M’sia’s Higher Education Minister Under Fire For Organising a TikTok Contest Amidst National Crisis

On 8 April, our Minister of Higher Education Dato Dr Noraini Ahmad, posted on Twitter that she was creating a TikTok contest for Malaysians to join and win a prize.

“Come and join this TikTok contest. Share your own creative videos with me. There is a wonderful prize waiting for you!” she wrote in her caption.

The poster shows that the contest was to be run from 8 to 14 April and participants had to be 18 to 26 years old to join. It also said not to touch matters pertaining to religion, nationality or race. Participants must “tag” three friends in their video and include the following hashtags: #staysafe #kitamestimenang #kesanakesini.

The contest would also be in collaboration with two Malaysian influencers, Norreen and Iskandar Rahman.

She even posted a video:

However, not long after she posted about the contest, she came under fire by netizens who criticised her for using this time to “have fun” while the country faces a national crisis.

Translation: “you wanted the power so much and you’ve even become a minister. There are students out there who are worried about their upcoming semester and some students aren’t even eating properly. Better focus on them instead of tiktok. ”

Some also criticised her for not focusing on helping university students cope with the MCO as many are stuck in hostels with their studies being halted.

Translation: “just let noraini do tiktok. Pity those students who are stranded at their university not knowing what to do. To use tiktok, no money is required whatsoever. What i’m not happy about is the use of influencers. ”

Not long after hell broke loose in the comments, Dato Noraini deleted her post.

However, netizens aren’t going to let it go just yet as comments and Tweets are still pouring in with many condemning her for her lack of urgency in dealing with matters pertaining to her job.

What do you think of this TikTok contest that was organised by our Minister of Higher Education? Let us know in the comments below!

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