Netizens Weigh In On Mahathir’s Remarks About Grads Selling Nasi Lemak And Driving Uber
Mahathir said we shouldn't be proud of graduates selling nasi lemak. Does he have a point?
By Justin Tan — 18 Jan 2018, 05:56 PM
Former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is not impressed by graduates who resort to selling nasi lemak and becoming Uber drivers due to a lack of job opportunities
“We cannot be proud of those involved in selling nasi lemak or becoming Uber drivers. This is for them to sustain their income as they have no source of income,” he said in his weekly 'Policy Talk' show, which was aired live on Facebook yesterday.
Jobs and education for youths was the topic for his show yesterday.
"This is the failure of the government."
“It's not that we want to train them to become Uber driver and to sell nasi lemak, if we wanted to sell nasi lemak, we should have a university that teaches us how to sell nasi lemak, but we don't have such universities.”
“This is something that shames the country when graduates sell nasi lemak. This shows the government's failure to match training and mastery of knowledge with job opportunities,” he added.
In response to Dr. Mahathir’s remarks, many Malaysians disagreed with his views, saying that there is nothing wrong with graduates selling nasi lemak or becoming Uber drivers as they are making an honest living
In fact, some pointed out that many graduates, even those in Singapore, are making good money by doing jobs outside of their field of study
On the other side of the debate, those who agreed with Dr. Mahathir brought up the fact that his remarks were actually meant to highlight the failure of the government to match graduates with jobs relevant to their field of study
Ultimately, some suggested that the problem probably lies with the quality of graduates and the standard of education in the country
What do you think of Dr. Mahathir’s remarks on graduates looking for alternative sources of income? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.