Zahid's daughter defends lecturer for 'scolding' B40 student online

SHAH ALAM: Umno President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's daughter Nurul Hidayah has defended a lecturer for telling off a B40 student for not having a laptop.

On her Instagram page, she further said students take to social media for getting scolded by their lecturers, further stating students should not be uploading online sessions on social media in the first place.

She asked students to divert their disappointment by motivating themselves to do better.

“If you are angry with the boss, will you take it to social media too? Do you think employers will hire workers like that? Every little thing is uploaded on social media these days,” she wrote.

She further said the lecturer was expressing her disappointment over the student's failure to get a laptop despite being in the fifth semester.

“I feel, the professor was angry because the student did not have a computer although he was already in the fifth semester. Yes, people are struggling but as a student, he should be responsible and know what to prioritise," she said.

“I also had lecturers that I did not like but I did not embarrass them in public. Being a lecturer, she had to scold the student as she felt he was not serious in his studies,” she said.

Hidayah further said there are many students from the B40 group who are successful.

“A lot of students have lost their parents at a young age but studied hard and become successful. Others work part-time to buy a laptop," she said, adding that there are also NGOs, government agencies and elected representatives who could buy computers.

A viral video saw a lecturer’s telling off a student for not having a computer during an online lecture. The lecturer had said she did not like to teach students from the B40 category as they did not seem to show interest in their studies.

“If you have a sister and she has a gold bracelet, tell her to sell that and buy you a computer. You can’t learn properly when you have no computer,” she was heard in the video. She also said that it only costs RM800 to get a computer.

The student had earlier told the lecturer that his father was unemployed and his mother had died.

MCA had earlier called the incident "abusive and shaming" and called on the university to take immediate action on the lecturer to prevent similar cases in the future. It had said that it reflects poorly on the noble profession of teaching and the associated public university.

Several social media users were unhappy with Nurul Hidayah's comments.

An Instagram account holder, panglima_hitam14 , said: "Maybe kak long does not feel what the student feels because kak long may not have been raised like how he was raised. Not everyone lives equally. I used to be a student and could only afford to buy eat Maggi. So I don't think you need to back the lecturer."

Another social media user, kristaljingga, said: "You can say all this because you are from the 'kayangan' society (better off).