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.