Um S Board Director Appointment Sparks Twitter Debate About Cables

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An appointment to Universiti Malaya's board of directors that was perceived to be politically linked has sparked a debate about students' connections with politicians on Twitter.
PKR Youth election director Fahmi Zainol, a former student activist, had criticised Danesh Raj Nagarajan's appointment to the board on the microblogging site, raising the latter's ties to Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said.
"Azalina's special officer was appointed to UM's board of directors. As a former UM student, I am also disappointed with what had happened.
"Apparently, there's a big cable (connection). There need to be big cables in order to succeed in Malaysia," Fahmi said.
However, a Twitter user under the handle @ReezaAbdullah responded by claiming that Fahmi, too, had relied on connections.
The user shared a letter from 2015 showing the Penang Chief Minister's Office granting Fahmi a special allocation of RM11,000. The chief minister at the time was DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Tak payah kecewa sangat brother. Awak biasiswa belajar pun guna kabel ke ? Tak layak dapat macam student student lain ke ?
@FarhanMokhali @jaz_jedi tengok ni haha https://t.co/8bGiMR58M7 pic.twitter.com/f068Tt2E6f
— SYAREEZA (@ReezaAbdullah) October 7, 2021When contacted, Fahmi denied having "cables" and said the RM11,000 was a form of assistance after his Public Service Department (PSD) scholarship was terminated while he was still studying.
"I have no connection with him. I neither contacted nor asked the former chief minister for the allocation. I only joined politics after I graduated," he told Malaysiakini.

Fahmi expressed his gratitude to Lim, who offered him the scholarship after his PSD scholarship was withdrawn in 2015 following disciplinary action against him.
"Back then, I was slapped with nine charges together with several students by the university (in November 2014) and I was suspended for two semesters.
"It was in 2015 that I was informed by the PSD that my scholarship, which amounted to RM11,000 for my final year, had been withdrawn because I had violated the university rules, and hence, indirectly violated the terms and conditions of the scholarship," he said.
Fahmi and the other students were accused of organising an event where PKR president Anwar Ibrahim delivered a talk at Dewan Tunku Canselor when such an event was barred by the university.

He believed that the state government gave him the allocation as he was deemed unfairly treated by the university. - Mkini

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