University students happy, grateful to safely arrive home

CORONAVIRUS | Happy, relieved, grateful. These are the emotions of university students from the central zone who arrived in Penang early this morning after they were allowed to return home. 

They also expressed their thanks to all the parties concerned especially the government, the Higher Education Ministry, the police, the Fire and Rescue Department and other bodies which helped in sending them back to their hometowns after they were stranded on campus due to the movement control order (MCO).

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) student Mohd Alif Fitri Mohd Sultan, 21, said he was relieved when the bus arrived at the Timur Laut District Police Headquarters, and he was thankful that he finally got to be with his family.

"Alhamdulillah, we have arrived safely, there are no words to describe how happy and relieved we are at being able to go home after more than a month on campus. I could not sleep during the journey back and I kept praying that we would arrive quickly... I miss my family, the last time I came home was in February.

“We are grateful to the government for its concern for the students who were stranded and who arranged for us to go home. All parties involved did a good job,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia student Ibrahim Abdullah Md Harashid, 22, said he had been waiting for a long time to go home but could not do so due to the MCO.

He said he had not seen his family for three months and was thrilled to be home as he could now fast and spend Hari Raya Aidilfitri with his family in Batu Uban.

His father, Md Harashid Harun, said the family missed Ibrahim as they had not seen him for some time when previously, he would return home every two months.

He added that during the MCO, the family would call Ibrahim every day to find out the developments in the university.

Meanwhile, Bukit Aman Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department director Zainal Abidin Kasim who accompanied the bus which brought the students back from Kuala Lumpur to Penang said the journey was smooth and all the students are now safe with their families.

“We (police) will speed up and improve as the process of bringing back the students will be until May 10. We expect there will be more students on April 29,” he said.

Earlier, Penang Police Chief Sahabudin Abd Manan said 201 students from the central zone were allowed to return to their homes in Penang early this morning, with five drop-off points at the IPD, district offices and polytechnic.

He said 59 students arrived at the Seberang Perai Utara District Office, Seberang Perai Tengah District Office (46), IPD Timur Laut (40), Politeknik Balik Pulau (33) and Seberang Perai Selatan IPD (23).

- Bernama