Student activist Adam Adli (above) has not taken kindly to the proposal that the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) reimpose a travel ban on its loan defaulters.
Training his guns on PTPTN chairperson Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Adam accused the former of “bastardising” the student loan body and becoming too big for his britches by making decisions which contradict the stance taken by the Pakatan Harapan government in regards to PTPTN loan repayments.
Adam’s comments came despite clarification that the proposal for the reinstatement of the travel blacklist did not originate from PTPTN.
Rather, the corporation said it was merely seeking feedback on several ideas, including the ban, mooted by stakeholders during a public consultation on ways to improve its loan repayments.
“Wan Saiful is not working in accordance with Harapan’s aspirations.
“He thinks of himself as bigger than the government as he is making decisions which contradict that of the government. (He) keeps giving annoying excuses by saying he wishes to discuss (these decisions).
“He has made PTPTN the most bastardised (paling bangsat) body in the country,” Adam told Malaysiakini.
‘Failure’ to resolve PTPTN’s problems
Adam added the latest development showed that Wan Saiful had failed to resolve the problems plaguing the fund since taking over as chairperson last June.
“I do not understand the rationale for restrictions such as prohibiting international travel or how it can even become a proposal to be considered.
“Wan Saiful should be helping students settle their debts. Here, (he is) revisiting old issues about (travel) restrictions again.
“[...] how does he (Wan Saiful) evaluate his own performance?” he asked.
The travel ban reimposition proposal was brought up by PTPTN deputy CEO Mastura Mohd Khalid during a media briefing yesterday.
The ban was part of a 10-point proposal presented by stakeholders which also included proposals to bar defaulters from renewing their passports, driving licenses, road tax and business licenses; the imposition of mandatory pay deductions, stricter enforcement as well as implementing a guarantor system.
Mastura also revealed that the travel ban was PTPTN's most successful method to date to recover loans from defaulters.
‘Not a commercial bank’
Elaborating further, Adam stressed that student loans were not the same as regular commercial loans.
He said PTPTN was formed to improve the education level of citizens and not to reap profits.
He said: “Do not turn PTPTN into another financial corporation.”
It has become a tradition, he said, for students attending local universities to take up a PTPTN loan.
“Do not take advantage of borrowers who have little other options (for funding their education).”
Harapan, as part of its GE14 election manifesto, had promised to defer repayment of PTPTN loans for borrowers earning less than RM4,000 a month and also to eliminate the policy of blacklisting defaulters.
The travel ban for PTPTN loan defaulters was abolished in June last year with some 420,000 names removed from the blacklist.
However, Putrajaya has been unable to implement the RM4,000 salary threshold for borrowers to begin repayments, stating the country’s fiscal state did not allow for this.
In Budget 2019, the federal government also promised tax breaks for companies helping their employees repay PTPTN loans for the year ending 2019, while all remaining loans of borrowers aged above 60 and earning less than RM4,000 a month were written off. - FMT
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