KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Universiti Teknologi Mara’s (UiTM) Sarawak campus rector has said that it was reasonable to mete stern punishment on the student who took a selfie onstage during his convocation ceremony.
The UiTM Kota Samarahan rector Prof Datuk Dr Jamil Hamali reportedly said the student from the UiTM Lendu campus in Malacca had violated the convocation ceremony’s rules, which was conveyed to graduates that would be receiving their certificates.
“We need to have respect. I know that taking selfies is the trend right now, but people should not do it during an official function,” he was quoted as saying yesterday by the Borneo Post.
According to Jamil, graduates were informed before the convocation ceremony that the attendance of a pro-chancellor meant that it was a formal event with strict rules and protocols.
Jamil said that UiTM had ensured that the university students who went up onstage yesterday to receive their certificates did not carry their smartphones with them.
“We have also advised them (students) to keep their smart phones firmly in their pockets and have it switched off during the whole ceremony,” he added as he spoke to reporters at UiTM Kota Samarahan’s 82nd convocation ceremony yesterday.
Last Sunday, local daily Harian Metro reported that UiTM had suspended the diploma student for two years for “humiliating” the public university by taking a selfie with the pro chancellor on stage while receiving his certificate.
The university’s Deputy Chancellor Tan Sri Prof Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar said the student was rude and ignorant of Malay customs, adding that students were briefed beforehand and warned against selfies on stage.
Muhammad Hasrul Haris Mohd Radzi, the student who received a diploma in photography from UiTM Lendu, Malacca, reportedly apologised and said he “couldn’t control his excitement” after receiving the certificate, besides claiming he was unaware of the selfie ban.
His self-portrait with Pro Chancellor Tan Sri Dr Arshad Ayub, with students in the background at UiTM’s 82nd convocation, has since gone viral.
The 21-year-old was reportedly the second student to be suspended by UiTM for taking a selfie onstage.
But on Monday, the UiTM Malacca’s Student Representative Council president Mohamad Qusyairie Mokhtar refuted the reported claim of suspension which he said was untrue, stating that the student was only asked to apologise for disrupting customs and protocols in the convocation.
