POLICE stopped some 80 university students in front of the Sogo shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur from marching towards Dataran Merdeka to protest the rising cost of living.

The students gathered at the entrance of the mall at 2pm to protest what they view as the government’s inability to handle the crisis and, as they were about to walk to Dataran Merdeka, the police blocked their path along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

After a stand-off and a brief negotiation, the police allowed the students to protest in front of the mall.  

The group’s five demands to the government are: ministerial pay cuts, continuation of subsidies, improved aid packages to the people, control prices of goods, and address food security.

Student leader Amir Abd Hadi in his speech urged the government to start by cutting the salaries of all ministers in the cabinet.

“We also want the price of goods to go down. The people are suffering with high cost of living,” Amir said.

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) student union president Aliff Naif said that their demands are for all Malaysians, not just students.

“We will not stop protesting until all our five demands are met, in particular bringing down the price of goods and cutting ministers’ salaries.

“We are disappointed and the rakyat is suffering. Students from my campus had to cut down on their meals because they don’t have enough food.

“The ministers all are having a good time with high salaries, but the people’s wages are 12 times lower than those of ministers,” Aliff said.

On July 21, the group said that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced the jihad against inflation special task force but critics say they have failed to address the problem.

“Apart from visiting the morning market and grocery stores, all members of this team who are also cabinet members do not have new, effective ideas to control the increase in prices of goods and channel aid to the people.

“The prime minister’s announcement to increase aid to Malaysians by between RM50 and RM100 does not uphold the dignity of Malaysians who are skipping meals to ensure their children don’t go hungry,” they said.

The statement added that, at a time when the people are being pressured with low salaries and rising prices of goods, a minister still receives a salary of between RM64,000 and RM90,000 a month.

“This shows that most politicians are out of touch with reality. We have no choice but to protest once again,” the group said. – July 23, 2022.