Some 300 university students seeking to hand over a memorandum to the Education Minister Musa Mohamad ended up passing it to his bodyguard instead, as the minister was busy attending a meeting with representatives from a United Nations agency.

The memorandum, which called for the four percent interest rate of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation loan fund be abolished, was received by Musa's 'personal guard' at the Education Ministry gates in Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.

Universiti Malaya's Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam (PMIUM) chairperson Mohd Faisal Abdul Rahman said the students were insulted and disappointed by the minister's action.

"Musa Mohamad only sent his 'chauffeur' to receive our memorandum," said Mohd Faisal.

The students led by Mohd Faisal had gathered outside the ministry at about 10.30am hoping to hand over the memorandum to the minister.

However, they were told that the minister was busy meeting with representatives from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and that his personal guard would receive it on his behalf.

Mohd Faisal, who is also Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam SeMalaysia (Gamis) secretary-general, said the ministry was informed about the handing over of the memorandum a week earlier and had agreed to receive it on the proposed date and time.

In his speech earlier, Mohd Faisal said this is the fourth memorandum submitted on the interest rate issue over the past three months to the ministry but the students are yet to see any response.

He added that this memorandum marked 'the peak of their collective demands' and the ministry must look into the matter seriously and not ignore them.

Ministry warned

Mohd Faisal cited the case of a private university student as evidence that the study loan interest is affecting the well-being of local students.

"A private university student whom we know, had to pay approximately RM90,000 in total for the RM65,000 he received as his study loan. This is indeed a burden on the students," he said.

He warned that the students may resort to "drastic moves" if the ministry continues to procrastinate in responding to the their needs.

"If the ministry continues to behave the way it does now, we, the students will take whatever actions necessary to pressure the minister to handle our problems," said Mohd Faisal. However, he did not elaborate what actions the students will take should their demands are spurned.

After receiving the memorandum, the minister's personal guard, Supiyan Mohd Rasol said the minister will "study it" but did not specify the time frame as to when the study would be completed.

Following this, the students recited a prayer and chanted the takbir ' Allahhu Akhbar ' but were scoffed by a policeman who asked them if they thought the gathering was a political seminar.

The policeman ordered the students to leave or he would take action. The crowd dispersed at about 11.30am.

Other student leaders present at the gathering were Fuad Ikhwan of Universiti Malaya, Mahadi Suekarno of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Izwandi Idris of Universiti Sains Malaysia and Jasmine Ng of Gerakan Demokratik Belia dan Pelajar Malaysia (Dema).

Five points

The memorandum handed today was a compilation of the three previous ones, enclosed with signatures and protest letters by more than 1,000 students. It consists of five main points calling for:

1) The repeal of the four percent interest of the study loan.

2) Make the study loan scheme more flexible by taking into consideration the students' academic performance.

3) Allow students to start paying their loans a year after completing their studies instead of the present six months.

4) Ensuring the study loan scheme to be compatible with the Islamic muamalah system

5) A more efficient management for the fund.

Some 203,000 universities nationwide have received the study loan since 1987. The government allocated RM675.3 million for the fund in 1999 and increased it to RM1.3 billion for both 2000 and 2001.