PETALING JAYA, May 19 — The Student Representative Council of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malacca yesterday refuted media claims of a student being suspended for taking a selfie when accepting his diploma during the convocation ceremony.
Student council president Mohamad Qusyairie Mokhtar stated on the council’s official Facebook page “a local newspaper” had misreported the outcome of the event.
“The UiTM student was not suspended, there is no element of suspension because he had already completed his studies and was instead only asked to apologise for disrupting customs and protocols in the convocation,” he said.
Qusyairie said the council had been contacted by UiTM’s main campus student council to hold a meet ing between the student involved and Vice-Chancellor Tan Sri Prof Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar to clarify the situation.
Having attended the entire convocation ceremony, he confirmed a student had taken a selfie on stage.
“It is my responsibility to clarify the truth of the situation as it has gone viral and turned into an issue by certain individuals and groups who are unsympathetic to the incident,” Qusyairie wrote.
“What was published in the local newspaper is not true.”
He did not name the individuals and groups but called for the public to stop making this an issue.
“I advise the media to be more careful in reporting the news,” he said.
“I would also like to ask everyone to not inflame this issue, in the interest of all parties involved.”
A Malay language newspaper had reported that photography student Muhammad Hasrul Haris Mohd Radzi, 21, was suspended for two years for taking a selfie on stage with UiTM Pro-Chancellor Tan Sri Dr Arshad Ayub with the hall full of students in the background.
Malay Mail contacted the UiTM vice-chancellor’s office, but did not receive a comment.
