Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) is a public university with multiple campuses in Malaysia. Historically, UiTM was founded to help underprivileged Bumiputera students pursue tertiary education without worrying about the fees. So it’s understandable why netizens are taking issue with rich kids enrolling in the university.
While this issue has been argued about many times before, it was recently brought up again after netizens took notice of a now-deleted TikTok video by a UiTM student. A tweet regarding the video said, “Wearing Goyard and Cartier while driving a Mini Cooper to UiTM is crazy. How can you be that dense brah(?)”. It is understood that the video depicted the student showing off her luxury belongings while attending class at the public university.
The tweet led many more to discuss the surprising number of rich kids enrolling in UiTM. While the tone-deaf students flexing their lavish lifestyle infuriated many, the main argument is that UiTM has a limited capacity and priority should be given to those less fortunate. Many said it’s unethical for rich kids to enrol in UiTM since they can afford the fees of private universities like Taylor’s University. Many said that this is the rich stealing opportunities from the underprivileged.
As the rich kids referred to in the tweet were law students, many defended them, saying that the UiTM Law Faculty is one of the best in the country, which is why many privileged students still enrolled in the course. However, many argued back and said it still does not justify taking up a spot in the university. Some also argued that given their wealth, the students could have enrolled in law courses at an overseas university.
Netizens also pointed out that it would’ve helped the students’ cases if they remained humble and did not show off their lavish lifestyle on social media. Many said that using luxury items is not necessary for a university student, let alone when the other students are from less privileged backgrounds. Some also revealed that the students have been deleting comments under their TikTok videos that criticise or call them out for showing off.
What do you think about this discussion about rich kids stealing opportunities from the underprivileged?
Sources: Twitter
