Coronavirus: Malaysian minister Noraini Ahmad slammed over proposed TikTok competition to keep young people home

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia's Higher Education Minister Noraini Ahmad has raised eyebrows for proposing a TikTok competition to convince young Malaysians to stay home during the movement control order (MCO).

Malaysians on social media are accusing her of having misplaced priorities.

A one-minute video of her making the suggestion was taken down on Wednesday (April 8) following public backlash.

Social media influencers Norreen and Iskandar Rahman posed as Datuk Noraini's children in the video, which is believed to have been recorded at the ministry's office.

The proposed TikTok competition, which was slated to take place from Wednesday to next Tuesday, was also promoted in a poster featuring Dr Noraini, Ms Norreen and Mr Iskandar.

In the video, Dr Noraini is seen gently shaking her head to the dance tune Ke Sana Ke Sini, which features snippets from Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's speech on the MCO.

Mr Iskandar, clad in a visor and a casual outfit, is seen shuffling to a dance tune in the video until he is interrupted by Ms Norreen, who corrects his dance moves to sync with the hip-hop tune.

"Don't go wandering. Stay at home. Let's do TikTok videos. I have an interesting prize for the most creative," she says in a mix of Malay and English in the video.

Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad tweeted that the Parit Sulong MP should focus on the welfare of university students.

He said she would be better served thinking about the welfare of students who are worried about what their semester is going to be like.

"Students who are staying by themselves, some of them are not eating regularly - so focus on that rather than TikTok, " Mr Nik Nazmi tweeted.

Other Malaysians on social media said Dr Noraini might have "tried too hard".

"It's not wrong to use TikTok to engage with youngsters in universities. You go where your target audience is.

"The concept is there, but the execution is bad," tweeted someone with the handle Caleb.