SHAH ALAM, May 29 — Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Entrepreneurship Alumni has described the appointment of e-commerce entrepreneur Datin Vivy Yusof as member of the university’s board of directors as rejecting the credibility of more than 800,000 of the institution’s alumni.

A representative of the alumni, Ahmad Muzakkir Hamid said UiTM’s alumni deeply regret the appointment as the institution which has existed since 60 years ago had personalities of various backgrounds who were experienced and outstanding.

"This is about the pride of the university. Vivy is not an alumna of UiTM, so she would not really understand the university’s policies.

"We are not asking for much, just that the board member be from among the alumni as we have many noted personalities who can contribute the best ideas to develop the university,” he told Bernama here today.

Ahmad Muzakkir who was a finalist of the Ikon Usahawan UiTM 2015 programme said although Vivy’s success as creative chief officer at FashionValet and founder of The dUCk Group could not be denied or questioned, it would be better if the Bumiputera university was represented by its own alumni.

He said the alumni will send a memorandum to Education Minister Maszlee Malik soon to request that consideration be given to an UiTM alumni to be in the board.

Last Monday, UiTM announced that Vivy had been appointed as member of its board of directors for three years.

Vivy will join Mohd Sakeri Abdul Kadir, Datuk Mohd Zaini Hassan, Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin, Datin Paduka Ir Siti Hamisah Tapsir, Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh and Tan Sri Azizah Mokhzani on the board which is chaired by Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

UiTM Vice Chancellor Emeritus Professor Mohd Azraai Kassim said in a recent statement the board was confident that Vivy’s appointment would inspire the university’s students to explore new business opportunities.

He said Vivy’s extensive involvement in branding and marketing could be used to uplift UiTM’s brand and products globally. — Bernama