KUALA LUMPUR, August 15 — Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh reminded university students today to focus on their studies instead of street rallies.
“If they are so obsessed with going to the streets then they will forget their studies. Focus on studying. I mean once in a while you can participate in this forum, you can take part but focus on studies,” he said at a press conference here.
He was referring to the #TangkapMalaysianOfficial1 street rally which is scheduled for August 27 and is organised by a coalition of students from local universities.
At the same time, Idris said public funds are used to finance the studies of these students so they should not lose focus.
“Number one, especially if you are in public universities, government spends RM18,000 a year on average for you to go and study. And you pay only RM 2,000 a year. I mean there’s a gap of RM16,000 of public funds, you know.
“After university you do whatever you want to do, but get your degree first. Graduate on time… don’t waste your time. Focus on your studies, that’s my advice,” he added, referring to Putrajaya’s almost 90 per cent tuition fee subsidy per student, per semester, annually.
He also pointed out an incident in October 2014 where hundreds of students charged and forcefully opened Universiti Malaya’s (UM) main entrance gate so now-jailed Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim could attend the “40 Years: From University of Malaya to Jail” event on campus grounds, where Anwar was to be the main speaker.
Idris said the incident made the university students look like an unruly bunch. “You see what happened in UM? You rammed the gates. Is that good? I want to ask you a question: is it good? No good. So you should know. I mean, I will say I want to give you freedom but you must know how to behave yourselves,” he added.
Idris had earlier officiated the three-day “Engineering, Science, Technology and Humanities: Convergence for a Sustainable Future” (ESTCON) programme here.
