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A popular Malaysian tutor who uses TikTok to teach mathematics to his students, known as Sir Uzairi, has resigned after telling his students to call him "daddy".

Uzairi Mohd Taib was employed with an online tuition agency, MC Plus.

A widely-circulated video shows Uzairi differentiating "Abah" (which means father) and "Daddy".

https://twitter.com/BATR1SYIA/status/1468729907731578889

In the video, he said: "Daddy and abah are different. I am your 'daddy', but your 'abah 'is the father who has been with you since you were born," he said in the video.

For the uninitiated, the term "daddy" is used by younger girls to address older men that they might have a sexual interest or sexual relations.

Divided opinions

The video received a lot of backlash from netizens as they believed it could be considered as sexual grooming.

Some argued that there is no way to differentiate sexual and non-sexual terms.

Others referred to it as "creepy and disgusting".

However, some of Uzairi's students came forward in support of him.

They said that people are able to differentiate sexual and non-sexual contexts.

Uzairi supporters blamed those reading the term in a sexualised manner to have a "dirty mind."

Uzairi apologised

Following the incident, on Dec. 9, Uzairi took to his personal Twitter account to apologise for the remark that he made.

we are supposed to be educators, but it seems this time around i am the one who have something to learn.

it has been brought to my attention that the video has raised major concern amongst the public. i apologize for the disturbance caused by the video.

— Uzairi Taib (@uzairitaib) December 8, 2021

He said that what might have begun as a "casual joke" turned out to be something serious.

"As an educator, I am fully aware of the code of ethics (that) I must observe and of the best interest of all my students of whom I hold to the highest standard," Uzairi wrote. 

"From the bottom of my heart, I truly apologise for saying the wrong words," he apologised and decided to take a break and reflect on the incident. 

He added that he is tendering his resignation from MC Plus and is "fully prepared to face the consequences".

Tuition agency statement

MC Plus also took to Twitter to address the issue.

Hi everyone. Thank you for raising concern regarding one of our tutor. Our team takes the issue seriously and investigation is underway. We will be releasing official statement and taking appropriate action very soon. Rest assured, we always put the well-being of our students 1st

— mcplus_my (@mcplus_my) December 8, 2021

The online tuition agency said that an investigation is currently underway and that their team takes the issue seriously.

The agency added that they will be taking appropriate action very soon.

"Rest assured, we always put the well-being of our students 1st," they said.

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Top images via uzairitaib/Twitter