UNIVERSITI Teknologi MARA (UiTM) seems to attract all the wrong headlines in recent times.
Most recently, it was on the receiving end of a backlash after a group of students were filmed parading around its Dengkil matriculation campus in full Ku Klux Klan (KKK) garb (KKK).
Incredibly, UiTM authorities sought to defend these students by claiming that it was a “social experiment” which was part of a legal course assignment.
Now, it has emerged that whistleblowers who exposed the “KKK cosplay scandal” have been “detained” and prevented from leaving the campus.
This disconcerting development of the “university management” having resorted into taking this drastic action was reported by news site Fajar Baru MY (@fajarbarumy) which attributed the latest information to “trustworthy student sources”.
[BREAKING] UiTM Whistleblowers Barred from Leaving Campus
DENGKIL, Malaysia – Anonymous sources confirmed to Fajar Baru that the whistleblower behind the KKK cosplay scandal and their friends are currently being barred from leaving the UiTM campus by university management. pic.twitter.com/Jf7eTt6FOY
— Fajar Baru MY (@fajarbarumy) April 16, 2025
The post went on to state there has been no formal statement from UiTM as yet on this detention.
It has already gone viral, stacking up 705K views at the time of writing with many netizens expressing concern, dismay and even disgust at the latest developments.
Some simply did not mince their words when expressing what they thought of UiTM which has garnered a reputation – rightly or wrongly – as a racist institution.
Quite a few questioned the legality of this “detention” which is tantamount to “kidnapping”. Just what right did the UiTM management has to bar freedom of movement among its student populace, they wondered?
The fact that those who uploaded the video are being made the scapegoats is typical of Malaysian universities, claimed one commenter.
One netizen quite rightly pointed out that this so-called social experiment was tone deaf and completely out-of-sync with the times.
Just because there isn’t a black community in Malaysia doesn’t make it acceptable. What if Black American students decided to cosplay as Japanese soldiers rampaging through Malaya, he pointedly asked.
Another asked just what did the students learn from wearing the KKK garb? Could it not be taught in a classroom instead of a parade that seemed calculated to cause offense? He further invited lawyers to come forward to defend those “whistle blowers”.
Amazingly, one netizen sought to defend the entire episode, claiming as an assignment, the matter should have been kept behind closed doors.
He even urged the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to take action against those who first posted the video online, perhaps not realising the idiocy of his suggestion.
Few pertinent issues that need to be highlighted.
Firstly, if this allegation of detention is true, the students can most certainly take action for false imprisonment. It doesn’t need a legal expert but this is most definitely NOT within the remit of the university authorities.
Secondly, this so-called social experiment of an assignment is completely unacceptable. Similar to a student’s Nazi Salute during a Universiti Malaysia Sabah convocation ceremony in 2019, some things are just not acceptable.
That incident drew flak from the German embassy. Wonder if the US Embassy will similarly comment on this incident?
Last but not least, the reputation of UiTM continues to take a bashing. Even students (and staff) not connected to this episode will be tarred with the same brush.
One netizen breathed a sigh of relief when he proclaimed that he is lucky not to be UiTM alumni as the KKK saga “is getting out of hand”. – April 17, 2025
