KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Adam Adli Abdul Halim today said the issue of an influencer being denied victory in the National Youth Awards (NYA) has been clarified and urged for the matter to not be blown out of proportion.
Adam Adli said the issue had already been clarified by the NYA Winner Verification Committee which decided not to award winners in two categories – the Youth Icon Influencer (Social Media) and the Youth Icon Appreciation – as no candidate had met the specified criteria.
He added that the ministry and NYA secretariat also never issued any letter to any specific individual to inform them of a winner.
"Firstly, the committee decided that the two categories mentioned above will not have winners. Not one, but two categories have no winners as a final decision considering that no candidate met the criteria.
"We did not issue any letter to any specific individual (to inform them) that they have won (any category).
"Hence, we wonder how they can conclude that they are the winners and this is why we open the space for further discussions to be held to resolve the matter amicably.
"We don't need such things to be blown out of proportion, if there are weaknesses or mistakes, let us handle them through a more mature and constructive meeting," he said, adding that he would be meeting with the influencer, today.
He said this in response to Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah) who enquired about the issue as well as the ministry's commitment to ensure a similar situation will not be repeated.
At the same time, Adam Adli also hoped that the issue would not be prolonged or be seen as a form of mistreatment towards any quarter.
"I hope that such a matter is not seens as a form of mistreatment as this is not the aim and purpose of the award.
"The goal is to recognise youth who have achieved tremendous success and unfortunately, the 12 winners, who among them also won gold medals in the Asean Games were not given the attention (due to the issue).
"This is because the issue has been sensationalised and the public must also look at the issue differently (as there are other winners)."
On Nov 12, social media sensation Zhiddin Aziz expressed his disappointment of allegedly being denied victory in the recent YNA 2023.
Sharing his frustrations online, the individual with more than 782,000 followers on TikTok conveyed to his followers the stress of having to invest a considerable amount of funds in buying special attire for the awards.
However, he was met with a disappointing call about the award being revoked with no explanation less than 24 hours before the scheduled event.
Following this, the National Youth and Sports Department (JBSN) then issued a clarification after being under fire, noting that winners were only announced during the event, and no official notifications were given beforehand.