Woes at Asrama 1Malaysia

Frequent blackouts and water disruption are the bane of the hostel meant to foster better racial integration in the spirit of 1Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Asrama 1Malaysia, brainchild of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, is saddled with various problems ranging from frequent blackouts to water disruption and lack of facilities.

The inconvenience faced by the students at the hostel located in Titiwangsa, here, under the purview of the Education Ministry, has forced them to move back to their homes.

Parents now want Najib to intervene and solve the problems faced by the students at the hostel.

The hostel was proposed by Najib, last year, to foster better racial integration among school students under the 1Malaysia spirit.

Speaking to FMT, a parent, who only wanted to be known as Guru, said his son was forced to continue his studies from home due to various problems at the hostel.

The hostel took in its first batch of students in August last year.

“However, since then students have suffered frequent power failures and no proper water supply,” he added.

He said his son was the third batch of students who moved into the hostel in January this year.

“We pulled him out after six months… he just could not take the problems which cropped up every now and then. We raised the issue several times with the management of the hostel but it is still yet to be rectified,” he said.

Guru said he was informed by the management that the hostel used single-phased wiring instead of three-phased wiring usually used for big buildings, which requires more power.

“I don’t know how Tenaga Nasional can be so careless and overlook the hostel… the problem has been going on for a year now but nothing has been done to rectify it,” he added.

No tuition classes

He said water supply was also a another problem because pipes used are smaller and not suitable for a hostel.

“Water supply is another major issue affecting the students. This has caused many of them to move out from the hostel. My son told me that he sometimes attended school without a bath because the water pressure was too low due to the smaller-sized pipes,” said Guru.

He also questioned why the Education Ministry did not provide tuition classes for students, although this was promised.

“During the orientation, Education Ministry officials promised that students would attend night tuition classes but until now, there are no such classes. The management had also refused to tell us why night tuition classes are not conducted.

“When I attended the hostel committee meeting during the mid-year school break, I was told by the administration that they were running low on funds to rectify problems faced by the students,” said Guru.

He claimed at present, there were only 180 students staying in the hostel although the hostel could accommodate 300 students.

“I believe most of the students preferred to stay at home rather than at the hostel because of these issues,” he added.

The Asrama 1Malaysia project is only for secondary school students who are studying at the Methodist Boys’ Secondary School, St John’s Institution and Victoria Institution. It is a pilot project in the Klang Valley. The project was expected to be extended nationwide if it is successful.