Professor Solehah Yaacob who claimed ancient Malays taught flying kung-fu to Chinese fired by her university

A Malaysian academic who went viral for peddling a range of wild pseudo-historical theories – including claiming ancient Malays taught flying kung-fu to the Chinese – has been fired by her university.Linguist Solehah Yaacob was dismissed from her position as an Arabic linguistics instructor at the International Islamic University Malaysia on April 27, school officials confirmed Sunday.“She is no longer a professor, nor entitled to claim any association with the university,” a spokesperson said, without explicitly stating the reason why she was fired.“The use of any title or position with IIUM is not permitted in any promotional materials, media reports, publications, advertisements, social media content, publicity materials, or other forms of dissemination, whether directly or indirectly.”Yaacob made waves across the internet last November after a clip from a 2022 lecture resurfaced, where she also claimed the ancient Malays taught the Romans how to build ships.She doubled down on claims and became the target of intense criticism and mockery as other wild theories emerged, including iron ore deposits being the product of meteor strikes.An infuriated Yaacob has vowed to challenge her dismissal in court.“I was dismissed within 24 hours and not given the opportunity to appeal,” she told Free Malaysia Today. She also revealed she had turned down the university’s compensation offer that was “equivalent to six months’ salary.”Yaacob was fired just one day after receiving a Malaysian Research Assessment (MyRA) award from the university.She was dismissed from her professorship – just five months after IIUM was forced to speak out in response to her shipbuilding claims.“IIUM upholds academic freedom, but such freedom must be exercised responsibly and grounded in academic accuracy,” the university said, without naming the academic.Yaacob has come under heavy criticism for the wild claims she has peddled.One theory she peddled came on a podcast,...