Koon Yew Yin replies Utar: Only the students will lose out

Koon - parents will also suffer from having to pay more

(Malaysiakini) - Thousands of students at University Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) in Kampar will lose out on the advantages of living in affordable hostels within the private university campus.

This follows Koon Yew Yin's withdrawal last week of his offer to donate RM30 million to build such hostels, the philanthropist said.

Koon Yew YinKoon also claimed that thousands of parents would suffer by paying higher costs for accommodation for their children.

He said he had the right to impose conditions on how the donation he offered was to be spent.

"I want to ensure that affordable hostels are built within the university campus for the benefit of Utar students," he explained. "How do I know whether they will build the hostels (if I do not impose conditions)?"

He claimed that many students were living two to a room in Kampar and paying rentals of up to RM420, which was expensive for a small town.

He was commenting on a report in the Star yesterday quoting the Utar management as saying Koon should not set preconditions on his donation offer.

In the report, Utar had claimed that many donors to the university attached no conditions to their financial support.

The report also stated that all donations to Utar Education Foundation were handled and managed with the highest level of integrity and professionalism.

For specific kinds of donations, such as Koon's RM30 million, to which many conditions were attached, the Board of Trustees and Utar Council would require time to study the details and legal implications in order to decide in the best interest of the university.

The report also claimed that a Dec 15, 2009, letter addressed to Koon that was signed by Lau Yin Pin on behalf of the Board of Trustees and Utar Council, had made it clear that the university must retain its sovereignty and independence over its affairs and administration.

Koon laments 'Star' ignoring his statement of defence

The letter had also reportedly urged Koon to reconsider the "non-negotiable" conditions to his donation offer.

Koon rubbished the Utar statement and lamented that his media statement of defence last week was not published by Star, which is controlled by MCA.

"MCA controls the land inside and outside the (Utar) campus, so it does not want my donation. Anyway, I have withdrawn my offer of the donation, so I have nothing more to say."

The year-long tug- of- war between Koon and the Utar management over who has control of the his offer to donate RM30 million resulted in the delay in building hostels within the university campus.

According to Koon, Utar management wants to have full control over the amount donated, but he insists that he must have a say on how his money is spent.

"From the start of the negotiations, Utar insisted on having full control over the spending of my money.

"This seems so ridiculous, but I was willing to accept and inserted a clause that a task force be set up, composed of seven members, four to be nominated by Utar and three members to be nominated by myself or by my nominee," explained Koon.