DAP Secretary General, Lim Guan Eng has rebutted the outright slanderous statement made by Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Zahidi Zainul Abidin against Veveonah Mosibin, a bright Sabahan student from Pitas. In the morning session of Dewan Negara yesterday, Zahidi accused Veveonah of lying in her viral video where she climbed and stayed on top of a tree to get a stable internet connection in order to take an online exam.

The Deputy Minister alleged that his ministry has checked and Veveonah never had an exam during that day and only did the video as a gimmick to get more viewers on Youtube. Following this accusation going viral, Zahidi ended up apologizing after his statement was found to be outright false.

In response to this insult and slander by Zahidi to Sabahans, Lim Guan Eng said maybe the Deputy Minister should come down from his ivory tower and visit Pitas himself to see the reality of the situation there.

Through his actions, Zahidi showcased that the ministers from Perikatan Nasional have no empathy or sympathy for the Sabah people. This accusation should not have happen and besmirched the good name of Sabahans, especially after the statement has been published by news portals everywhere.

Lim further commented that if the rakyat can’t get signal or internet connectivity, the government should not blame students such as Veveonah, but the Federal government should explain and rectify.

Speaking at the launch of DAP Sabah state election operational room today, Lim was quoted of saying,

“I think maybe Zahidi should come down to Pitas and climb a tree and then only he’ll know.”

Lim offered her sympathy with Veveonah who has received negative comments and attacks on social media after the false accusations by Zahidi. Even though Zahidi has apologized, the very act of a Deputy Minister accusing a young student such as Veveonah is too excessive, especially when she was speaking of the truth!

Furthermore, Lim also said he got into contact with former Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Gobind Singh Deo regarding the efforts made by Pakatan Harapan to improve connectivity in the state. He then confirmed that Sabah was the biggest beneficiary on National Fiberisation and Connectivity Plan (NFCP) with a total of 50 out of 152 telecommunication tower sites be built on the state, one of which is at Pitas.

Lim then urged Zahidi to be a responsible Deputy Minister and respect the Sabah people. Furthermore, he must make sure the NFCP project be expedited for the benefit of the people.