line, correspondence, etc.) are frowned upon, such is the degree of conservatism in the medical fields.

There are universities in the Caribbean and in Eastern Europe that offers medical degrees, but they are often unaccredited and some are considered diploma mills ... I guess, here we go again.

Or this is just another annual stunt?

Real Cancer Cures

In the last year or so, I personally have known of 3 people facing death due to cancer. Both HAD breast cancer and one HAD a tumour at the base of his brain. All 3 recovered.

The one with the brain tumour was just given a clean bill of health this past week. He had been through a 6-month regiment of radiation and chemotherapy. During his weekly therapy, I was with him practically every other day - driving him to and from the hospital, visited him at home, called him, etc. We are good friends (as are our spouses - his wife is also my personal physician) and we fish together every spring and summer. He is a VP of a large Canadian firm (with manufacturing facilities in China, and offices in Australia, Hong Kong, UK, Germany and the US), and his health insurance plan will only recognize allopathic treatments.

I saw - with my very own eyes - the treatments he was subjected to. 3 sets of radiation that went on for 2 weeks each time on alternate days. Chemotherapy on the intervening days. He was scanned, tested and poked hundreds of times during that 6 months period. He had to wear a stomach bag to get fed, and another device that dispenses pain-killers. I saw him loose weight, gained them back and loose them again as he struggled with his inability to eat, to swallow, to even talk. He is often lethargic from the toxic chemotherapy treatments and sun-burnt from the radiation.

There must be a team of 10-15 technicians, doctors, nurses, therapists that attended to him during this period, using the latest machines, research and medication.

Here is my question: Would someone with a dubious education like Jeffrey Chung be able to cure my friend from his brain tumour, as Jeffrey had once claimed through his website?

My friend, who is Chinese in heritage, did not immediately fall back on his traditional remedies as he damn well knows that he will be betting his life on real doctors (i.e. not with degrees via correspondence and unsupervised work, false professional/academic claims, and personal psychological issues such as gender-identity), real medical assistants (i.e. not some ladies in white lab coats) and real medical techniques (i.e. proven techniques that have been examined by others in a public manner, in certified medical facilities with real equipment).

Swallowing an over-priced herbal pill, and with no further medical observations, testing and monitoring, is NOT the path to fighting cancer. That is the path to make Jeffrey rich - a real scam - and the patient WILL succumb to his/her cancer. There is not alternative in alternative medicine.

Jeffrey should be jailed for such fraud.

Malaysian Medical Act 1971

Been difficult tracking this down in English:

Under the Medical Act 1971, graduates who have obtained bona fide medical degrees (based on Western and not Eastern medicine) but are not among the 343 institutions recognised by the Government, have to sit for the MQE upon their return before they can be registered as doctors.

The MQE is actually the final-year exam for medical undergraduates in UM, UKM and USM. Just like the internal medical undergraduates, foreign grads are given three attempts to pass the exam.

It appears that Malaysia does have a legitimate medical system and the legislation in place to enforce it.

Happy Lunar New Year

Wishing all those who are observing a Happy Lunar New Year of the Dog.

I understand that most Chinese believe in the act of doing something good and cleansing over this period of celebration, such as cleaning out the house of old worn stuff and giving to charitable causes.

I hope Jeffery/Jessie finds it in his/her heart to come clean with the deception he/she has been running.

Happy Lunar New Year of the Dog.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!!

All Over The Place

First it is Jeffrey, now it is Jessie.

Then she is a homeopath, a nutritional therapist, and now a naturopath. That's what happens when you purchased bogus degrees ... you learnt nothing and don't even know what exactly what you know.

Last I heard, she's a singer and writing a tell-all book. Why would a respectable doctor do something like that?

BTW, naturopaths, homeopaths and nutritional therapists must be now licensed and registered with MSCT. My local contacts told me and have been sending me with tons of info, including an inside look at her Health Centre.

P/S: I was told she does NOT have municipal signage permits for these signage.

Notre Dame de Lafayette University aka Lafayette University

Something from the archives which I found.

Shame on a Malaysian dentist for claiming that Lafayette University is legitimate!!! Rebecca also claimed that she personally witnessed Jessie's dissertation (titled "Enzymatic Therapy and Treatment"), while acknowledging that Lafayette University is a correspondence school and Jessie's obtained that M.Sc. degree while in Hawaii partly through correspondence and partly through transfer credits.

I wonder how Samantha the Dog (featured in one of these articles) managed to earn credits through correspondence, transfer credits and proctored exams)? Pretty smart dog, don't you think? Read this article and decide for yourselves.

I also finally found Lafayette University's address, no thanks to Jessie's refusal to coorporate, in the National Catholic Reporter's 1993 seminar listings:

COLORADO
Place: Notre Dame de Lafayette University, Aurora, CO Time: Year-round Description: Notre Dame de Lafayette University offers resident and external programs leading to undergraduate and graduate degrees. NDLU offers programs in theology, religious education. comparative religion, wellness sciences, chiropathy, psychology, pastoral counseling, theocentric psychotherapy and more. Financial assistance is available. Payment plans can be arranged with the financial services director. Tuitions are now at $85/undergraduate credit and $100/graduate credit Ministry programs offered through the university for those interested in lay or clerical ministries. Write or call: Notre Dame de Lafayette University (Mercian Orthodox Catholic Church), 941 S. Havana St., Aurora, CO 80012. (303) 341-0082.

Here are two 1994 articles:

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Published: August 14, 1994
Section: NEWS
Page#: 01B
Religious wrong
By Martha Sawyer Allen; Staff Writer

A correspondence school calling itself a religious seminary has been kicked out of Indiana, Ohio and Colorado, and apparently has landed in Long Prairie, Minn.

Students have been told to send their money to at least three post office boxes in Long Prairie, each with a different school name.

In July, the Colorado attorney general's office told the Denver school, called Notre Dame de Lafayette University, to cease operations. The school said it is the seminary for the Mercian Orthodox Catholic Church.

The school and its president, Stephen Thomas, had signed an agreement with the state of Colorado to close and refund students' money. When they did not, the attorney general's office ordered them out of the state.

Within days, students were being told to send their money to the post office boxes in Long Prairie, said Thomas Dyl, an assistant attorney general in Colorado.

Names on the boxes are: St. Mark's Seminary, Box 225; Holy Ghost Collegiate Seminary or Holy Ghost College, Box 205, and the Occidental Orthodox Catholic Church, Box 215.

The Rev. James Judd and his small St. Paul parish of St. Ignatius of Antioch initially were associated with the Denver outfit, but broke off all ties when they realized it was a sham, he said.

"You have a flim-flam man here who has used and abused people and fleeced them," Judd said. "I was just on the phone with a priest in southern Illinois who gave them a lot of money and just got sucked in. They were literally selling degrees."

He said he thinks no one really knows how many people the group might have hurt. "Some people are too ashamed to acknowledge they've been taken," said Judd, who didn't say whether he had lost money.

People often found out about the school through advertisements in trade publications or other magazines advertising religious or healing-arts schools.

Thomas and other school officers whose names are on file in Colorado could not be reached for comment.

In Colorado, the school offered students degrees in such areas as homeotherapeutics; nutrimedicine; peace and justice; "applied degrees" in business administration, fine arts, chiropathy and nursing; wellness sciences; psycho-visual therapy; certification as exerscience director, conservation and management, imagery; degrees in hypnotherapy, iridology, homeopathy; complementary medicine and herbal medicine.

The school came to public view there when a TV reporter enrolled her dog, Samantha, in the college and the dog received a degree in Christian counseling.

Colorado officials also contend that the school incorrectly said that credits from it would transfer to all major universities and that it was applying for accreditation from the Association of Theological Schools in America, which had rejected it.

"We're just concerned that they seem to be picking up and starting all over again in Minnesota," Dyl said. "We're seeking the best way we can to prevent this from happening again."

James Barone, an assistant attorney general in Minnesota, said his office has received information from Dyl and will review the case.

Judd was trained as a Benedictine at St. John's University in Collegeville, but left the Roman Catholic Church several years ago. After he married, he and several others were intrigued by advertisements for the Denver school as a way to remain in ministry after marriage, he said.

"You're so eager to express your vocation and when an opportunity presents itself you get hooked. Even though I was married I still had a need to express my vocation," he said.

The school's leaders used a directory of Roman Catholic priests who had left the church and "aggressively mailed to everybody," Judd said. "They were impressive up front, until you saw the games. They were punitive when you tried to leave. They excommunicated you and tried to give you a bad name."

Judd said he knows of priests in Florida, Illinois and Minnesota who had the same experience with the Denver school.

Dyl said that people nationwide have called him to complain about the school taking their money and issuing apparently worthless degrees. He said that one woman in Puerto Rico reported that the school demanded $30,000 in payment for 20 students she was supervising who were working on degrees in natural medicine. The woman thought it was a legitimate school, Dyl said. "They were to get their degrees in the fall, and we revoked their license in July," he said.

The school often told students that their degree authority was from a Nigerian or Philippine university. Dyl does not think either university exists.

Judd said he began to have reservations about the school two years ago when he contacted the Rev. Ted Wojcik, dean of St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral in Minneapolis, the local cathedral of the Orthodox Church of America.

Wojcik told Judd he had not heard of the Mercian Orthodox Church. "They have no connection to the historic Orthodox church," Wojcik said, although Judd told him he had been told it was a canonical church.

"An Orthodox church is named after a territory," Wojcik said. "I don't even know what `Mercian' means."

Judd said there has been "a lot of effort to establish Western rite Orthodox parishes and a lot of independent, fly-by-night groups have emerged." "You have to be careful what you get involved with," he said.

However, he said that Western rite Orthodox churches are a legitimate offshoot of the Orthodox tradition. They differ from Eastern Orthodox churches mainly in their worship services. Western rite churches use a service that would be more recognizable to Roman Catholics than Eastern Orthodox worshipers.

The Rev. Paul W.S. Schneirla, a professor of church history at St. Mary's Orthodox Church (Antiochian) in Brooklyn, N.Y., is quoted as the national authority on Western rite Orthodoxy. In a 1990 issue of the Russian Orthodox Journal, he said it is a legitimate offshoot of the Orthodox tradition.

The Antiochian archdiocese has about 10,000 North American members. Most churches are in Florida.








Rocky Mountain News (CO)
July 20, 1994
Section: LOCAL
Edition: FINAL
Page Number: 4A
MAIL-ORDER SCHOOL GETS CLOSED DOWN AURORA COLLEGE STRAYED FROM RELIGIOUS MISSION, STATE SAYS

ROMEL HERNANDEZ
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STAFF WRITER


The Colorado Commission on Higher Education shut down an Aurora
university that granted mail-order degrees in such subjects as
"homeotherapeutics' ' and ''psycho-visual therapy."

Notre Dame de Lafayette University, authorized as a religious college,
improperly offered degrees that had nothing to do with religion,
investigators with the attorney general's office learned during a 1
1/2-year probe.
Notre Dame made the news last year when KUSA-Channel 9 reporter Paula
Woodward enrolled a golden retriever named Samantha in the school. The
pooch was awarded a degree in "Christian counseling."

More than 40 Notre Dame students and graduates lodged complaints against
the institution.

"They made representations that their degrees are accepted by Harvard
and Yale," said assistant attorney general Tony Dyl. "We have letters
from those schools saying that's not the case."

Notre Dame officials have requested a hearing with the state commission,
which overseas public and private colleges.

The Rev. Robert Gigante, the school's chancellor, refused comment.

Notre Dame was sanctioned by the state in 1989 as a religious
instituion. The school offered degrees - mostly through the mail to
people - for tuition
from $1,500 to $6,000.

The university is not related to Notre Dame University in South Bend,
Ind. The school is affiliated with the Mercian Orthodox Catholic Church.

The director of Notre Dame - Stephen Thomas - was associated with
similar schools in the Midwest during the mid-1980s, which also were
shut down.

People seeking more information can call the attorney general's consumer
protection office at 866-5189.

Bravo Malaysia!!

Finally, someone is showing some grit in dealing with regulating the alternative medicine profession.

I took the liberty of sending "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung's degrees and credentials to a Malaysian organization called Malaysian Society of Complementary Therapies, specifically the Nutritional Therapy Chapter - after being alerted by many of my new-found Malaysian friends to this organization. Here is my letter verbatim:

> Dear Sir/Madam:
>
> I am enquiring about Ordinary Practising membership in MSCT, and acquiring a
>
> Certificate of Practice in Nutritional Therapy.
>
> The following are the degrees and credentials for your initial
> consderations:
>
> B.Sc in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (Oriental Medical Institute of
> Hawaii), USA
> Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medical Science (B.H.M.S) Malaysia
> Doctorate Degree in Complementary Medicine (St. Andrew's College)
> M.Sc Psychology (University of Health Science) Hawaii, USA
> Diploma In Diet & Nutrition for Complementary Therapists (ITEC, UK)
> Certificate, Internal and Cancer Department (Guang An Men Hospital, The
> China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine)
> B.Sc in Nutrition (The American Holistic College of Nutrition) Alabama, USA
> Certified Nutritional Consultant(AANC) USA
> Diploma In Fitness and Nutrition (ICS) USA
> Certificate in Obstetric & Gynaecology Ultrasound (Obsterics and Gynaecology
>
> Dept. of Hospital Alor Setar) Malaysia
> Certificate in Iridology (College of Oriental Medicine) USA
> Certificate of completion for "Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of
> the chronically-ill patient" by Dr.Jeffrey s. Bland, Ph.D, Hawaii, USA
> Certificate in Colonic Therapy (Natural Therapy Center) Malaysia
> Member of American Naturopathic Medical Association
> Professional Member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants
> Member of Malaysian Homoeopathic Doctors Association
>
> If you would provide me with some preliminary information on the likelihood
> of membership prior to a formal application, I would be most appreciative.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Thomas Q. Buster
>


I just received a response, but have not asked for permission to post the reply verbatim. So, I will paraphrase in italics the relevant parts:

If you're US-trained, you must also be entitled to practise in that country and hold a degree qualification regionally accredited for this purpose.

This has been one of my contentions - accreditation!!!! Your government wants that. We all know that Jessie's degrees are not from accredited sources, and yet "experts" such as Pierce argues that it is not necessary. Jessie's degrees are diploma mills variety and therefore not accredited and not accreditable.

Alternatively, you hold the CNS qualification awarded by the American College of Nutrition.

Jessie's "professional memberships" are equally bogus!! All her professional qualification are from associations set up by the very diploma mills that granted the degrees. The American College of Nutrition is the only bona fide body. Your government wants that.

To practise nutritional medicine, we also need clear evidence of clinical training in recognised institutions such as hospitals and health centers.

I spoke in great length in the past about how professionals are trained, one critical component is a period of residency or internship with qualified professionals. Your government wants that. Jessie had shown no evidence of such internship, other than perhaps peddling herbs at one time at her "health centre". She is self-interned in other words. Do you trust someone who has never being peer-reviewed, ever???

a professional indemnity insurance policy issued to you by a Malaysian insurance company.

Another hallmark of a professional is protecting the public through an indemnity plan for professional malpractice. Since Jessie is above all these (accredited degrees, professional memberships, interships, etc.) she is Superman and will never malpractice. So, me trying to even explain that concept is moot to her.

I see these new findings as a new strike against "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung. And for her defenders, who are knowingly condoning her actions - Pierce, Rebecca, Chang: You are fast becoming possible accomplices for having knowledge of fraudulent practices and continuing to aid and abet these practises.

And for Jessie - by not coming clean and apologizing: You are not showing remorse and have demonstrated no intentions to make amends and rehabilitate. Heck, even real doctors make amends - we no longer prescribed bloodletting nor homeopathic "medicines" anymore in the face of scientific evidence which demonstrated the futility of such practises. The earth is no longer flat Jessie, and we do revolve around the sun. Even the church now acknowledges that. Why can't you?? Unless you are truly Superman.

Persona Non Grata

After 3 strikes, I am OUT.

I have tried on 3 separate occasions over a month to post on Pierce's blog, http://blog.kuchingfest.com/. Each time he sees it fit to censor my comments (which was to do with "Prof. Dr." Jessie's credentials). He had claimed that he has IT problems. And Pierce claims to be an IT consultant. Does anyone know what kind of degrees and credentials he has claimed?

I was also "unwelcomed" on a web forum, despite generally good support, for a community in which "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung has a health clinic.

In that same period, I had opened my blog to anonymous posters. Although many had saw it fit to spam me on my hotmail account, I do not believe I have a single overtly negative comment here.

This tells me that people wants to hear about my post on "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung, and wants to hear the final explaination on her fraudulent claims of her dubious medical degrees, experience and credentials. This also tell me that the problem is so deep-rooted that "Prof. Dr." Chung is willing to have a dentist, an IT consultant and a web forum to lie to and censor critics such as me. They are, in fact, accomplices to her deceit.

I have nothing to hide. These people do. What is the truth then??

Transparency and Apology

It appears that readers must be registered to post a comment here. That is NOT my intentions.

Blogging is new to me, and I just discovered that flaw and have since changed the settings on this blog. Anyone can comment now, either anonymously or under a name (which offers some degree of anonymity).

This would be consistent with my past practices of inviting people to state their mind without the fear of censure or reprimand, and I have on occassions move up and forward the more scathing comments and e-mails to a more prominent place for all to read. That's how I operate in real life (thank God for this parts of the free world and thank God for tenure) and that's how I wish to carry on here.

However, I cannot guarantee that I will not response and retort, because I will.

The hallmark of full democracy is freedom of expression. This is different from freedom of speech in that not only is one permitted to speak their mind, but they are allowed to live out that opinion in their mind. However, democracy is a two-way street - your opinions are subjected to an alternate opinion from someone else .... and I will be leading that charge. Of course having facts on your side helps with your opinions as well. Factless opinions are fraudulent.

Jessie is one example. Although I may have taken snipes at homosexual lifestyle (in humour) and I personally disagree with that kind of lifestyle, I never once condemned it nor work towards convincing gays and lesbians to be otherwise.

Enjoy reading and commenting. Cheers!!

Nutritional Therapist

Found the following information on the profession of Nutritional Therapist in Malaysia. To practice this, one must be a graduate of an accredited university and program, or be a member in an equivalent US or UK organization.

Didn't look like any of Jessie's degrees and memberships are listed. So, "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung, Dr. Rebecca Tiew and all of the white lab-coat salespeople at NHF cannot call themselves "Nutritional Therapist" unless they have a Certificate of Practice.

Note what conditions Nutritional Therapy may be helful - not Hepatitis B, brain tumour, "liver got problem", although early stage cancer is listed.

Also note how remedies may be prescribed. The practitioner cannot be seen distributing and endorsing a product, and certainly cannot have his picture affixed (no matter how much of a pretty boy he is) to the prescription.

Not only is "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung a fraudulent doctor, she is not even a qualified "Nutritional Therapist", and cannot even be a convincing fraud. In my opinion, the fake degrees and credentials is just a con for the more lucrative sales of uncertified dried foliage being passed of as herbal remedies.

When was the last time you saw a medical professional in a mall in his medical whites doing tests and pushing medications on passer-bys???


The Background
Even in the developed West, it is estimated that only 5% of the population is interested in finding out the nutritional values of food that they consume. While other technologies have gone supersonic, the medical application of research in food and nutrition remains in the “Stone Age”. Medical schools pay lip service to nutritional medicine despite extensive research in genomics. Even in the most technologically advanced country, only 6% of graduating physicians received some formal training in nutrition. Consequently, many orthodox (drug-based) doctors tend to dismiss the widely proven curative powers of nutrition since they have little or no formal training or exposure in this area.

Doctors trained in western orthodox medicine are drug-oriented and they spend most of their time and effort identifying a disease process so that they can prescribe one or more drugs as part of their treatment plan. Orthodox medicine does have its special strengths in the areas of trauma and emergency. However, it treats only the symptoms and the disease manifestations, and not the fundamental cause(s) of the disease. Essentially, such treatments are designed to ‘contain' the acute symptoms of the illness since symptoms are exactly what patients relate to them in their clinics.

The present health care focusing on the use of mostly imported, western-manufactured, expensive drugs leads to the phenomenal growth over the past decades of the all-powerful for-profit pharmaceutical companies supplying symptom-suppression drugs of every conceivable variety. However, the general public is unaware that many of the commonly used drugs were initially extracted from food and herbs used as part of natural medicine for centuries past.

The orthodox treatment model of “ waiting for our body to break down before attempting to fix it ” may be unacceptable in terms of the huge economic costs to the nation as well as the cost of human suffering. In this 21 st Century, preventive medicine is poised to transform itself into a force to be reckoned with. Such a practice was popular in Asia centuries' ago. A rapidly growing middle-class, educated, and IT-literate population means a much stronger demand for, among others, medical treatments that inflict fewer or no harmful side effects, a more personalized partnership between patients and medical therapists/practitioners in solving their health/medical problems, and access to much less intrusive but evidence-based medicine which is more reasonably priced.

It is now widely recognised that the strongest defense system against diseases is our bodies' own natural antioxidants and immune system. In the Western developed nations, people are spending increasing amounts in complementary therapies.

What's Nutritional Medicine?
It is a branch of complementary medicine which seeks the ultimate cause(s) of an illness/disease and then prescribes a treatment scheme that is drug free . Usually, this involves the use of highly sophisticated diagnostic tests available to science, designing a diet that matches the nutritional needs of the patient, modifying patient's lifestyle, detoxifying patient, and supplementing patients with the required macro- and micro-nutrients targeted at specific health issues.

Preventive medicine is the hallmark of nutritional therapy. It takes years to develop chronic health problems, which are diagnosed and mapped out well before they reach their critical or even ‘terminal' stages. This is especially true in the case of treatment for heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. In treating any life-threatening disease, the nutritional therapist would work closely with other medical practitioners in offering an integrated medical therapy.

How does a Nutritional Therapist compare to a Nutritionist or a Dietician?
Dieticians tend to restrict themselves to designing diets recommended by orthodox doctors for whom they work. They usually design them for a rather narrow purpose such as a low sodium diet or a low calorie diet. Nutriceuticals are not used.

There is no generally agreed definition of a ‘ Nutritionist ' and many graduates in nutrition or in related disciplines tend to call themselves as such. Generally, a degree in nutrition does not cover medical diagnosis and treatment (therapy). However, some coverage on medical applications of nutrition can be found at the post-graduate levels.

Nutritional medicine/therapy covers a much wider area of nutrition which has potential for medical applications. Its core curriculum covers anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, nutriceuticals, macro-and micro-nutrients, nutritional values of food sources, lifestyle diseases, medical diagnosis and treatment strategies for major health problems and diseases. To practice as a therapist would also require a prescribed period of supervised clinical experience in the treatment of patients in hospitals.

While we wait for comprehensive Gene Therapy to be developed from the recently completed Human Genome Project, there is already a mountain of scientific evidence from the world's most prestigious medical institutions showing how food, lifestyle and environment directly influence our genetic expression, our general health, and our aging process.

Currently, the degrees accredited by the British Association of Nutritional Therapy (BANT) include the MSc (Nutritional Medicine) offered by the University of Surrey which is open to doctors and other health professionals, and the BSc (Nutritional Medicine) offered by the Plaskett Nutritional Medicine College, England associated with membership of the British Wholistic Nutritional Medicine Society (WNMS). Other comparable degree programmes from JPA-recognised universities are acceptable to MSCT. Those holding degrees in human nutrition and are accredited by either the American College of Nutrition for the “ Certified Nutrition Specialist ” award or the American Board of Nutrition or Diplomates of the American Board of Anti-Aging Health Professionals (ABAAHP) are also eligible to apply to MSCT for a practising licence.

What does the Training entail?
Basically, there are three parts to the training as a nutritional therapist:

Stage 1 – A degree level training in the combined areas of nutrition, physiology, biochemistry of food sources and nutriceuticals;

Stage 2 – Training in diagnosis, pathology, and treatment of named medical conditions; and

Stage 3 – Supervised clinical experience in hospital(s)/clinic(s) as prescribed.

Essentially, academic training must fully integrate a scientific knowledge of nutrition with the current understanding of the pathology of medical problems. In addition, a thorough knowledge of evidence-based non-drug medical therapies to be followed by a prescribed period of clinical nutrition is required for practising this fairly well-developed branch of complementary medicine in the West.

The standard at which MSCT aims for is that of Western Europe where, for instance, BANT and WNMS operate. At the present moment, BANT and WNMS do not have practising members practicing in the Asia Region, except in Australia and in New Zealand , suggesting that this profession is still rather new to this part of the world.

There are various alternative qualifying routes available to those wishing to practice in Malaysia , although academic training deemed lower than a British HND is unlikely to be acceptable to MSCT. Those aspiring to join this profession can email nutrition@msct.org.my for advice and counselling. Training programmes for Parts I and II are now in place. Part III is likely to be available within the next two years or so.

What Health Problems can Nutritional Medicine treat?
Nutritional Medicine can offer most of today's chronic health problems a genuine alternative to drug and/or surgical therapies. These problems include those of the heart (arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis), digestive/bowel systems, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, immune system. The therapy may also cover specific problems such as high blood pressure (hypertension), allergies (sinus, skin, food), elevated fasting insulin/ insulin resistance/Syndrome X (hyperinsulinemia), glucose intolerance (pre-diabetes II), elevated blood fat (hyperlipidemia), elevated cholesterol(hypercholesterolemia), chronic stress (elevated cortisol), elevated homocysteine (hyperhomocysteinemia), heavy metal poisoning, yeast-connected (Candida albicans), elevated blood uric acid (hyperuricemia, gout), low metabolism (hypothyroidism), overweight/obesity, poor blood circulation, acne, chronic inflammatory problems (sore throat, hemorrhoids), gum diseases (periodontitis), pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), back aches, fatigue (hypoadrenia), insomnia, and pre-mature aging. These health problems and diseases are generally the cumulative results of poor diet and lifestyles.

In addition, nutritional therapy is being used extensively to help defeat several forms of cancer in their early stages, to enhance optimal growth of children, and to meet other special needs by athletics and senior citizens. Nutritional therapy is indeed a well-documented medical and health care intervention system for these and a host of other modern lifestyle diseases.

What's the Status of this Profession in Malaysia ?
To practise as a “ Nutritional Therapist ”, one has to have a Certificate of Practice issued by the Malaysian Society for Complementary Therapies (MSCT), which is an umbrella body for non-drug medical therapies recognised by the Ministry of Health. MSCT is self-regulatory and each of its Chapters (Divisions) is required to adopt the finest international standards appropriate to its respective field of practice. There are four categories of membership, namely Associate, Ordinary, Associate Practising, and Ordinary Practising. No practising member must be gainfully employed by any manufacturer or distributor of nutriceuticals and they are not permitted to publicly endorse any health products from any commercial company.

Those who are keen to be associated with this all-important field of preventive medicine should initially join as an Associate Member of the MSCT, whose position in the complementary medical profession is likely to be protected by legislation inthe coming years. Graduates in nutrition from JPA-recognised universities may apply to join as an Ordinary Member where further training under Parts II and III will qualify them as Ordinary Practising members. An expatriate who is member of the BANT, WNMS, ACN, ABN, or a Diplomate of the ABAAHP may apply to join as Associate Practising member so long as they have a valid work permit and are able to secure a professional indemnity cover from an insurance company in Malaysia .

In leading medical centers and practices in Western Europe and in North America , complementary practitioners work along side orthodox (drug-based) practitioners to create what is now known as “ integrated medicine ”, which is truly medicine of the future. To help achieve this vision in the coming years, MSCT wishes to invite more graduates in the sciences and other related disciplines to enroll on its current qualifying and/or clinical training schemes, which are expected to be increasingly rigorous in view of the rapid global developments in evidence-based medicine. Research evidence will pour in not just from the traditional medical schools, but also from related academic disciplines such as biotechnology, laboratory science, genetics, psychology, and cellular microbiology.

Regulated Medical Care Practices In Malaysia

Found this while searching for medical regulations:

NST FRIDAY, May 7 - Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek called on all traditional and complementary medicine practitioners to register with their respective umberella bodies but warned that such registration did not mean the blanket approval or endorsement of their practices or products.

He said when the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act comes in force by 2006, registration would be mandatory and practitioners would have to prove that their products were effective as claimed.

Dr Chua said a standing committee, comprising representatives from the ministry, the MMA, the practitioners' umbrella body and universities was working on these matters.

MMA president Datuk Dr N Arumugam said representives from the MMA and the ministry would meet within six weeks to discuss traditional and complementary medicines.

This means that very soon (2006) in Malaysia, quacks like "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung will be shut down, but only if citizens complain.

Dr. Tai Chin Min

A fellow blogger asked if I can determine if this individual is legitimate.

He calls himself a Natural Nutrition & Dietary Consultant, and claims the following credentials: M.D.(A.M), Ph.D(Nutrition), B.Sc., LMIC(M), PMIFT(M), NSA(Aust), PIFT (USA).

I found him listed with the THE MALAYSIAN SOCIETY FOR COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY, as a naturopath in Kuala Lumpur. No hospital or clinic affiliation and just a hotmail account, which no longer is valid (my e-mail to him bounced). His training is not in naturopathy unless the MD(AM) is it. In North America, where naturopathis medicine is a regulated and accredited medical profession, the degree accorded would be a ND.

Does anyone have any information about the universities? He sounds like a food technologist to me, hence his affliations with food technology organizations like Institute of Food Technologists (USA) and the Malaysian Institute of Food Technologists. His B.Sc. is very likely legit since most general Chemistry or Biology graduates end up working in labs as lab technologists/technicians. Food technologists would be a comparable vocation in the agri-food industry. Hard to tell if the Ph.D. is legit without the name of the university. The MD(AM) sounds shady. A Medical Doctor in Alternate Medicine? Most MDs are NOT in alternate medicine. Again hard to tell without the name of the university. Most of the MD(AM)s I have encountered are from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (in that order) - all hotbeds of un-accredited degrees and universities.

http://www.usj.com.my

I have left this forum, and have logged off. If you wish to contact me privately, or spam me, please use "solorunner@hotmail.com".

The concept of an e-community forum is great, particularly as a supplement to a real brick-and-mortar community. In ancient times, the Greeks and Romans have agoras and public squares for public discussions on economic, political and artistic issues. They were not censored and moderated. These gave rise to a concept we all enjoy call democracy.

E-community forums are the new Agoras. If they get heavily censored and moderated, or one person is permitted to make ALL the calls, then the idea of a freedom of expression forum is lost. The moderator took a dislike to me and accused me of being on a personal vendetta. Granted it is always a fine line when dealing with personal credentials issues, and there are occassions when that line may have been crossed - particularly when you hear horror stories about people being taken in by huge amounts of money for dried foliage, Jessie upping the ante with more outrageous claims, and trolls baiting for a flame war.

Leaving was the best option, as the attention really should be on the dubious credentials and false cures.

A Dissatisfied "Patient"

This was posted on a web forum by Nic_of_Time:

I thought this was a useful thread.

Sheesh!! when i read about "Natural Health Farm",
i had a look at the kitchen cabinet and there was a
box of Biozyme (expired) with a photo and name of
Dr. Jeffrey Chung, DCM USA.

My wife had bought them sometime ago in BB.
She was impressed with product and the title
"Dr." did contribute to her decision to buy that product.
Now that Dr. Jeffrey Chung then had misrepresented
the fact of his/her title, i wonder whether we can get a refund from the now
Jessy Chung.

Despite the squables, USJ.com should create a specific section where all the uncovered scams highlighted can be easily access by forumners for
future references.

I was going to post about the title "DCM USA" at a different time, but will address it here at the moment.

DCM likely stands for Doctor of Chinese Medicine, Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine, or Doctor of Complementary Medicine. Since none of her dubious US degrees listed on her long-hand CV is of these sorts, she was fooling people into believing she has another doctorate. What is another dubious degree anyway, since she is just dripping wet with credentials?

BTW, what kind of doctor would put a picture of himself on his prescription? That's simply tacky, not to mention totally unprofessional. All these money and "education" still cannot buy ethics!!!

To her credit, these initials are now removed from her websites.

FYI ... NHF Not A MLM

Not related to the objectives of this blog, but another reader pointed out that NHF is not registered as a MLM.

I stand corrected then. I apologize if I have misled anyone here.

The Case of the Missing Misleading Testimonies

Looks like my last post on "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung's "Godly" marketing help has resulted in the removal of the misleading testimonies.

Personally, I am glad - as I found it offensive that God's name is used for worldly and personal gains.

She no longer has any references to her professorship, her doctorate, and her dubious claims on cures.

That's fair.

Let her over-priced nutritional products do the talking, as a health supplement - and not try to pass them off as expensive medicinal products that can heal incurable diseases.

NOW ... would Jessie Chung please come forward and explain her past claims for a professorship, a doctorate, and her dubious claims of cures? We still need the addresses of the universities for me to verify.

Please come clean!!! Tell us your sob stories.

Dissenting Voices Welcomed

This was posted as a reply on my blog. I am an equal opportunity blogger and I run an open and transparent blog. So I am reposting Pierce Wong's post just in case people missed it:

I think you have forgotten who is the one who has given you most of the information that you have today on (Dr.) Jessie Chung. My only seeing is that you and the good Dr. seems to be in the same tone of expression. Especially, one who do not want to give up screwing the Good Dr. and the other do not want to step out of homeopathic and all the affiliation with alternative medicines. my point of view is that on one hand, the strength of yelling "quack" while the other is yelling "Shit! I've been victimised". I heard two voices one from each of you. Your claims of victory in the comments does not prove that you have succeeded in putting the quack title on Jessie Chung. Your claims that the local media is showing interest does not seems to be realised by any of the local media. So far, all the local media have; in the best of my knowledge; supported the good Dr. And you still have yet to get through your "static thinking" that Dr. are honour given to people who is willing to heal people (practice medicine) and not people who has the qualification and do not want to heal. That is the original definition of Dr.

The other thing that I want to stress is that you have always jumping into conclusion when coming to IT things which I would think that you do not have the said-it and know-how. If you read my post clearly, There are some problem with my blog after my upgrade from 1.5.2 to 2.0.0 and this, as of tonight, is been resolved after I've found out that some of the code I've put in that causes the slowing down of my blog, is also causing some of the moderation process to go cuckoo. I will in fact try to fix this and not being part of the development team of Wordpress, I have a hard time finding and troubleshooting the codes. Anyway, it is fixed now and what I need to do next is to look at this akismet thingy and see what is the main function. So, meanwhile, I still have to squeeze time to figure out why this WP 2.0 is so mighty fast and yet not so compatible with the codex.wordpress.org recomendation. Plus also I need to figure out what is the differences between the previous version and the current version.

Anyway, I have contacted two news reporter in Toronto Canada who is willing to help me to find out who you really are. So if you have no objection, I will ask them to dig out your info for my personal consumptions. I have also contacted Yahoo and Rogers.com in requesting your subscription info based on the Information Disclosure Act and checking for any TRO issued against you in the past. I will not ask the two genius for help and I will leave that state and bureau out altogether. I think this will be fun. There may be an article on your blog if the the editor of the paper thinks that your story is worth the coverage.

By the way, I might be visiting Edmonton and Toronto to meet up with my cousin and uncle in Canada. If you want and wish to meet, I will make a point to meet you up. No timeline yet for this visit but is in my planning.

Flying The Not So Friendly Skies of Cyberspace

One of the beauties of cyberspace is the death of distance (McLuhan said this). I have been able to participate in this exposure of “Prof. Dr.” Jessie Chung without even leaving the comfort and freedom of my current country of residence. In fact, with the exception of some searches through paid subscription at my university, I have been able to dig up a whole lot of information, and misinformation, about Jessie Chung.

Cyberspace, unfortunately, has it shares of cyber-tyranny and cyber-punks. One of the web forums that I have visited (and joined) in my research on Jessie Chung has been http://www.usj.com.my. This web forum is a unique web site – it is for a real community. This is very McLuhanesque, perhaps even innovative. However, the manner it is operated is still very medieval. The mod can censor and threaten the closure of threads if they displease him. I guess I struck a nerve when I posted about Jessie - twice. Both times I was told to stop and was threatened with closure. All these while one of the threads had a very high rating - I didn’t know that threads were being rated, and not many were; which adds to the mystery why the mod wanted to close the thread. The thread had about 50-odd posts at that time. There were just two factual comments on Jessie posted by me at that time and the rest of the posts (number close to 10) were clarifications and related to different topics brought into the thread. All in all, 5 times more of the total posts were made by others. And yet the mod saw it fit to single me out. Parallel to this thread were two other threads that ran into the hundreds of posts, bashing two MNC's (in banking and in automotive). There is an obvious pattern - if you bring up unsavoury facts (no matter how well researched) about a local that's not permissible, but foreigner-bashings and blaming all the local ills on us are fair game it seems.

At a personal note, the mod is quite a piece of work as well. He holds kangaroo court and make summary judgements. Doubt that he is a lawyer, but is a lawyer-wannabe. Would be interesting to know what kinds of diplomas hang on his wall.

I decided to leave on my own accord, but not without first having to deal with one of the trolls there. This kid joined (lest than 10 days ago) just for the sole purpose of fighting with me on the Jessie issue. Suspicious?? Cyber punks are everywhere!!!

Separate from http://www.usj.com.my, I have been getting my share of hate e-mails – all from West Peninsular Malaysia, East Malaysia and Australia (where the above mentioned troll’s IP is). I have deleted almost all of them, but kept a few choice and the most recent ones (WARNING: X-RATED):

* You fucking idiot. Go home. We don’t want you here.

* america must die!!!! kill all americans!!!

* … white racist colonial pig …… leave Jessie alone …

* Are you one of these people:
xxx
xxx
(this sender listed every single Asian-sounding names from every university in Ontario ... he didn't get it - I am NOT Malaysian)
… I will get you.

* I know where you leave (sic) and I will fuck you up good.

* you must be jew ...

* Where in Malaysia you live? I have gangster ruf you up for sure.

Pretty gruesome people. Even Jessie's mouth piece, Pierce, threatened the FBI on me, and then recently asked two Toronto reporters to expose me. Wow!!! I am so honoured.

Did I struck a chord? Is Jessie so powerful and well-loved that people are willing to do physical harm to others, just to protect her false credentials and degrees? She must be in this scam so deep that she really needs to protect the bluff this badly. THE STAKES MUST BE HIGHER THAN I IMAGINE, for Jessie to want this white-washed so badly. Denial, then silence, now this. Or maybe I am just a fanatic-magnet??

However I will prevail. My blog will continue until she comes clean and until I have published every truthful fact about her false credentials and degrees. I don't blink easily when I stand on the side of truth.

Am I Malaysian?

I have been accused of being a Malaysian. Under normal circumstance, I would be considering that accusation an honour, but not in this case and most certainly not of late.

I have been accused of being a competitor or enemy of "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung. One rationale being offered is why would a foreigner like me otherwise have such a strong interest in a local citizen like Jessie. I have an interest in Malaysia because I have lived there for 6 months, and actually called it home briefly. My other interest is academic - there are many of us who truly earned the credentials and degrees that Jessie either bought or took the title on herself: Ask howsy, a Malaysian, after he completed his doctoral studies how he feels about sharing the same podium with Jessie Chung as academic equals? Ask the Malaysian Health Minister how he feels about sharing the honour of being called a medical doctor with Jessie? And ask the Vice Chancellor of the University of Malaya how he feels about sharing the same professorial rank as Jessie?

Another accusation being posed was how was I able to articulate so many Malaysian words and colloquism. I have friends from many nations. One thing we enjoy in academia is the range of intellects from different parts of the world. I count amongst my friends many people from the ASEAN region, includng a few Malaysians and Singaporeans. They are as upset about Jessie as I am. They've helped me with a few choice local words, I guess for me to impress a few Malaysians. I actually managed to pick up a few local words wherever I travel to - I find the locals are friendlier if I make an effort to learn their language.

Lastly I feel that if those that can do not speak up to protect those that cannot, we have abdicated our responsibility to each other as fellow human beings. Inversely, if those that are in a better position exploit those that are in a weaker position, we have relinquish our sense fairness and stewartship.

So .... no, I am NOT a Malaysian. I have never met Jessie and I am NOT in Malaysia currently, in the last 2-1/2 months nor will I be in Malaysia in the next 2-1/2 months.

My last place of residence was NYC and I am currently in Canada.

More Misleading Testimonies From Dr. Jessie Chung??

"Prof. Dr." Chung had more than 2 months to come clean with her credentials. Despite promises from her one and only vocal spokesperson - Pierce Wong - that she will in this new year Jessie has not only ignored our pleas to come clean but she has thumbed her nose at the presented facts and has taken on a new tack.

I have received a few e-mails alerting me to new information posted on her personal website, that she started referring to herself as "Dr." Chung once again, http://www.jessiechung.com/news_20050320.htm. I do not read any Chinese and my web browser is not enabled for foreign languages, but I know the authors of these few e-mails as being honest and trustworthy – certainly more than I have seen in "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung.

It appears that she is now taking a different marketing tack by portraying herself as a decent and moral person by invoking the name of God. On the cited webpage above, and in accordance to the e-mail authors who can read Chinese, she has 9 testimonies from people who claimed that "Dr." Chung plus God’s intervention has turned their life and health around. In each and every testimonies, the patients claimed healing / recovery from their ailments thanks to "Dr." Chung (and God incidentally, of course).

As a person of faith myself, I find it offensive and in poor taste (not to mention unprofessional) to be misleading the public by suggesting that she has Godly magical powers to heal, if they participate in her "Body Mind Health Plan" (more detox?). Are there no bounds she would not cross?

From my perspective, if you would pardon my personal view point, I would imagine tampering with his own body would not be a Godly thing for Jeffrey to do. And to claim all of her dubious degrees and credentials to be legitimate and proper would be very unChristian-like (i.e. lie). And then to further have people like Pierce Wong and Rebecca Tiew deny the presented facts, thus making them accessories to her con? To top that, she quietly revised her degrees and credentials on both websites, and dropped the title "Prof.".

And now this? Wow .. she makes Malaysia look lawless and her citizens unsophisticated (and I am beginning to believe that).
If this is indeed her tack, she is blemishing the image of Christians. I understand that Malaysia is an Islamic country but other faiths are tolerated. I do not know how far the other Moslem citizens and government will go before reigning in Christianity if she starts to rip off more patients with her dubious claims of healing Cancer, brain tumours and Hepatitis B because of the "Christian medication" purchased through Nature Health Farm.

She must be so desperate, to be jerking on the heart strings of people like this.

I’ve spent the last 2-1/2 months reflective on these events, and feeling this incredulous sense that a country that boasted of her Twin Towers, Vision 2020, and "Malaysia Boleh" - that such a primitive con is still being perpetrated despite having the whistle blown. And the citizens, you the readers, are so lazaire faire and detached from these events. Well, at this rate … perhaps there will be the Shanghai World Financial Center in 2007, perhaps Vision 2200, and "Afghanistan Boleh" first.

Incidentally, Pierce's latest blog post refered to Jessie as a "Doctor" once again. I replied, twice, to the blog post - that Pierce should perhaps should stop doing that and twice Pierce choose to censor me. I guess that is part of a larger concerted effort. Pierce is now VERY CLEARLY an accessory to this con.

Digital Dwellings - Community E-Forum

For the last two months or so, through the wonders of Marshall Mcluhan's Global Village, I've been a net-citizen of a digital community called USJ Web Forum. USJ stands for United Subang Jaya, a town somewhere in Peninsular West Malaysia. The town seems like a progressive town, with its own vBulletin web forum; but more importantly are the very progressive inhabitants who share information via the web forum. I have lived 6 months in Malaysia while on a sabbatical and have made some very endearing friends from the national university. Most of these posters on the web forum are as articulate, professional and informed individuals as my varsity colleagues, and seems to represent the upper middle class of Malaysian society.

Like all web forums, posters assume a digital persona. I met a few of them. Two that I will quote from are nick-named "orchipalar" and "alexhay". Orchipalar is Canadian-educated. I will quote from Alexhay first:

I been approach by one of the Natural Health Farm ppl while I was at Tesco Puchong..He did some test and told me that my liver got problem and he recommend that I take a detoxcification medicine that will cost around RM300+ and he told me that now there is promotion going on and it only cost RM298. I saw the price list, there are two column. DP and CP. CP price at RM328 (if I am not mistaken) and DP is RM298. And this is for 6 months only. And he shows all the testimonial from other people.

Common sense will know that CP = Customer Price and DP = Distributor Price.

Basically Natural Health Farm is a direct selling company...

That's real scientific, "liver got problem" ... and of course "detoxicification" is the cure since they just happen to sell James Osato's Bio-Normalizer!!!! No professional doctors would sell a product directly to a patient - they loose their license (then again "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung is not licensed and is above the law).

Osato's Bio-Normalizer is basically a fibre-based "purger", no different than Metamucil (which is sold over the counter - at a fraction of the cost - in North America as a psyllium-based fibre supplement for irregularity and as a health supplement for those that needs more fibre in their diet). The product basically does no harm if used sparingly, but does not much good either, other than lightens and shrinks the bump over your derriere call the "wallet".

Some fibre-based "purger" contains small amounts of bentonite ... a water-activated clay (used in construction as a waterproofing material) that expands and binds the loose "impurities" in the digestve system.

I have asked Alexhay what exactly was his "liver problem" ... since medical science is very precise. If Alexhay did have a "liver problem", he could be suffering from any one of these: Alagille Syndrome, Alcoholic Liver Disease, Alpha-1-antitrypsin Deficiency, Autoimmune Hepatitis, Budd-Chiari Syndrome, Biliary Atresia, Byler Disease, Cancer of the Liver, Caroli Disease, Cirrhosis, Crigler-Najjar Syndrome, Dubin-Johnson Syndrome, Fatty Liver, Galactosemia, Gilbert Syndrome, Glycogen Storage Disease I, Hemangioma, Hemochromatosis, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis D, Hepatitis E, Hepatitis G, Porphyria Cutanea Tarda, Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, Protoporphyria, Erythrohepatic, Rotor Syndrome, Sclerosing Cholangitis, or Wilson Disease.

Notice that a few of these diseases are called "syndromes", since allopaths have very little knowledge of them and hence there are no known cures. All allopaths, despite their scientific education, have managed to do - in most cases - is catalogue the signs and symptoms and have some management therapies available until a cure is found. This represents the magnitude of the level of complexity the physiology of the human body. So, if Natural Health Farm has found a cure for any one of these diseases, we should all buy shares in the company as that would be amazing news.

I am NOT a MD, but I did speak with a colleague at one of my alma mater who now conducts research at the university hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian, who in turn directed me to a webpage. I am not playing MD, nor did I purchase a doctorate in the last seven days.

My other question to Alexhay was if "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung administer the "test" herself (which consists of what?), or a dentist did that "test"? Or was it one of the even less medically qualified MLM-salesperson-nutritional therapists. (What's so nutritional about a therapist? Perhaps they meant a "nutrition therapist" you think?). Was it a urine sample, a blood sample (which can only be taken by a nurse or a medical technicians in North America), or a biopsy (which only an allopathic or osteopathic doctor or surgeon can perform)?

This is quite classic ... from dubious medical professionals come dubious claims for cures. This smells so much like quackery that I can even get a whiff on this side of the Pacific. God bless Malaysia should this woman get loose on the public with even more cures!!!

Luckily Alexhay was wise enough (or educated enough, presumably he did not buy his education via the mail) to distrust the "test", but unfortunately Alexhay's mother was also approached to purchase some products.




On the same web forum, Orchipalar reported about how bold some of these quacks have been, including offering surgical procedures:

Err...dear qBUSTER...in desperation...patients suffering from chronic n acute illnesses or their close relatives...would believe n pay anything n anyone to find a cure... Ahem...few weeks ago recently...a relative of a Dato(person with a prominent title in Malaysia)...suffered ill effects from cosmetic surgery n treatment done by a couple whom were operating from a home n claiming to be 'experts' in that specific field...Err...within a very short period of time upon the expose or 'tip off' to the relevant department of the health ministry...the couple's operation was 'busted'...surgical apparatus n 'unlicensed' drugs were seized...n the couple was also arrested...Err...TV3 had reported the exclusive live media coverage of the bust...Err...wonders whether you had thought of the option to go to the press about your findings...?

and

Err...some times back...wifey brought home some samples of little packets...which she was told...she could stick it under her feet while she sleeps...n 'toxins' would be extracted out from her body...

Err...qBUSTER...have checked with wifey...she said it was bought from another large MLM company by the name of Causeway...n there are other MLMs that market them as well...but don't know if jessie has it under his list of all cures or not...

After I started this blog, it seems to me that Malaysia is inundated with quacks such as these. Generally most educated consumers are aware. Quacks seem to prey on those that are desparate or ignorant.

SUCCESS!!!! PART 1

It looks like all the dubious and false credentials on "Prof. Dr." Jessie Chung's two websites are now clearly removed.

http://www.jessiechung.com/profile.htm

http://naturalhealthfarm.com/ (Someone please verify in Chinese).

She has stopped calling herself "Prof." after this blog appeared and is no longer calling herself "Dr." but only just as Jessie Chung, her CV with all the fake credentials removed, and the entire testimonies page on cures is gone. I hope the local newsmedia has something to do with this.

Next step, Jessie, is to issue a public apology.

An Oldie But A Goodie (2001)

Richard Li

People often don't come clean until they get busted. For years, his non-degree was listed on all of his official documents, including his website, and likely introduced as a Stanford graduate. Even Times magazine cited his computer engineering degree from Stanford. He could not have missed the error.

But he chosed to keep it a fraudulent secret until the International Herald Tribune reported it. Then he said that he never claimed he graduated from Standord but only attended, and that he dropped out 6 months shy of graduation as he was in a hurry to start work. Hmmmm .... excuses, excuses. Regardless, during that period, PCCW's share valued dropped to 10% of its highest value (now languishing at about 20% of that highest value). Perhaps a real education may have helped??

Tycoon Richard Li has admitted his company had for years falsely described him as a Stanford University graduate.

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports that Pacific Century CyberWorks pulled the erroneous statement from Li's online curriculum vitae - after media reports revealed it to be untrue. Li described the claim as a mistake.

He was backed by his father, Li Ka-shing, who said his son was "absolutely not a person who tells lies".

Richard Li, 34, told SCMP: "I didn't get the Stanford degree. After I finished my secondary education in the United States, I attended Stanford University for three years but I did not get the Stanford degree."

"I went to an investment bank to work. In all our documents submitted to the listed company, the stock exchange, I only said I received education there, I did not say graduation."
PCCW has for years issued publicity material describing Li as having "graduated from Stanford University with a degree in computer engineering". The claim has been repeated in publications around the world.

One analyst told the newspaper, the news would damage investor confidence in Hong Kong.
"When all hell is breaking loose around the world and you have this headline that one of the more prominent guys in Hong Kong gets caught without a degree ..., as a foreign investor what do you say? It's ridiculous," said Ryan Fong, vice-president of institutional sales at e2-Capital Securities.

Until Wednesday night, PCCW's Web site referred to Li's graduation in its list of his credentials. Those lines were pulled when the International Herald Tribune said Stanford had confirmed he failed to finish. "There were in fact mistakes and as soon as I saw the mistakes, I told them to correct them immediately," Li said.

"I want my work to help people"

Dr Hwang Woo-Suk

Here's a disgraced fellow academic, for faking his research data. Academia is founded on seeking the truth, and it begins with the practitioner. Two most common frauds within the academic community are fake credentials (either unearned degrees or unaccredited useless degrees) or falsified research results. Both are stupid crimes, as academia is both transparent and open, and can be easily traced or tracked.

When busted he said, "I want my work to help people". Well, he can start by telling the truth!!!!!

Bottom line: Sadly still, there are no quick cures for Alzheimers, cancer, brain tumour or Hepatitis B.

From the BBC Newswire:

Fresh blow for S Korea clone work
South Korea's disgraced human cloning scientist did not produce any stem cells tailored to individual patients as claimed, a panel has concluded.
A Seoul National University panel said it believed that Hwang Woo-suk never had the data he said he had.

Dr Hwang quit last week after the panel said some research was fabricated.

Correspondents say the finding is important as individually-tailored stem cells were seen as a key to treating diseases like diabetes and Alzheimers.

The scientist maintains he has developed technology to produce such stem cells.

The panel said it would continue its investigation into other research by Dr Hwang, including the authenticity of a cloned Afghan hound which was claimed to be the world's first cloned dog.

Exposed
The controversy caused shockwaves in South Korea, where the cloning pioneer was widely considered a national hero.

In May, Dr Hwang published a paper in the journal Science, saying his team had extracted material from cloned human embryos that identically matched the DNA of 11 patients.

It was claimed such a technique could be the key to providing personalised cures.

Last week the panel concluded that the data on nine out of the 11 stem cell lines were fabricated.

The panel now says all the data of the stem cell line were false.

"It is the panel's judgement that Professor Hwang's team does not have the scientific data to prove that they (patient-specific stem cells) were made," researcher Roe Jung-hye said.

Investigators say they were unable to find stem cells matching the DNA of patient tissues.
The panel found that the stem cells had come from a fertilized egg produced at a Seoul hospital, not by Dr Hwang's team.

'Mistakes'
The scientist came under pressure when one of the co-authors of his paper, Roh Sung-il, said that some of the pictures illustrating it, apparently showing the 11 patient-specific stem cell lines, had been faked.

Dr Hwang has admitted that the photographs did contain "mistakes", but insisted the research was accurate and that he had cloned 11 stem cell lines.

Scandal erupted around the doctor a month ago, when he was forced to step down as chairman of South Korea's World Stem Cell Hub, after admitting that eggs for research were donated by his own female colleagues, in breach of guidelines.

He was admitted to hospital earlier this month suffering from stress.

"Dr" Jessie Chung Ready to Confess???

This was posted on Pierce's blog (pssst ... Pierce, stop refering to Jessie as a "Dr"):

Anyway, when I got home, I got a SMS from Dr. Jessie on whether I’ve got her Email last week which I have not. I checked through the mail log and there were none. I’ve called her later and we talked about the issue on her credentials. She has yet to take my advise on going IT in 21 Century but she has said to look into this plus some plans for her future (people will start wonder). I have promised her not to review the future plan. Anyway, she would like to extend her thanks to TOM on bring up the issues on her credentials. This incident has caused her to realised something and encouraged her to do what she needs to do and what she has planned to achieve. Anyway, good luck Jessie on your future plan and do enjoy your honeymoon to come. (OOPS!!! Did I just mentioned Honey under the moon???")

Let's hope this she will not come up with another publicity stunt. Someone had suggested that she will come up with a tear-jerk of a story. It does not matter to me either way ... I am only interested with her come-clean story, and for her to stop using the titles "Dr" and "Prof", and apologize for it. Not just to quietly remove the dubious titles but to stop, apologize and to never to misrepresent herself again.

Somehow, I sense that she is just doing this to stop my attention and heat on her.

Great Lakes College (Canadian High School) Update

Great Lakes College is one of those Canadian high schools that catered to international students that Jessie attended.

Seems like I prematurely made a statement about Great Lakes College's reputation. I stand corrected by this news article. This was reported in one of the local papers. This article also underscores the social context of desparate international students and what they are willing to do:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1135378223430

Secret life: Visa student's downfall

Sensational cases highlight problem. Crimes prompt task force in China
Dec. 24, 2005. 01:00 AM
MARTIN REGG COHN AND KAREN MAZURKEWICH
TORONTO STAR

Suo Fengshuan sits beside a family picture showing his son Suo Zhiyang with his parents. He is now in a Canadian jail for the death of a Toronto school owner, a crime to which he pleaded guilty in 2002 at the age of 20.

SHANGQIU, China—For the Chinese, it is glorious to study. And more glamorous still to study abroad.

So when a teenaged student like Suo Zhiyang leaves his homeland for schooling in Canada, friends and neighbours picture him with all the advantages of life overseas. Destined for success.
Not languishing in a Canadian prison cell.

News travels slowly in this provincial backwater, 600 kilometres south of Beijing.

Three years after Suo pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the kidnapping of his Toronto schoolmaster, most of his relatives and acquaintances here have yet to hear of his sudden downfall.

They fully expect him to return next year with a degree under his arm, poised to take over the family business.

After all, Suo did what many rich students with poor grades do: He paid big money to revive his fortunes in Canada.

"It was difficult for him to get into a top university in China," explains his father, Suo Fengshuan. "If you go to a regular university here, it's hard to get a good job."

At first, the family thought their investment was paying off. It took a long time before they learned the truth of Suo's arrest for murder.

"He's a very good boy and he tried not to worry us," the father says mournfully. "He kept saying everything was fine, his studies were going smoothly."

Suo's fate remains a dark secret in this grimy coal-mining city, where his father is a prominent military man and his mother a well-connected entrepreneur. But as more than 110,000 Chinese students flock to schools in Canada and other Western countries every year, his is becoming an all too frequent story.

Two high-profile kidnappings in the Toronto area have shone a harsh spotlight on the roughly 10,000 Chinese students who come to Canada annually: The sensational kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Zhang, for which 22-year-old visa student Min Chen goes to trial next year; and the abduction of school owner Thomas Ku, 48, for which Suo pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2002 at age 20.

These are not isolated episodes. In the past five years, more than two dozen brutal incidents involving Chinese visa students have made international headlines: Two Chinese classmates repeatedly stabbed last year; a family of four slain in Japan; several women killed in New Zealand love triangles; a lover strangled in Chicago; students kidnapped and murdered in Toronto, Hamilton and Vancouver.

The broad pattern of violent crime, stalking, extortion, fraud and theft among overseas Chinese students has prompted government officials and education experts in China to set up task forces to investigate the issue, says Yuan Tiecheng, who has written two books on the plight of Chinese visa students.

To be sure, the vast majority of Chinese students are law-abiding. So how do some Chinese students from a country with a relatively low crime rate come to a country like Canada, with a similarly low crime rate, and become criminals?

Many parents and Chinese government officials blame unscrupulous private agencies in China that charge extortionate fees to help secure visas for private schools abroad with questionable credentials.

In fact, China's ministry of education is raising alarm bells about the perils of foreign studies.
Its most recent public warnings single out certain private Canadian schools to be avoided because they "cheat Chinese students," adding that the authorities have "received many such complaints from Chinese students."

Specialists attribute the eruption of violent crime to China's rapid opening up to the West, the rise of a nouveau riche class that values status over scholarship, and the decline of discipline.
They also cite the fallout from China's one-child policy, which has spawned a generation of spoiled "Little Emperors," who are infantilized by overprotective parents yet unable to fend for themselves in a foreign environment.

"In China, everything is arranged by the parents. There is no freedom, from the school gate to the house door," says Yuan, a senior journalist at the China Youth Daily. "When they go abroad, they have a strong sense of entitlement that they can do anything."

Shen Yongqiang, an educational psychology professor at Shanghai Normal University, also believes the younger age of the students leaves them poorly prepared for culture shock.
"Now the young generation just spends their parents' money," he says. "They're too young, they lack life experience, lack judgment and lack the self-discipline to control their impulses."
Duped by private agencies, drawn into drugs or gambling, depressed by failed romances, they run out of money — or hope — and grow desperate.

"To get money, they will do anything and that's when all the horrible stories start to happen," Shen believes. "They're very self-centred and always act on their own desires and needs."
But the growing recognition of the problem comes too late for Suo's parents, who were swelling with pride when their son left the police academy here for a promising future in Canada. Now, they speak in hushed tones about his downfall — and their private humiliation.

They don't blame their son. They blame the system.

"There are too many liars and cheaters in the world who have no mercy — they just want as much money as possible, while risking your child's life," says Suo Fengshuan, 49, beside a family portrait showing his jailed son in happier times.

Like so many other young Chinese who go abroad, Suo Zhiyang's fate was entrusted to a local agency that promised the world: For a fee the family could count on easy admissions, work permits and guaranteed immigrant status for their son, according to the sales pitch.

The couple signed up with the local Li Bo School and its affiliated private agency, which assured them they could send their son to Canada for a mere 150,000 yuan, or about $22,000. It was a lowball estimate by the agency, which went bankrupt soon after pocketing the fees.

The family ended up paying $100,000 for the son's education, stashing wads of cash into secret money belts to evade customs controls, according to the father.

But within months of his arrival, the young Suo was bitterly disappointed by conditions at his school, overwhelmed by the language barrier. He failed his exams, floundered in his social life, fell in with the wrong crowd.

And kidnapped Ku, the owner of Great Lakes College, for a $100,000 ransom in a plot hatched with a classmate.

Two years after arriving in Canada, Suo and his co-conspirator appeared in court with their hair tied in ponytails, admitting they had bound and gagged Ku in the trunk of a car and dumped him in the woods, burned beyond recognition.

"I can never make any excuse," Suo said at his sentencing in a Brampton courtroom.

"This is the most significant mistake of my life."

But there was no mistaking the motive, according to his mother, Feng Meizhi.

Sitting in a private room at her Guo Guo Mutton Soup restaurant, which she opened here earlier this year in China's central Henan province, Feng says she came to understand her son's actions after visiting him.

"My son told me they wanted to teach him (Ku) a lesson, to warn him not to cheat Chinese students anymore," she confides, waiting until the waitresses have moved out of earshot.

"He said Ku was too greedy and treated the Chinese students badly," she adds.

She remembers her son referring to Great Lakes College as a "garbage school," the term used by Chinese students for private institutions with disproportionately high enrolments of foreign students paying high fees.

Tuition at Great Lakes ran as high as $10,000 a year for high school and English-immersion courses, plus residence fees of $6,000, excluding meals.

The school's main Keele St. campus now has about 80 students, but its satellite Bowmanville location has been converted to a summer camp for foreign high school students, according to the school's new principal, Dong Folz. International students still pay more than $1,000 per course each semester.

"My son was really upset when he first saw the school and complained a lot about the owner," she says.

"It was not like he imagined, and all his classmates complained that the owner was greedy and overcharging."

Despite the negative publicity, Chinese consultants and some of Canada's most established schools are lining up to get a piece of a booming market.

Indeed, Premier Dalton McGuinty included a large education delegation on a trade mission to China last month. "We continue to see a strong, healthy opportunity for Chinese students to study in Canada," said Ian Burchett, spokesperson for the Canadian Embassy in Beijing. "It's a very important market for us."

An estimated 35,000 Chinese are in Canada on education visas at any one time, including those admitted in previous years, Burchett added. Tuition fees range from $10,000 to $12,000 a year, not including room and board, plus agency fees.

But while there is money to be made, there is also a price to be paid: Much of the growth comes from the increased number of inexperienced teenagers being sent abroad. "Ten years ago, the only people going abroad were probably graduate students," Burchett acknowledges. Now, "a lot of people are going for Grades 11 and 12."

Roughly two-thirds of Chinese visa students are now under the age of 18, according to Yang Xiong, director of the Youth Research Institute at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Joshua Gu, who helps clients gain admission to Canadian schools from his office at Edu Shanghai International Co. Ltd., decries the increase in teenaged students attending foreign high schools, where they are especially vulnerable to adjustment problems.

"We don't recommend to high school students that they go to Canada," says Gu. "They lack the social and survival skills."

He is critical of unscrupulous agencies, but also blames parents for expecting foreign schools to give their children a second chance when they score poorly on China's university entrance exams.

"If they can't do well in China, why would they do well in Canada?" he asks. The answer is that all too often, "going to Canada is a question of pride."

Pride and pathos. For the Suo family, there is only a profound loss of face and a soul-destroying cover-up.

Now, the parents who saved and scrimped and wheeled and dealed to give their son a better life are at wits' end.

The father, who risked his life daily as a military firefighter to save the lives of others now lives with the knowledge that his son took the life of an innocent man.

The mother, who profited from her husband's connections to build a successful business has been reduced to making up stories about her son's continuing studies in Canada.

When neighbours and cousins ask how those studies are going, the parents discreetly change the subject.

Almost everyone here is oblivious to Suo's fate.

Still, motherly pride is powerful, and in private, she is not beyond boasting about her son's achievements behind bars: Thanks to his years in prison, Suo's conversational English is now much better than it was at school.

Despite the hard times, she can't help but be pleased by his progress abroad — albeit belatedly.

"He's teaching English and math courses in jail," she says.

"Canada is great."

Imagine If There Was No Public Scrutiny or Peer Review ...

.... and doctors can make unchecked dubious claims for cures???

This is why peer-review is so important, so that fraudsters and quacks are exposed. If I am a consumer of medical products and services (allopathic or otherwise), I want to make sure whatever I am ingesting is not going to kill me.

Allopaths subject themselves to such scrutiny, I do not understand why naturopaths feel that they can hide behind "mother nature" and claim that their medication is "natural" and non-toxic.


From Reuters' Newswire Service:


South Koreans view fallen scientist with shame, sorrow
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Koreans reacted with sorrow, shock and shame on Friday when a scientist they once hailed as a national hero resigned from his post after a panel said data in one of his most-celebrated papers was intentionally fabricated.

Hwang Woo-suk had been called the pride of South Korea for bringing the country to the global forefront of stem cell and cloning studies.

An investigative panel at Seoul National University, where Hwang has his laboratory, said the researcher should shoulder responsibility for faked data in a landmark paper his team published on producing tailored embryonic stem cells.


A student of South Korean stem-cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk cries after Hwang apologized and left his office at the Seoul National University in Seoul December 23, 2005.

"This is our shame," said Oh Chang-hwan, a senior consultant at SK Securities.

"This case will have a negative impact on the confidence of Korean science. More importantly, it will deprive the disabled of their hopes that they may be able to recover some day with the help of Professor Hwang's breakthroughs," Oh said.

Hwang's research was billed as fulfilling one of the basic promises of embryonic stem-cell science -- growing patient-specific tissue that could be transplanted to repair damaged body parts.

South Korea even commissioned stamps highlighting the potential of Hwang's research that showed a person rising from a wheelchair, standing and embracing a loved one.

"The disabled who had hopes for Dr. Hwang's research will be unhappy with the results," said Kim Ji-min, 28, an office worker.

"I just can't understand why someone who was hailed as a national hero would do such a thing," Kim said.

Hwang's troubles started in late November when he admitted to ethical lapses in procuring human eggs for his research. Media attention then snowballed, and soon there were reports that his fundamental findings were flawed.

"It is so regrettable that what we once had doubted turned out to be a fact," said Yoo Ji-young, 25, an office worker.

Hwang apologised on Friday but said patient-tailored embryonic stem cells were South Korean technology and it would be confirmed.

Supporters of Hwang stood by their scientist.

"Dr. Hwang said confidently that the people will see that he truly has the technology. People will have to eat their words," wrote one unidentified person on a Korean-language Web site called "ilovehws" -- short for "I love Hwang Woo-suk" -- at http://cafe.daum.net/ilovehws.

The ruling Uri Party and the main opposition Grand National Party said the news was devastating, but they hoped the country could move forward.

"We must use this opportunity to increase support and research in biotechnology and upgrade our monitoring system," the Uri Party said in a statement.