KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Board of Directors chairman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun verified that Veveonah Mosibin did indeed sit for her final semester examinations via the Internet in June.
"After meeting the Timbalan Naib Canselor (Deputy Vice-Chancellor) and the Pengarah Pusat Asasi Sains (Director of the Science Foundation Centre), University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) today, I would like to confirm that student Veveonah Mosibin sat for her final semester exams (online) from 9/6 till 12/6/20," he said in a Twitter posting today.
The former state Tourism, Culture and Environment minister added that Veveonah was an exemplary student and has been offered to pursue a Marine Science degree at UMS.
Masidi's confirmation comes after Kudat MP, Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri, insisted that Veveonah faked her Internet access woes to garner publicity, via a Facebook post yesterday.
Rahim also said that a UMS faculty dean had informed him that the university did not conduct any online examination during the period Veveonah recorded her viral video.
However, Rahim has since deleted the post after receiving brickbats from netizens.
In June, 18-year-old Veveonah posted a video on her YouTube channel, relating how she had to stay overnight on top of a tree for stable Internet access in order to take her online examinations in her village of Kampung Sepatalang in Pitas, Sabah.
Her video drew the attention of the public and lawmakers, and highlighted the lack of Internet access in Sabah's rural areas.