Info from Kudat MP - deputy minister who accused Veveonah of lying
Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin, who had accused a YouTuber of lying after she made a video of herself climbing up a tree for an online examination due to poor internet connectivity, said he got his information from Kudat MP Abdul Rahim Bakri.
Zahidi said Abdul Rahim had, in turn, got his information from a lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Therefore, Zahidi said, he had no reason to believe they were lying when he conveyed the information in the Dewan Negara...
Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin, who had accused YouTuber Veveonah Mosibin of lying after she made a video of herself climbing up a tree for an online examination due to poor internet connectivity, said he got his information from Kudat MP Abdul Rahim Bakri.
Zahidi said Abdul Rahim had, in turn, got his information from a lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). Therefore, Zahidi said, he had no reason to believe they were lying when he conveyed the information in the Dewan Negara.
"We got the information when we referred to the Kudat MP. The MP for the area is the deputy finance minister.
"We were informed that Veveonah had no exam on that day. The information the MP got was from her lecturer, who is a professor.
"So, in the issue, even we wanted to verify. The question is, why would the MP lie? We just believed in the information provided," Zahidi told a press conference at Parliament today.
Abdul Rahim, who is from Bersatu, is deputy finance minister I.
Zahidi, who previously apologised for accusing Veveonah, said the issue may have been due to a misunderstanding.
As such, Zahidi said he would go to Veveonah's university to get to the bottom of the matter.
"I will go to UMS to meet with the lecturer, staff and Veveonah for the facts. We need to check two to three more times.
"If we find that the information was wrong, we apologise - the lecturer should not have given incorrect information.
"But if it is the opposite, then perhaps it is a misunderstanding... so the issue should not be politicised," said the Padang Besar MP from Umno.
Veveonah (photo), who hails from the rural village of Kampung Sapatalang, Pitas, had on June 13 uploaded a video of her having to climb up a tree to get an internet connection.
It was during a time when university students were required to take classes and examinations remotely, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
When the issue was raised in the Dewan Negara on Sept 3, Zahidi claimed Veveonah did not have any examination on that day and claimed she made the video for fame.
However, Veveonah denied this and shared her examination schedule, which showed she had sat for exams between June 9 and June 12.
Malaysiakini is contacting Abdul Rahim for his response.
'DAP has politicised issue'
Zahidi, at the press conference today, accused the DAP of politicising the issue.
"The issue has been politicised by the DAP. I've seen comments from the DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, the 'Red Bean Army', DAP sympathisers and stooges.
"They are bankrupt of ideas and are trying to distract from the issues for political mileage. It is ineffective during this election period because the DAP and Lim Kit Siang have all kinds of corruption issues," he said.
Zahidi said as he is someone who had come from a family of farmers, he is committed to helping rural communities.
"In this struggle, I have tapped rubber before and became a farmer. Many MPs are from families of farmers. So rural areas are our priority," he said.
He thanked Veveonah for highlighting the plight of her people.
Zahidi said the government has upgraded internet services in her area and added that he is cognisant of other people facing similar issues as Veveonah.
"We know this issue does not only affect Veveonah, but there are also schools where people have to climb up a hill and students who have to sit by the river for a signal.
"But we ask that they do not climb trees as we are worried they would fall.
"Go to a nearby location with signal or the local internet centre," he said.
Zahidi said his ministry will do its best to solve internet connectivity problems in rural areas.
However, he added, there were challenges as communication towers could not be arbitrarily built.
"If it involves (building communication towers on) native land and there are native laws involved. Sometimes there is no electricity.
"It's not only the mountainous terrain. There are also cases of generators being stolen," he said.
The government will also consider satellite internet for such areas, even though it is costly, Zahidi added.
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