USM PENANG, 24 March 2020 – As a renowned research university, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has a significant international student population.

Amidst the current COVID-19 outbreak, the international student community at all USM campuses have been equally affected.

More so as they are staying far away from their loved ones and the circumstances have prevented them from returning to their home countries due to health and safety reasons.

Students’ welfare and wellbeing have always been among USM’s top priorities. The university would ensure that the international students are well-cared for during this Movement Control Order (MCO) period, alongside the local students.

The university strongly encourages the international student community to remain on campus until the end of the semester. This is to avoid any unnecessary risk of being affected by the outbreak of COVID-19, and in turn affecting their studies.

Currently, a total of 750 international students are registered in the residences at the USM Main campus.

International students who stay on campus are placed at the Bakti Fajar Permai Petas (BFPP) students’ residence (Desasiswa), while other international students have opted to stay off-campus, many of which are close by to USM.

Most of them are pursuing their postgraduate studies, and have brought along their families.

At the same time, another initiative currently implemented by the university is providing daily transportation at designated time to those who are staying on campus to go to nearby shops and convenience stores outside USM to obtain their essentials and groceries, those of which are not available in the mini marts operating on campus.

However, only one or two students (representatives) are allowed to go and they would get the groceries for the rest of the international students as during the MCO period, they need to practice social distancing, so as to reduce the rate of outbreak and flatten the ‘statistical’ curve.

Text: Nabella Ridhuan Lau/Editing: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin