Lecturer’s action cannot be taken as an insult towards B40 group, says Ahmad Zahid’s daughter

 

PETALING JAYA: The Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) lecturer’s action of berating her student for not having a laptop cannot be taken as an insult to the Bottom 40 (B40) community, says Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s daughter.

Datuk Nurul Hidayah said in an Instagram posting that the lecturer would have acted that way out of disappointment.

"In my opinion, the lecturer did not insult the B40. In my view, she said those things because she was beyond disappointed. Very disappointed," she said.

"Despite the financial difficulties, the student should have been more responsible and prioritised (what is needed)," she added.

She added that there were many from the B40 group who had lost their parents at a young age, or while studying who went on to become successful.

"There are many who do part time jobs to buy a laptop. There are many who can help to buy a laptop such as NGOs, government representatives, state assemblyperson, representatives of the people," she added.

She added that what the lecturer actually meant was where there is a will, there is a way.

Nurul also criticised the act of making such incidents viral on social media.

"I also had lecturers whom I did not like but (I would not) embarrass the lecturer. Lecturers will scold students whom they feel are not serious and complacent in studies," she added.

She also lamented that incidents like altercations between a husband and wife and getting scolded by a lecturer were all being posted on social media these days.

She said disappointment should instead be used as an encouragement to do better.

"If they really want knowledge, they will not shame and embarrass the lecturer," she said.

Nurul was commenting on a viral video of a female lecturer berating a student who was using his phone to attend an online class in his fifth semester.

The video went viral on Twitter late Tuesday (March 29) night and was viewed over 900,000 times and shared by more than 50,000 Twitter users.

The original account has since been removed.

UiTM said action has been taken against the lecturer.

The university's vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Roziah Mohd Janor said they will not compromise with anyone who damages the name of the university, intentionally or otherwise. - Star