Kudat MP cyberbullies Veveonah, then deletes his post

Kudat MP Abdul Rahim Bakri posted a long Facebook post yesterday insisting that Veveonah Mosibin did not sit for any university examinations. He also wrote that he instructed an aide to investigate Veveonah’s case. However, he had that post removed after receiving backlash online.

His statement was posted after Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin revealed that it was the Kudat MP who told him Veveonah made up the story for her YouTube channel. Zahidi Zainul Abidin’s claims went viral last week after he said that the findings were based on ‘investigations’.

“We were informed that Veveonah had no exam on that day. The information the MP got was from her lecturer, who is a professor… Why would the MP lie? So we just believed in the information provided,” Zahidi Zainul Abidin told a press conference at Parliament.

In the now-deleted Kudat MP post, he said that he allegedly found that Veveonah neither lived in her hometown of Kampung Sepatalang any longer nor sat for any examinations in June as she said she did in her video. He did not explain why he saw the need to investigate her.

Several opposition MPs have slammed Kudat MP Abdul Rahim Bakri over his post. Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh said that Rahim’s post is a form of bullying.

“If you don’t recognise it—this is actually cyberbullying in action. By two deputy ministers. Against a young child. Again, silence from Women Minister and her deputy,” Tweeted Hannah Yeoh.

Yeoh also questioned Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun’s silence over the matter. Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq Tweeted that the ministers needed to stop bullying the youth and to stop belittling Veveonah.

Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil also Tweeted about the issue. He questioned why the Kudat MP did not make any initiative to meet Veveonah, instead of accusing her online.

There has been a massive amount of support online for Veveonah. But the fact of the matter is… actual MPs have been pointing fingers at an 18-year-old girl trying her best to get an education—and with unchecked evidence. Instead of addressing infrastructure issues, the Kudat MP had used his public platform to discredit Veveonah and her family.

According to Veveonah on Facebook, she has received negative and bad comments on her social media pages, and that she doesn’t know how to deal with it. She has since been offline and hasn’t responded to our attempts to reach her—but will keep you updated if she does.

The MCMC has recently issued a statement to reaffirm that communication infrastructure projects under NFCP 1 will be priortised for Sabah. They have also announced plans for a new 4G tower to be erected at Veveonah’s village at Kampung Sapatalang in Pitas, Sabah.

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