Veveonah Mosibin

And that such deprivation still exists 55 years after independence shows what abysmal failures you and your brother politicians have been. Not just in his location but almost every rural area in Sabah and Sarawak. By the way, Mekvin is not even asking for a swimming pool in his backyard.

I suppose your immediate response would be to get the police to do a background check on this youth who would dare challenge you, ministers both. Does he ride a motorcycle without a helmet, does he even have a driving licence? Don’t forget his school record and the marks scored – here you can get the eager help of so-called university professors and lecturers.

Does he subscribe to Malaysiakini, is he a DAP member? I am sure you wish you had never opened your mouth to criticize Veveonah, you never dreamed that a simple village girl or her brother would hit back at an Orang Malaya minister and his side-kick. So tell me, Zahidi Zainul Abidin and Abdul Rahim Bakri, are you two tough guys going to take up Mekvin’s challenge?

Or is your heroic bullying restricted to young ladies?

Malaysiakini : The brother of Veveonah Mosibin has challenged the two deputy ministers who accused her of lying for publicity to visit their Pitas village to witness the backward amenities there. In a public Facebook post late last night, Mekvin Mosibin defended his sister’s move to post a YouTube video of herself climbing a tree to obtain internet connection for an online examination.

The now-viral video sparked public discussion over poor internet infrastructure in rural Sabah. Last week, Communications and Multimedia Deputy Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin claimed that she had filmed the clip to garner publicity and not for any examination. He apologised after Veveonah set the record straight. Commenting on the saga, Mekvin criticised Zahidi for targeting Veveonah and invited him to visit their village.

“Try coming into rural villages, come come. But don’t choose certain villages only, come to the whole area. Even the most rural of places.“Try experiencing how it is to surf the internet in the rural village. “And that is just the internet. We have not talked about water supply, electricity and roads yet,” he said.

'Come down to the ground, come when it rains'

Yesterday, Zahidi passed the buck to local MP Abdul Rahim Bakri and said it was the latter who had provided him with incorrect information.  The Kudat lawmaker, who is also the deputy finance minister, responded by attempting to further discredit Veveonah by sharing his sources of information. He deleted his Facebook post after netizens criticised him for using his platform to personally attack the 18-year-old.

Commenting on this, Mekvin remarked that Abdul Rahim was rarely seen in Pitas and suggested he go to the ground. “Come down to the ground, come when it rains and experience the roads here,” he said. As for the Bersatu politician’s claim that the Mosibin family did not live in the village anymore, Mekvin admitted this was true but claimed they had been “chased out” by the same local village chief who had supplied Abdul Rahim with the information.