KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today the Cabinet has taken note of the disparaging and unreasonable remarks made by two deputy ministers against Sabahan student Veveonah Mosibin.
The Rembau MP also announced that the Cabinet has agreed to look into the issues raised by Veveonah over poor internet connectivity and other basic infrastructures in the rural areas.
“The Cabinet this morning discussed the issue of #Veveonah. The Cabinet has taken note of the disparaging and unreasonable statements issued by two deputy ministers.
“The Cabinet agreed that the real issue is internet connectivity and basic infrastructure particularly in the rural areas. The government will try its best to fix it,” he said on Twitter.
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, who is also Deputy Finance Minister I, 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.
Yesterday, Sabah’s former tourism, culture, and environment minister and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) chairman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun confirmed that Veveonah sat for examinations in June, and has been offered to do a degree in marine science there.
In June, Veveonah posted a video to her YouTube channel showing viewers how she spent 24 hours atop a tree in the jungle as that was the only way she could reliably connect to the Internet and sit for her Chemistry and Malaysian studies’ tests then.
Her YouTube video spurred the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to devise plans for a telecommunications tower in Kampung Bilangau Kecil, Pitas, to provide Veveonah and her fellow villagers with improved internet access.
