KUALA LUMPUR – The Defence Ministry’s (Mindef) recently deleted Twitter poll has failed to whip up patriotism among Malaysians but only managed to elicit bemusement and amusement among netizens.
The post, which could be an effort to raise patriotic sentiments ahead of Merdeka next month had read: “Sebagai rakyat Malaysia, apa anda perlu buat untuk mempertahankan keselamatan negara? Ya atau tidak.” (As a Malaysian, what are you willing to do to defend your country’s security? Yes or no?)
While the question and answer set above might seem like a gag question posted for entertainment purposes, due to its muddled nature, it was in fact a legitimate query from Malaysia’s very own Defence Ministry.
The apparent blunder, posted on the ministry’s official Twitter account today, had caused much confusion among users of the platform who were quick to point out that the yes or no options listed in the poll did not tally with the question posed.
Seemingly unable to take the heat of the backlash received, the post has since been deleted, amassing upwards of 2,000 votes with 74.8% voting “No” while the rest opted to go with “Yes” before it was taken down.
Many users had responded to the tweet with reaction images depicting perplexity and puzzlement, while others poked fun at the account’s admin for the bewildering post.
https://t.co/aRHONjTPbF pic.twitter.com/el15auPoEA
— sarah.psd ? (@raraleong) July 17, 2022
“Is this a sabotage of the ministry’s Twitter account because they (admin) had to post on a weekend?” user @whyunzam alleged.
Sabotaj twitter kementerian sebab kena tweet time weekend ke? https://t.co/HBuRz7rL5W
— BruceWahyu (@whyunzam) July 17, 2022
“The question has nothing to do with the answer options listed. Who is the admin for this account? Failed!” Twitter user @AweenZhr lambasted, similar to user @hisyamghazali91, who questioned whether the ministry was familiar with the platform’s poll feature.
Apoooo soalan tak ada kena mengena dengan undian. Sapa admin acc twit ni? Failed !! https://t.co/AMls0pWFxi
— migalotopotito (@AweenZhr) July 17, 2022
Another user, @ibrahimjunaidii, joked that the post makes no sense, saying: “It’s like someone asking you where you want to eat but then you answer yes or no.”
Dia macam, orang tanya nak makan mana pastu kau jawab ya atau tak ? https://t.co/cg964UnERm
— jake lockley ??♂️ (@ibrahimjunaidii) July 17, 2022
An evidently exasperated user by the name of @a1syfea simply asked the ministry to not bother with reaching out to the public if it was going to post something that had no tangible benefit.
“No need to ask (the people) next time,” she said.
tak payah tanya lah lain kali eh https://t.co/JwMFDnCi2M
— cha! (@a1syfea) July 17, 2022
User @EncikSood hit back at the posting by making up a poll of his own, with the caption: “Does the ministry’s Twitter not know how to do a voting question and has caused netizens to be confused on how to answer?”
Adakah Twitter MINDEF tak pandai buat soalan undian sampai nurtizen pun pening kepala nak jawab apa?
— Composting Matter (@EncikSood) July 17, 2022
His poll has since received 1,274 votes, with a whopping 95.4% voting in the affirmative. – The Vibes, July 17, 2022
