GEORGE TOWN, Jan 12 — The Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) students’ affairs unit has taken the initiative to distribute food to some 100 needy students since Sunday night.
Vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Omar Osman said the food would be distributed by student volunteers to the poor students in hostels every night.
“USM has always cared about the welfare of students in need of food aid. However, we have not received complaints from students that they cannot afford to eat on the campus,” he said.
Among the initiatives taken to help poor students is the distribution of 50 packets of food each day, and 2,000 packets of “bubur lambuk” after Friday prayers each week.
Meanwhile, the Higher Education Ministry’s secretariat for deputy vice-chancellors in charge of student affairs has denied that public university students were affected by starvation.
Its chairman, Prof Datuk Adnan Hussein, denied media reports claiming that students in higher learning institutes could not afford to have proper meals.
“We have not heard any cases of starvation among students,” he said in a press statement yesterday.
Adnan said every campus in a public university had its own department to take care of the welfare of students.
“Each public university has its own mechanism to address and resolve financial issues faced by students,” he said.
“I am shocked by the reports and I can assure you that no such starvation cases occur in our public universities.”
On Saturday, a newspaper reported that students in public universities could only afford to spend RM1.50 to RM5 a day on food.
Quoting research conducted by the Muslim Volunteer Malaysia Association, the report said some 26,000 students in six public universities do not have enough money to eat.
On Sunday, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh gave an assurance students facing financial constraints would be taken care of by their universities.
“I am giving my personal assurance that no student will starve,” he said.
