Association slams ‘disparaging’ social media posting on sick teacher

TAWAU: The social media posting that went viral on Monday about a Tawau-based Kelantanese teacher who is being treated at the general hospital here, is misleading, says an association.

Persatuan Anak Kelantan Perantauan Malaysia (Perakan Malaysia) Sabah yesterday refuted the information in the posting that said the teacher had been confined to Tawau Hospital for three months without the care of his family and that he lost cash and his mobile phone at the hospital.

The association’s chairman Mohd Ariff Yusoff acknowledged that the party who posted the information had likely intended to draw public attention to the teacher’s condition.

But the details, he said, were misleading, disparaging and embarrassing to the teacher’s family and colleagues, and the association.

The posting showed an identity card bearing a certain name, with the photo of a man lying on a hospital bed.

“The teacher who is attached with Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Silabukan has not been confined to the hospital for three months and his personal assets are not missing but safekept by fellow teachers who are taking turns to look after him.

“His parents came here thrice to visit him and his elder brother made efforts to bring back him back to be treated in Kelantan but presently the hospital does not have the facility for this,” Mohd Ariff said in a statement here yesterday.

Meanwhile, he disclosed that assistance for the teacher in the form of a contribution from the Kelantan state government was channeled through its Women Development exco Mumtaz Nawi. The case has also caught the attention of Bachok member of parliament Ahmad Marzuk Shaary.

Mohd Ariff also requested PERAKAN members all over Malaysia and the general public to pray for the teacher’s recovery.

It is understood that the hospital has lodged a police report on the social media posting and the claim that the teacher lost cash and his mobile phone at its premises.