Kit Siang slams Idris Jusoh for being elitist, patronising

Higher Education minister doing a disservice to students by denying problem of undergrads going hungry from lack of funds and high cost of living, says DAP supremo.

PETALING JAYA: Idris Jusoh is not providing any leadership or helping university students by denying that many are going hungry due to a severe lack of funds and the high cost of living.

In a statement, Lim Kit Siang said the Higher Education Minister should heed the calls by student leaders and organisations for public university administrators to stop making assumptions about the “hungry students” controversy “from the comfort of their air-conditioned offices.”

Public university administrators, he explained, should cut down on bureaucracy and help the students so that they do not have to turn to soup kitchens for sustenance.

“Idris should stop being elitist and patronising but get down to resolve the problem of students cutting down on meals because of economic exigencies.”The DAP supremo lauded an initiative by a group of NGOs – Gabungan Kami Sayang Mahasiswa (Kasih) – to help feed less fortunate university students.

It is in such areas, the Gelang Patah lawmaker said, that Idris should devote energy and time, instead of “orchestrating declarations by university deputy vice chancellors that their students were not starving”.

A local daily recently reported that students in public universities could only afford to spend between RM1.50 and RM5 a day on food, and that some 26,000 students in six public universities did not have enough money to even grab a simple meal.

Idris has since given his assurance that no student would starve under his watch.