'Untrue': Zambry pans claim of 10k Bangladeshi students given 'graduate pass'

The claim that 10,000 Bangladeshi students in Malaysia will be given a “graduate pass” to enable them to work in the country is untrue and baseless, said Higher Education Minister Zambry Abd Kadir.

He said during the recent visit of Bangladeshi Interim Government Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, there was no memorandum of understanding or agreement signed that bound Malaysia to accept 10,000 Bangladeshi students to work in the country.

He also advised Kedah Industry and Investment, Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee chairperson Haim Hilman Abdullah to be more careful in making any statements on any issue, including those related to higher education.

“Based solely on a newspaper report in Bangladesh, he has made the allegation that I have agreed to consider providing ‘graduate passes’ to 10,000 Bangladeshi students in Malaysia to enable them to work here.

“The allegation is completely untrue and inaccurate,” he said in a statement today to clarify the issue of Bangladeshi students raised by Haim.

Zambry said Haim’s statement, claiming that the people were worried because Malaysia had agreed to this matter, was very irresponsible.

“As someone with an academic background, he should have made statements based on true, accurate and authentic facts, not speculation or spreading information carelessly.

“Academic principles demand information that has integrity, accuracy and truth,” he said.

He stressed that Haim should not arbitrarily create perceptions by presenting inaccurate information and misleading people.

“The culture of producing ‘content’ to be made viral on social media with incorrect facts must be stopped immediately,” he said.

Previously, Haim, through a two-minute and 19-second video uploaded on his TikTok, claimed that 10,000 Bangladeshi students would be given job opportunities in Malaysia.

- Bernama

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