Playful gesture sparks controversy: Kedah Chief Minister taps student’s head in viral video

MALAYSIA: A brief video featuring Metri Besar (Chief Minister) of Kedah, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, has recently gone viral on the X (formerly known as Twitter) social media platform.

The video depicts an incident where he playfully tapped a student’s head with a piece of paper.

The 18-second clip has achieved an impressive 4.6 million views as of the current date and was posted on Sunday (20 Aug).

In the clip, Sanusi engages in conversation with a group of individuals, including two female students positioned in front of him.

During their interaction, Sanusi leans in and raises his hand, playfully tapping one of the students on the head with the paper he holds.

However, the student managed to dodge the hit by stepping backwards.

Sanusi and others present in the video merely laughed in response.

Sanusi who appeared unfazed by his action, wearing a grin as he handed an envelope to the student.

Some netizens disapproval of Sanusi’s conduct

Unsurprisingly, netizens expressed disapproval of Sanusi’s conduct, criticizing him for showing disrespect and causing embarrassment to the female student.

A comment wrote, “This may look simple but she may feel offended. Was very excited to meet the MB but she got knocked on the head instead. She will remember this moment forever.”

Another user replied, “If a friend hit your friend, you will feel embarrassed, let alone when an MB does that.”

The subsequent comment has a hint of anger in her tone, using all capital letters, she wrote, “Hey, after he whacked her head, why is everyone watching laughed along? Wouldn’t the girl feel embarrassed? Why is everyone in the video does not have manners? This is too much.”

“What is their right to hit someone else’s head? Why do people even support him.”

“I heard he was only joking but I do not think he should whack her head, he can just joke verbally.”

While there are also a lot of comments defending Sanusi’s action, saying that this is how Kedah people usually ‘joke’ with each other, a commenter shared his opinions.

“I am not a PN supporter but as a Kedah person myself, this is how Kedah people who are close with each other play or joke amongst themselves.”

He added, “Normal for Kedah people, but not normal for others.”

Sanusi responded to the backlash

Defying the mounting criticism, Sanusi maintains his conviction that his actions were not out of line, and he steadfastly defends his behavior.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Sanusi explained that he playfully tapped the student’s head to reprimand her for being late.

“I lepuk (swatted) her with a piece of paper (a letter), not a piece of wood. I was just joking around with youths, that is how we kampung folk fool around.

“The student wanted to go to polytechnic the next day (Sunday) but only gave a letter asking for aid on that day (Saturday), so she got swatted,” he explained, adding that he eventually gave her RM650 to purchase what she needed.”

Watch the clip here:

Hangpa tak nak Melayu Islam lain. Hangpa nak yang rupa macam ni jugak. Sekarang hangpa hadap je la. pic.twitter.com/XBGDXvBqGa

— 𝕬𝖟𝖒𝖆𝖜𝖎 𝕬𝖟𝖎𝖟𝖆𝖓 🇲🇾 (@AzmawiAzizan) August 20, 2023