Recently, there has been a debate among Malaysians regarding schools holding fancy graduation ceremonies to the point that it becomes a burden for parents.
The discussion has been so widespread that even the Ministry of Education (MOE) had to release a statement encouraging schools to only hold simple graduation ceremonies.
Some schools in Johor are even asking the ADUN for funds to hold these grand ceremonies
Chiming in with her personal experience, the Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly (ADUN) for Skudai, Marina Ibrahim recently took to her X account to share her two cents on the trend.
In a series of posts on the platform, Marina shared a screenshot of a parent asking her in a private message to not entertain any schools who invited her to any grand graduation ceremonies as such ceremonies are encouraging Malaysians to be wasteful.
The Skudai ADUN then revealed that there have been several schools in her constituency that have asked her for funds from her ADUN office – which is funds from the Johor State Government – to hold graduation ceremonies at hotels.
Moreover, there are also some schools which pleaded for personal contribution from her to hold these grand graduation ceremonies.
Not giving away any unnecessary funds
Marina then said that she won’t give any funds for such a matter, asserting,
“Honestly, I won’t provide (any funds). Skudai has a population of over 120,000, a lot of schools, some Parliamentary constituencies aren’t even as big as Skudai. We receive the same fund allocation as other constituencies with 24,000 to 30,000 residents and only have 5,6 schools. Here, there are almost 30 schools.
“There is no need to hold a school graduation ceremony at a hotel. Many schools do their ceremonies at school. There was even a school that made a barbecue inside the school grounds and it was okay. If you want to do something, you have to see the capabilities of the parents.”
So, what do you guys think about Marina’s statement and the trend of holding school graduation ceremonies at hotels? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: MOE: Schools Encouraged to Hold Simple Graduation Ceremonies