KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Another case of a teacher training candidate being turned away because of her weight has surfaced.

An irate mother, Hamidah Nordin, said her daughter's experience was similar to that of Joanna Gilbert Asson, who claimed that she was rejected by a teacher training college because she was too fat.

She said after reading Joanna's story in the newspaper, she decided to come forward so that the relevant authorities could take action to prevent such incidents.

"My daughter was called for an interview for a teachers' training course in May last year. The interviewer asked my daughter whether she knows that she's obese.

"The experience devastated my daughter. She then blamed me for making her go for the interview as she felt humiliated," said Hamidah, who contacted the New Sunday Times yesterday.

Hamidah said her 19-year-old daughter felt "really down" after the incident.

"I tried to get an explanation from the authorities but was not successful."

Her daughter's self-esteem, she added, hit an all-time low.

"My daughter is overweight but making such an uncalled-for remark is unacceptable," she said, add-ing that her daughter was now pursuing a course in banking at Universiti Teknologi Mara.

On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the education minister, was reported as saying that the ministry had never discriminated against trainee teachers based on their appearance.

Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom had also clarified that Joanna withdrew from the postgraduate course for teachers due to loss of interest in the profession.