Politicians and their academic qualifications – Khoo Ying Hooi

BN Chief Najib Abdul Razak yesterday announced that 91 per cent of the parliamentary candidates have at least diploma level qualification and 31 per cent of these are professionals. Today, the DAP election strategist Ong Kian Ming has challenged the genuineness of the academic qualifications of five Selangor BN candidates.

That brings up the query of whether there should be any academic qualification for the politicians?

This I must say is a difficult question. There is no straightforward answer unless there is certain law being put in place that spells out the requirements. Well, I do think education is crucial and important. However there are also plenty of examples around the world that proves the fact that many successful people such as Bill Gates and Albert Einstein are commonly street smarts and they have made it really far with their unique persona.

Not all educated people are smarter and wiser. Practically, a politician should possess the quality of strong leadership and most importantly the ability to understand the needs of the people that they serve. The politicians must know how to connect with people, their problems and their views towards the country. No doubt education makes a person broad-minded, but merely education alone is not a determining factor to analyze a politician. All that they require is a bit of practical knowledge, which derives from experiences.

Obviously, educational qualification is an added advantage, however the quality of honesty and ability to actually govern a country is much important because a politician has a greatest responsibility to formulate laws and policies for the benefit of the country.

As for now, Malaysian election law does not require nominees to have a degree in order to run for public office.

Many famous politicians and professionals around the world paid a heavy price in the past for forging their educational qualifications. Among them, the former Iranian Interior Minister Ali Kordan, former Senior Director at the US Department of Homeland Security Laura Callahan, former Canadian Member of Parliament Jag Bhaduria and the list goes on. Their posts were relinquished immediately.

Ideally, politicians need to understand the people they govern and the country as a whole. It is essential for them to ask the right question in parliaments and state legislatures. They must understand the severity of any problem and the proper strategy that should be applied in order to solve the issues raised.

In order to cope in a world of rapid change, the reality is that it has now become important to elect educated people as our representatives although it is not being stated in any rules and regulations. This is something for the relevant authorities to ponder upon whether it should be made compulsory that every individual who wants to enter into politics should possess a minimum educational qualification.

Things are entirely different now and will be even competitive in the near future. We have seen many cases whereby many of the politicians do not have the right knowledge on the portfolios that they are holding. For instance a person holding the position of a finance minister should have knowledge about the financial issues concerning the nation and that particular person is expected to make wise decisions to lead the nation on a progressive way. After all, experience and academic qualifications must go hand in hand.