Universiti Malaya (UM) recently shocked social media users with its brief post on Threads, which some perceived as offensive and prejudiced towards a particular community in Malaysia.
In a post that has since been deleted, UM wrote,
“I’m not a Kelantanese. Full stop.”
“It’s not a joke if it comes from an institution.”
There was no context or explanation for the post, but social media users were not happy with it. A netizen indicated that they had filed an official complaint, stating that UM’s post was offensive, discriminatory, and demonstrated unprofessional conduct.
Another netizen demanded an immediate apology to all students in UM, who hailed from Kelantan, citing the post “an embarrassment”, and reminding the admin of the social media page about the image and branding they are representing.
Malaysian host Zhiddin Aziz also commented on the matter, saying that the matter is not a joke, especially when it comes from a well-established institution.
“It may seem like a harmless joke among us. But when it comes from a wise institution, making Kelantan the topic of a joke, that’s not funny. That’s embarrassing.”
Another netizen was shocked and baffled, not only due to the joke on his timeline, but also its source, which he dubbed “one of the top public universities in the world.”
UM admin issues an apology
In a post shared on the night of 22 January, the administrator of UM’s Threads page apologised for the discomfort and said the post had been removed to prevent any further misunderstanding.
“The admin would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. The previous post has been taken down to avoid any misunderstanding. Thank you for the feedback, and we will be more careful moving forward.”
WORLD OF BUZZ has reached out to UM for further comment on Friday (23 January), but has yet to receive a response on the matter.
