With Veveonah cyberbullied, Maszlee asks where are the Education, Higher Education Ministries?

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — Former education minister Maszlee Malik has joined those in calling out the disparaging remarks by two deputy ministers over Sabah undergraduate Veveonah Mosibin had faked taking her online university exams atop a tree.

The Simpang Renggam MP took to Twitter to question the deafening silence of the Higher Education Ministry and Education Ministry over the matter.

“Where are MOHE and MOE when a STUDENT is being bullied by deputy ministers a.k.a your colleagues?” he posted on Twitter, using the two ministries’ initials.

He also tagged the Twitter accounts of Higher Education Minister Datuk Noraini Ahmad and Education Minister Radzi Jidin.

Earlier, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, who is also former deputy women, family and community development minister, labeled the persistent remarks by two federal deputy ministers against Veveonah as cyberbullying.

Yeoh also upbraided Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun and the latter’s deputy Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff for their silence on the matter.

Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin has come under fire for his remarks in the senate last week suggesting Veveonah was an attention seeker and had faked having to take an online examination in a tree in rural Sabah due to poor internet connectivity.

The Padang Besar MP from Umno has since apologised and named Kudat MP Abdul Rahim Bakri from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia as his source of information.

Abdul Rahim continued to take a defensive stance, insisting his investigation showed no examinations were conducted online in June and cited a Universiti Malaysia Sabah faculty member as his source.

He added that Veveonah is not a resident of Kampung Sepatalang as she claimed, though the 18-year-old has explained that she was staying there temporarily during the movement control order to help her family.

She has also publicly shared her examination schedule on social media to back her assertion of university exams between June 9 and June 12.

Abdul Rahim has since removed his Facebook posting on Veveonah.