KUCHING, April 7 — Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen disbursed an allocation of RM60,000 to 40 undergraduates under the Tertiary Education Assistance Fund, a programme undertaken by Stampin Service Centre.
He said the programme, now in its second year, marks the first time Masters and PhD students are also welcomed to apply so long as they meet the criteria.
“This is one of our annual year-round programmes for Stampin where we allocate a portion from the government’s constituency allocation for tertiary education.
“Whether you are studying for your diploma, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s or PhD, we will provide an assistance of RM1,500 to each eligible student,” he said after presenting cheques to the recipients at DAP Sarawak headquarters here today.
He said to be eligible for this programme, one of the criteria is that the combined monthly income of parents of the students must be less than RM7,000.
“It’s a heavy financial burden on parents to support their children’s tertiary education especially with cost of living now very high.
“For me and Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, we decided to place our emphasis on helping students to study because we believe in education as one of the most important agendas, and that is why we want to help alleviate the financial burden of parents,” he said.
Chong, who is DAP Sarawak chairman and also Padungan assemblyman, said he will continue to run the Tertiary Education Assistance Fund programme every academic year.
“Last year, we received 450 applications for the fund. We feel that it’s a very meaningful programme and that is why we’ve decided to continue providing the allocation this year.
“So long as the students are still studying and their parents’ joint income is lower than RM7,000, then they will be eligible and are free to reapply the following year as well,” he said.
Also present were Chong’s special assistant Michael Kong, and assistants Sim Kiat Leng and Soo Tien Ren. — The Borneo Post
