PM: COMPLAIN VIA RIGHT CHANNELS
‘Tertiary students should place integrity, rationality, courtesy and morality in same order of priority’
STUDENTS of higher learning institutions should use proper channels to lodge their complaints. Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the government had given them the space and freedom to do so, so they should be responsible and reciprocate the goodwill.
Speaking during the National Education Advisory Council online meeting here yesterday, he said students should place integrity, rationality, courtesy and morality in the same order of priority.
“All decisions also need to be separated from emotions. They can’t be hasty or triggered by instigation (from others) to ensure that their good name as a graduate is not misused.”
He said the online session was significant in dispelling allegations that students from higher learning institutions were hotblooded and rash.
He said based on the smooth running of the event, the platform had proven to be a good avenue to build character and shape student leaders who make mature decisions.
“I hope that this meeting, like those of the past, will continue in the tradition of presenting the hopes of students and society as a whole.
“Make good use of this platform to discuss matters with maturity and good ethics.”
Muhyiddin, who chaired the meeting, said the government was raising the position of students through the council.
He said in his first meeting with representatives from the council on June 30 last year, 11 agendas on student welfare and empowerment were raised.
He commended students and their educators for adapting to online learning smoothly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the Higher Education Ministry had given a one-off cash aid of RM50 to 75,153 first year students in the 2020/2021 session, totalling RM3.8 million.
Other aid include data plans for 320,000 students in the Bottom 40 group (B40) totalling RM24 million, as well as a targeted broadband assistance for 8,965 B40 students through a RM13 million allocation.
Muhyiddin said a significant number of students from higher learning institutions will get vaccinated under Phase Three of the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme that will begin in May.
A total of 13.7 million people aged 18 and above are slated to get inoculated under the phase.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin was given the all-clear for Covid-19 after a screening on the fifth day of the home surveillance order (HSO).
Muhyiddin, who shared this on his Facebook page, is undergoing a HSO for seven days after returning from an official visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from March 6 to March 11.
“Alhamdulillah, today (yesterday), on the sixth day of the quarantine, I received my screening test and was confirmed negative (for Covid-19).
“My delegation and I arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Abu Dhabi on March 11 at 9.34pm. We were placed under HSO for seven days and got quarantine wristbands.
“Throughout the six-day official visit to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, my delegation and I underwent five Covid-19 tests to ensure that any risk of infection among us was constantly monitored.”
From March 6 to 9, Muhyiddin visited Saudi Arabia at the invitation of King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
He and his wife, Puan Sri Noorainee Abdul Rahman, performed the umrah in Makkah and visited Madinah, the two Islamic holy cities, before attending an official programme at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on March 9.
Before leaving for Riyadh, Muhyiddin had announced that Malaysia would receive an additional 10,000 for the haj quota, which will be implemented after Covid-19 is brought under control and haj operations can resume.
The matter was agreed to by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a meeting at AlYamamah Palace.
In the UAE, Muhyiddin met Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also the UAE’s deputy supreme commander. He also met UAE prime minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum at the Zabel Palace in Dubai.