Public contempt for MARA loan defaulter apparent: “Want to do PhD but no brains to repay loan”

 

AH LONGS (loan sharks) have a number of strong-arm tactics to recover unpaid debts. These range from verbal threats to splashing the loanee’s abode with red paint and stern written warnings on the walls to demand swift pay up.

However, no such recourse is available to Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) that provide loans to Bumiputera candidates to further their academic journeys.

One such individual is Siti Norbaya Ahmad Nor from Sungai Petani, Kedah – who along with her three guarantors – have been ordered by the courts to re-pay her study loan amounting to RM857,000 to MARA for failure to complete her post-graduate thesis at Cambridge University, UK within the stipulated period.

This act of non-compliance was shared on X by entrepreneur and opposition-slant content creator Roman Akramovic (@Syed Akramin) who pointed out that having borrowed almost RM1 mil for the purposes of furthering her studies, she is duty-bound to pay it back especially when terms of the agreement had been broken.

“This is not (Datuk Dr) Asyraf Wajdi’s (MARA chairman) money, not MARA’s money, not the government’s money. The money belongs to the rakyat” the poster angrily declared.

“If you borrow but have no intention of repaying, you are stealing another person’s right to further their studies.”

This post on perceived daylight robbery has generated 277.2K views at time writing with many netizens pouring scorn on the defaulting PhD student.

“Is she brainless?” That seemed to be the query about the lady who has ambitions to complete her thesis but not the grey matter to understand that loans need to be repaid.

One commenter questioned how a PhD student at a venerated institution such as Cambridge University would need a study loan, surmising that such students usually fall into two categories.

The academic high achievers who are blue-chip scholarship holders (from Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Bank Negara Malaysia) or those from the very upper crust society, ie the T10 category of the super-rich.

The insinuation is that the former should be covered by the scholarships while the latter should be able to repay the study loan.

Non-compliance of loan agreement is a definite no-no regardless of whether the Oxbridge candidate managed to complete her studies. That is her basic responsibility, argued this obviously unimpressed commenter.

It was also opined that a ceiling be placed on the maximum loan that a person can apply for. The amount owing could well have paid for many others to further their studies locally or at less prestigious (and expensive) institutions.

Perhaps it would have been a better idea for this post-graduate student to have enrolled in UiTM instead of Cambridge University. Not only would it have been cheaper, perhaps the academic process would be less rigorous, too.

The opprobrium was constant as one commenter likened this lady to those who default on their PTPTN (National Higher Education Fund Corporation) loans.

“Such individuals are preventing other Malaysians from pursuing tertiary education,” argued this non-plussed citizen.

Less-than-flattering terms such as “stupid” and “selfish” were used to describe this academic who is perceived to have taken MARA and the rakyat for a ride.

“Why use public funds to study in such a blue-chip institution? She should be jailed,” suggested some irate commenters.

MARA may not be able to use the Ah Long’s strong-arm tactics to collect debts but it does appear it has a very powerful weapon on its side – netizens’ collective opprobrium.

Those who take MARA loans, be forewarned. Your credibility, reputation and good name could very well be tarnished online if you decide to be a defaulter. –  Focus Malaysia