OK to take to social media after being shamed in public

 

From Clement Stanley

Does anybody out there have a clue as to what exactly Nurul Hidayah’s beef is when she laments about students taking to social media to share clips of them getting scolded by their lecturers?

Surely, she can’t be ignorant of the fact that the use of social media is the most effective way to get the attention of the powers that be.

It will almost instantaneously elicit a response simply because no one in any position of power wants to be embarrassed and end up looking incompetent, with a “couldn’t care a less” attitude thrown in for good measure.

The plight of the downtrodden must be heard even if it means taking to social media. It is as simple as that.

We have come across numerous cases where such social media exposure has resulted in positive and instant results. Had this unbecoming and condescending behaviour of the UiTM senior lecturer gone under the radar and not highlighted, would there have been any action on the part of UiTM or the higher education ministry?

Perhaps Nurul Hidayah can enlighten us on this? After all, being the daughter of the Umno president and former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, she should be well aware of the power of social media.

The issue is not that the social media in this case has been misused by the student whose mother is not around and whose father is currently unemployed. There was no need for the lecturer to get personal. Why suggest his sister sell her gold bangles to help out when none of us knows whether or not he even has a sister who owns gold bangles?

Why bring in anyone’s attire into an argument when there is no need to? Some may argue that this is how the lecturer will goad her student to achieve success. I can argue that, on the contrary, it will result in a student becoming withdrawn, suffering from a loss of confidence and retreating into a shell because of the humiliation he has experienced.

For every action, there is a reaction. The only thing is we will never know which way it goes.

Nurul Hidayah should not forget just how she and her husband flaunted their visit to Putrajaya in April of 2020 on social media when the MCO was in place.

Yes, they were fined RM800 for doing so by uploading photos of themselves visiting the religious affairs minister as well as the deputy environment and water minister.

To me, that is more offensive than a student sharing the indignity of being shamed on social media. Respect is a two-way street. To be respected, you must also be respectful. That valuable lesson in life was passed down to me and I, in turn, have passed it down to my children.

There was simply no need for Nurul Hidayah to defend a defenceless situation. It would have been better to let the higher education ministry and UiTM to come to the defence of the lecturer if they sincerely felt that there were grounds to do so. - FMT

Clement Stanley is an FMT reader

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.