Honest Malaysian student shares relatable MCO activities
Students in Malaysia have had it pretty tough during the Movement Control Order (MCO) as they had to adapt to learning through online classes for the past 2 months. This means that they’ve had to miss out on regular school routines, including daily hangouts with their friends and all the lighthearted mischief that usually only happened at schools.
So when schools were finally allowed to reopen in phases on 24th June 2020 – with Form 5 and 6 students returning to classes first – local media outlets flooded on the scene to capture the moment. But while SOPs and new routines have been the focus of many, a student’s brutally honest answer when asked what he had been doing to kill time during the MCO catch netizens’ attention instead.
Honest student from Shah Alam share his MCO activities
The interview was conducted by MalaysiaGazette on 24th June at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seksyen 7 in Shah Alam, and later shared on Twitter by netizen @rpiizy. It has since gone viral with over a million views and counting.
In the video clip @rpiizy posted, Form 5 student Muhd Fikri is seen being interviewed by the local news outlet. He was asked a series of questions, including how he prepped to return to school. Like most of us after our term holidays, he shared that he took a week to prep his return. He also had to look for his uniform as he had not worn it for a long time.
Image adapted from: MalaysiaGazette / @rpiizy
This led to a hilarious debate online, as netizens wondered if he found his uniform, because the name in the news channel’s video did not reflect the name tag on his uniform.
A follow-up tweet from @rpiizy, who is presumably Fikri’s friend in real life, explained that the news channel had mixed up the school names, implying that Fikri was wearing the correct uniform. So the theory that he had lost his uniform with the months-long break was quickly disproved.
Image adapted from: MalaysiaGazette / @rpiizy
But the part of the interview that is having the Internet in stitches is when Fikri answered the reporter’s question asking him what he had been doing during the MCO. He shared that for 3 months, he had just been watching Korean dramas and taking naps in his free time.
This one-liner from Fikri skyrocketed him to fame, as the Twitter post of his interview racked up over 42,000 retweets and 52,000 likes. It also prompted him to come out to tweet on his own Twitter account – @Fkriifauzi – a photo of several news reporters interviewing him, along with a caption: “It’s like I became the head prefect hahahaha”.
He also shared in another tweet that it wasn’t just Korean dramas he had been preoccupied with during the MCO, but also K-pop music videos, including the ones from popular K-pop girl group, Red Velvet.
Image credit: @Fkriifauzi
Netizens appreciate Form 5 student for his honesty
So while the lot of us have taken to dressing up our cats and mastering cooking hacks in our kitchens to keep ourselves occupied during the MCO, there seems to be even more Malaysians who have been binging Korean dramas.
A flurry of netizens also applauded his brutal honesty, with netizen @alifmegat responding in a tweet: “It’s nice to see youngsters being so honest in interviews”.
Image adapted from: @alifmegat
Another netizen @keyleyza praised his adherence to the MCO rules, as there were many people who made headlines as they flouted the MCO rules to go out and eat nasi lemak and take photos of a viral pond in Melaka. She tweeted: “This is how you adhere to the MCO. K-dramas and naps.”
Image adapted from: @keyleyza
As Fikri had also mentioned that his internet was slow, which led to him having struggles with online classes, some wondered how he was able to watch Korean dramas. @irsyadjaafri jokingly wondered aloud: “The internet is slow when studying. But when watching Korean dramas his [internet] speed is different? Hahahaha.”
Image adapted from: @irsyadjaafri
Local TV also joins in on the fun with school re-openings
The fun didn’t stop with MalaysiaGazette’s decision to run Fikri’s hilarious interview.
Malaysia’s local broadcaster, RTM, also decided to lighten things up by having their employees dress up in school uniforms – with backpacks and water bottles to boot – to come to work on that day.
Image adapted from: Azam Hussain
In a further show of support for our students returning to school, a daily news run-up on RTM also showed several of their female news announcer outfitted in their uniform baju kurung as they went about their broadcast as usual too.
Image credit: Nor Yahati Awang
Malaysians have fun with honest student during the MCO
No doubt, it can be a challenge to return to schools after staying home for over 3 months. But we’re glad that everyone seems to be having fun on the first day of school reopening – our local broadcasting stations included. And thanks to Fikri’s brutally honest answer on what he’s been up to during the MCO, we’re having some much-needed laughter too.
Read more news in Malaysia here:
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- Cinemas to reopen, banning kids under 12
- Daughter shares touching letters her dad sent in the 80s
- Durian stall in PJ is looking for “Durian Knife Master” with a catch
Cover image adapted from: MalaysiaGazette / @rpiizy