KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — A coalition of university student unions has today urged federal deputy ministers against bullying university students over their complaint on the lack of basic facilities such as internet connectivity.

The unions from three local universities further defended Sabahan student Veveonah Mosibin, saying the Putrajaya should instead focus on efforts to resolve the connectivity issue rather than disputing the allegations leveled against it.

"We would like to express concerns about the government’s narrative and seriousness in resolving and upgrading internet access, especially through the feedback made through the answer,” they said.

"We would like to express our regret and concern over the government’s commitment to solve this internet access problem, especially for the students in rural areas.”

The statement was directed towards Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin and Deputy Minister of Finance I Abdul Rahim Bakri for their remarks against the Universiti Malaysia Sabah student.

It was co-signed by the student unions from International Islamic University Malaysia, University of Malaya, and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

The student unions said the government should take effective and proactive actions immediately to ensure that all students enjoy internet connectivity.

"Many universities is likely to continue with online classes until early next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which requires social distancing.

"The Ministry of Higher Education should give serious attention to this matter as it involves 1.3 million students throughout the country,” theu added.

Similarly, the student wings of Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) parties PKR, DAP and Parti Amanah Negara also made the same call for Putrajaya to not bully Veveonah.

Mahasiswa PH said the accusations against Veveonah was merely to cover the weakness of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government who it claimed had failed to address the issue of internet connectivity in rural areas.

"The arrogance and ignorance by the PN government in this issue is a clear sign why they should be rejected in the upcoming Sabah state election and as well in the next general election,” it said in a statement.

Zahidi has come under fire for his remarks in the senate last week suggesting Veveonah was an attention seeker and had faked having to take an online examination in a tree in rural Sabah due to poor internet connectivity.

The Padang Besar MP from Umno has since apologised and yesterday named Kudat MP Abdul Rahim from Bersatu as his source of information.

Abdul Rahim continued to take a defensive stance, insisting his investigation showed no examinations were conducted online in June and cited a Universiti Malaysia Sabah faculty member as his source.

He added that Veveonah is not a resident of Kampung Sepatalang as she claimed, though the 18-year-old has explained that she was staying there temporarily during the movement control order to help her family.

She has also publicly shared her examination schedule on social media to back her assertion of university exams between June 9 and June 12.

Abdul Rahim has since removed his Facebook posting on Veveonah.