{
  "id": 3207215,
  "title": "M'sia professor who said Romans learnt shipbuilding from Malays fired from university",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/msia-professor-who-said-romans-learnt-shipbuilding-from-malays-fired",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-24T18:25:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mothership",
    "slug": "mothership",
    "url": "https://mothership.sg/2026/08/malaysian-professor-shipbuilding-roman-malay-dismissed/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A Malaysian scholar who argued that Roman shipbuilders may have acquired their skills from Malay sailors has contested her termination from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Solehah Yaacob, a linguistics professor who held a doctorate, was dismissed in April and is pursuing legal action against the university through Malaysia's Industrial Court. In response to an article in Free Malaysia Today (FMT) published on August 23, Solehah stated that she rejected IIUM's compensation package, equivalent to six months of her salary. She explained that she was immediately dismissed without the opportunity to contest the decision, rendering her no longer a professor or affiliated with the institution as of that moment. The university maintained that Solehah was prohibited from using any titles, positions, or official affiliations with IIUM following her dismissal. They emphasized that their action aimed to prevent any confusion and preserve the university's credibility and academic reputation. Solehah informed FMT that she had been honored with the Malaysia Research (MyRa) Assessment award just a day before her termination, administered by the Consortium Advancing Standards in Research Administration Information (CASRAI) since 2006. This award is utilized to assess the performance of Malaysian universities. Despite the controversy surrounding her lecture delivered on December 31, 2022, which only gained attention on October 31, 2025, Solehah maintained her assertions. She also expressed skepticism regarding iron ore deposits in Malaysia, attributing them to meteorite impacts. Additionally, she made previous claims that ancient Malays possessed the ability to fly and instructed the Chinese in \"flying kung fu,\" a claim reported by FMT.",
  "summary": "She was awarded a research award by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia a day before her dismissal.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}