Rising cost of living in Malaysia leaves

university students hungry

Due to increasing costs of living, more Malaysians are offering suspended meals, where people can pay for
food to be given to those in need.

by Asian Correspondent Staff -15th January 2016

By Genna Ash
A SURVEY of 25,632 students from six public universities in Malaysia has
revealed that more than half are left unable to afford a single meal a day
due to the rising cost of living.

The recently-published survey, conducted by the Muslim Volunteer

Malaysia Association, found that more than 50 percent of respondents
cannot afford to spend MYR5, the equivalent of US$1.14, a day on food.
Approximately 44 percent reported that they only eat rice with egg, while a
further 41 percent claimed all they can afford to buy are packets of instant
noodles.
The Star reported that in many cases, students can only spare MYR1.50, or
34 US cents, a day on food, meaning many are forced to skip meals and are
left feeling unwell. University-run organisations have announced that
students are even fainting because they are so hungry when they come to
class.
Follow
Farouk A Peru @farouk_a_peru
It was reported last week that there were starving university students in Malaysia. Is the
government doing all... hfb.me/7y5rlR4jW
11:58 PM - 12 Jan 2016t R
t e
p t
The issue has received
increasing attention from both the public and the
: w
media since Harian/ Metro,
a Malay daily, disclosed that a psychology
e
/ e
student from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia had been admitted to the
t
hospital after suffering
s from ruptured intestines caused by malnutrition. The

student blamed her bad health on only having MYR30, or US$6.83 a week,
to spend on food.
Many student bodies are implementing programmes to help feed students
who simply cant fork out the cost of three meals a day.
Most of these projects are drawn from the suspended meal concept,
which allows financially sound students to pay for extra food in advance;

these supplies are then dispensed among students who are in need.
Follow
Afiqah Zulkifli @AfiqahZlkf
Well it's predictable. I still remember how he slammed last tenure for initiating Suspended
Meal. htwitter.com/Qalam_Thanawi/s
t - 6 Jan 2016
t
5:00 AM
t
a
p
t
One example
of this is the Project
Suspended Meals 2.0, managed by the
s
u
: council at the International
s
student
Islamic University Malaysia. This
/
/
programme
permits customers
/
6 to buy coupons worth MYR2 or MYR4 (46 US
8
cents and 91 US cents, respectively);
the vouchers are then left for hungry
4
5 they need them.
students to claim as and when
8
2
8 reported that Kuala Nerus MP, Dr Mohd
On Wednesday, The Malay Mail
6
Khairuddin Aman Razali, had8 suggested that the government create a fund
7
to help students cope with the
9 rising cost of living by providing them with a
4
monthly allowance.
7
8
9
The lawmaker requested that
every student be given grants of MYR100 a
8
8 loans or scholarship funding the student is
month, on top of any existing
8

receiving.

Follow
Zurairi AR @zurairi
PAS man suggests RM100 monthly aid for starving students buff.ly/1RC38z0
#mahasiswalapar
12:37 AM - 13 Jan 2016
l
i
k
With
that value, the amount needed by the government is only MYR367.8
e
million
a year in fact this value would be less if its only set aside for
s

students at the undergraduate or diploma level, said Razali.

This amount isnt too big if compared to all sorts of ineffective expenditure
and wastages by the federal government which can be seen through the
Attorney-Generals audit report.
If they are willing to sponsor millions of Ringgit for programmes in the form
of entertainment, culture and sports, then I am confident and I believe that

there will be those willing to give sponsorship to the students that are the
countrys most important assets in order to achieve bigger rewards
alongside Allah s.w.t, he went on.
The minister then emphasised that these poor and needy students were the
future leaders of the country, and they should be encouraged and
supported through their entire education.
Other government officials caused an uproar by claiming that reports of
students struggling to buy food were sensationalised and do not accurately
reflect their current financial status. Khairy Jamaluddin, Malaysias current
youth and sports minister, compared the issue to the regions growing
problem with homelessness, claiming that it was unlikely that students
were starving if even the homeless could get food through various
organisations.

Follow
Simon Thong @weehingthong

If no starving students, why does USM feed 100 students daily? hln.is/wordpress.com/P

t
c
9:23 PM - 11 Jan 2016
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View
on
web
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f
Why
are
undergraduates in Malaysia
Simon
Thong
:
1
starving?
/
--- 12 January 2016 ... Higher Education Ministrys secretariat for deputy
/
vice-chancellors in charge of student affairs says SOMEONE IS LYING
OR EXAGGERATING. There are no...

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This article was originally published on StudyInternational.com.
Main
e
image via Donate for Ummah.
s
Posted by Thavam