PENANG, 26 December 2013 - Increased cost of living as a result of the recent rise in petrol and sugar prices are felt by a large number of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) students especially those who rely heavily on the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) study loans.

USM Students’ Consultative Assembly (DPP) Speaker for academic session 2013/2014, Mohamad Haziq Al Amir Mohd said the issue of the rising cost of living has been raised by DPP as an emergency motion during last Saturday’s meeting.

He said DPP feared that the rising cost of living would threaten the quality of life of Malaysians especially the lower income groupandstudents.

He added, the motion was raised by Mohamad Shafiq Kamaruddin, who is also the President of USM Students Representative Council for academic year 2013/2014.

Mohammad Shafiq said he hopes that the government would review the PTPTN loan amount provided to students, in line with the rising goods prices including food and daily items.

"By demanding for the government to review the PTPTN loan does not mean that USM students support the price increases but rather it is to find a more efficient solution to solve the financial burden of students.

“For example, with loan amounting to RM3,500 per semester, on average, a student can only spend less than RM10 a day after deducting study fees and accommodation,'' he said.

He was speaking at a specially arranged press conference to put forward to the government certain national issues that had been raised by DPP that also affects the students and surrounding communities.

He said the existing amount is not sufficient to accommodate the needs of the students, thus making it difficult for them to plan their daily expenses.

Obviously, he hopes that the government would come up with an efficient savings plan while also reviewing the use of the 1Malaysia student discount card to also cover basic necessities such as food and drinks.

"A detailed study should be carried out in view that the discount given does not cover some necessities that are really critical to the students, and some could not even be accessd by a large number of students,'' he elaborated.

Meanwhile, Haziq added that DPP should also give serious attention on the issue of the Muslim faith and the spread of deviant or contradicting ideologies that can cause confusion among Muslims.

He said, DPP demands that the authorities concerned to implement a specific solution in confronting the threat against Islam, including taking measures to make the Sunnah Waljamaah as the official Islamic faith in this country.

DPP also debated the issue of the demands made by Comango (Coalition of Malaysian NGOs) that are deemed to be unfounded, while also calling on the people in this country to reject the demands made.

Among the demands made are those related to freedom of religion, human rights and others that are deemed to violate the Constitution of Malaysia. - Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe/Text: Marziana Mohamed Alias