STARVING students at local universities are not focusing on their studies but on work instead to feed themselves. Some are resorting to full-time and part-time work so that they can have one good meal a day. 

Universiti Malaya student Mohd Kamal Haziq Ahmad Rumaizi, a third-year counselling student, said these problems are real. 

“This is true, many students are going through this problem,” he told The Malaysian Insight yesterday. 

He said UM had complied its own data which showed that more than 1,000 students are needy and need help with food. 

The senior, who hails from Kedah, said he faced such similar situations in the past and resorted to finding part-time work to afford a meal.

“I also get part-time work sometimes when I’m really critical with my finances. But I consider myself lucky, because I have parents who can support me.” 

Kamal said the focus needs to be on students from outstation like his friends from Kedah who study in the city. 

“I have friends who really cannot afford to eat. They are not here today because they are out working during the night.

“They have to shift their focus from studying to having a meal.” 

He said it is common to see starving students whose families are mostly living in the kampung or children of rubber tappers and fishermen.

“They (parents) can’t afford to send them money. So they are forced to work.” 

He said because UM is a campus in the city, the cost of living and room rentals can be high and that resulted in students skipping meals or not eating altogether. 

Another student Iman Iskandar, 20, said on a good day, his budget for three meals is RM15 but on average, he spends RM10 a day on food.

“The cheapest to eat is RM10 a day minus water and breakfast. Food here is RM5 and above. It’s really hard not to spend a lot, sometimes I just have one meal a day.”

The first-year geology student works part time for catering companies so he can eat. 

“Yes, I do part-time catering work so that I can afford food,” he said. 

His student loans are not enough to cover his expenses which include rent, he said. 

“I get RM3,000 per semester. I have to pay RM2,000 and above for tuition fees, the balance I use for rent for my room here and then I don’t have enough for my meals and other things throughout the semester.”

He added that although the food in the campus cafeteria is more affordable than outside, he still cannot afford it. 

The issue of starving university students was brought to the cabinet’s attention after recent reports on the matter. 

Students who fall under the B40 category are finding it hard to cope with the cost of living. 

Yesterday, the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry decided to extend its Food Bank Malaysia programme to campuses to help starving students.

The Finance Ministry and the Education Ministry will also provide support in terms of finance and logistics. 

The Finance Ministry said yesterday that it has approved a special allocation of RM3 million to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs to implement the food bank programme for the bottom 40% of household income group (B40), including students in 20 public universities.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the allocation is for 14 refrigerated lorries for logistics purposes.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the food bank programme kicked off at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia on February 26 and Universiti Malaya on March 7.

It will be extended to Universiti Putra Malaysia on March 21, Universiti Teknologi Mara Penang (March 23), Universiti Malaysia Pahang (April 1), Universiti Sains Malaysia (April 8), Universiti Utara Malaysia (April 15) and Universiti Malaysia Sabah (April 22).

Saifuddin’s ministry will supply the ingredients to students’ associations which then provide the manpower to prepare and distribute the food.

The universities are to provide the facilities for food preparation and list of qualified students. – March 19, 2019.