A Malaysian secondary school teacher sparked public outrage after claiming that 15 university students who died in a recent bus crash in Perak would not enter heaven because they had outstanding student loans.
The remarks triggered a government investigation and widespread condemnation online.
Teacher’s Facebook Posts Draw Criticism Over UPSI Bus Crash Comments
The teacher posted the comments on Facebook earlier this week, referring to the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) students killed in the accident.
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The teacher stated that anyone who dies while in debt deserves to go to hell. He created an acronym using UPSI’s name and said students at the institution “deserve nothing but death”.
Screenshots of the posts were widely circulated. The teacher deleted the posts after facing backlash from netizens.
The teacher issued a public apology stating: “I would like to apologise for the incident that befell the UPSI students. May God bless them.” His Facebook profile became inaccessible after the apology.
Government Investigates Teacher’s Comments
Malaysia’s State Education Department launched an investigation and confirmed that the Facebook account belonged to a secondary school teacher. The District Education Office contacted the school’s principal and advised the teacher to remove the posts.
Perak Education, Higher Education, Youth and Sports Exco Khairudin Abu Hanipah said investigations showed the teacher was employed at a secondary school in the state.
He said the District Education Office is expected to submit a full report in line with Ministry of Education guidelines.
Some reports suggested the teacher may have schizophrenia, though this has not been confirmed. The school’s management allegedly told authorities that the teacher has a mental health condition.
The Malaysian government has announced that it will waive the outstanding PTPTN loans of the UPSI bus crash victims. The government will also provide RM10,000 (~SGD3,000) in financial aid to the families of the victims.
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