Student Council Groups Roasted For Urging Students Not To Join In Protests After Recent ‘Turun Malaysia’ Rally
Several public university student councils called for students to reject street demonstrations, saying that taking to the street will not solve the pressing issues that the country is facing.
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Following the Turun protest held in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, a host of public universities’ student councils issued media statements urging students to stay away from the movement.
The demonstration was held in protest of the recent rising prices of goods and living costs, as well as to call for Cabinet members’ salaries and allowances to be reduced.
Among the student councils that had issued media statement calling for students not to attend such protest includes Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn (UTHM), and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).
However, this does not sit well with the netizens who question why would the student councils issued such a warning while the rakyat is struggling to put food on the table due to the increase in living costs and inflation.
There are also those who point up the similarities in the statements issued by these student councils, with several people claiming that they were pressured by the higher-ups to issue a statement against the Turun movement.
Macam copy paste je semua ayat MPP uni ni semua sama 😂
— stand with 🇲🇾 #guaantimedia (@me_i2rkf28) July 25, 2022
bukan MPP T20. tp mereka ditekan oleh orang atasan. orang atasan diberikan “wahyu” oleh pihak2 tertentu
— Ahmad Lokman 🏴🏴🏴 (@ahmadlokman) July 25, 2022
One Twitter user also question UiTM’s student council for its “selective memory”, sharing a picture of the university’s students holding a demonstration protesting against opening the public university for non-Bumiputera.
Oo ok tapi time ni boleh pulak protes? pic.twitter.com/r8KY2IxC1j
— Twidder, Inc. (@aghafran) June 27, 2022
Meanwhile, on UniSZA’s student council Instagram, one user reminded them that students are the voice of the people and that demonstration is nothing new for the people in the country, pointing toward the demonstration held against Malayan Union prior to independence.
The students’ councils were also reminded that it is a right for every student to take part in any peaceful assembly provided that they did not break any law.
bukan ke kita ade hak bersuara, lagipun mende tu jd luar U kot tak langgar mana2 peraturan U pun
— kikijam (@in1_yeiijam) July 26, 2022
In last Saturday’s demonstration, over 100 participants attempted to march towards Dataran Merdeka before they were blocked by the police outside of the Sogo shopping mall.
In a report by Malay Mail, newly elected PKR Youth Chief Adam Adli, who attended the rally said that last weekend’s event is just the beginning of more street rallies on pressing issues.
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