THE Universiti Malaya Students’ Union (UMSU) has questioned the university management’s indifference in ensuring that the students’ welfare is taken care of in light of a recent fire that broke out in a residential college.

UMSU said the management was guilty of not paying quick attention to complaints regarding a faulty fan in a student’s room in the residential college.

The union’s complaint was over a fire that broke out in the room, caused by the malfunctioning fan.

“The union would like to emphasise that this incident could have been prevented had the UM management not been lackadaisical after receiving complaints on the matter.

“The students had previously reported twice via the UM HelpDesk that the fan seemed faulty.

“The lackadaisical attitude and failure of the UM management to attend to the matter ultimately led to the fire,” the union said in a statement.

It is learnt that reports on the faulty fan were made on March 23 and May 8. The fan caught fire on May 12.

The union added that the fire could have turned deadly if the students had not been in the room to alert the Fire Department.

“If that was not worse enough, the UM management continued to show great unprofessionalism thereafter – they replaced the burnt fan with a new one, without ascertaining the cause of the fire,” said UMSU.

It added that the university management did not investigate to determine whether the wires in the room were defective.

It also said students have also complained that a burning smell had been detected occasionally coming from the newly replaced fan.

“The current facilities in the residential colleges are old, pose risks and sometimes not functioning, but the UM management has not replaced them in a timely manner.

“We strongly demand the UM management take student welfare and safety issues seriously, and someone must step down to take responsibility for the negligence caused.” – May 15, 2022.