On Saturday, August 5, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim (DSAI) and the Unity Government held a MADANI Education Talk at Penang Matriculation College which saw the participation of the students as they asked DSAI their questions about the education industry.
If you’ve been anywhere near Twitter since then, a student from the college has since gone viral for asking DSAI a question in regards to the government’s plan to abolish the bumiputera quota system in exchange for a more merit-based structure.
During the session, the student also asked for some time to explain the context behind her question, where she pointed out that her friends with better results were only allowed into matriculation during the second intake whereas her friends with lesser results were allowed in during the first intake.
Social media users were quick to debate on DSAI’s response as while the student was explaining her reasoning behind the question, DSAI had interrupted her multiple times in order to cut the (considerably sensitive) question short.
Some believe that DSAI’s response was reasonable, citing that the student received an ‘adult answer for an adult question’. Others, though, felt like DSAI could have been more compassionate and considered his response too harsh.
For better context, you can check out the clip here, starting from 1:15:20.
What do you think? Was DSAI too harsh or was his response warranted? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
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