Higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir has shot down claims by a Kedah executive councillor that there are plans to allow 10,000 Bangladeshi graduates studying in Malaysia to access high-skilled job opportunities through the introduction of a “graduate plus” visa.
Haim Hilman Abdullah, who heads Kedah’s industry and investment, higher education, and science, technology and innovation committee, told the state assembly on Thursday that Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus made the request during a state visit earlier this month.
The Jitra assemblyman claimed that Zambry was considering the proposal and might accept it.
“There is no such thing as (Yunus) asking for 10,000 Bangladeshi students enrolled in Malaysia to stay and work here. And I never said I agreed to consider it,” Zambry told FMT.
“We at the higher education ministry don’t simply make decisions on the number of workers needed in certain industries as the policy is related to other ministries.”
Earlier, in a statement, he noted that Hilman based his remarks on reports from Bangladeshi media portals.
He said that as someone with an academic background – Hilman was formerly a vice-chancellor at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) – he should be making statements based on verified information.
“Academic principles demand integrity, accuracy, and truthfulness in information.
“Hilman should not arbitrarily create perceptions by conveying inaccurate information that misleads the public. The practice of producing ‘content’ to be made viral on social media with false facts must be stopped immediately.”
In a video on TikTok, Hilman was seen telling the state assembly that such proposals should not be accepted as there are 1.9 million people underemployed in the country and 500,000 without jobs.
