NAME

CELINE WOON SUE LIN

DURGA DARSNI A/P
BALAGURU
YONG XIN JIE
AARON RIANG ANAK
NIXON GIRANG
SUBJECT

MATRIC NUMBER
E20151012118
E20151012103
E20151012104
E20151012108

: ENGLISH PROFICIENCY 2
(BIU 2022)

GROUP

:O

TITLE

: SCRIPT FOR FORUM DISCUSSION

LECTURER

: MISS NURHAFZA BINTI

MOHAMAD MUSTAFA

SUBMISSION DATE

: 19th FEBRUARY 2016

Moderator

: Celine Woon Sue Lin

(E20151012118)

Panels

: Aaron Riang Anak Nixon Girang

(E20151012108)

Topic

Yong Xin Jie

(E20151012104)

Durga Darsni A/P Balaguru

(E20151012103)

: Starving University Students in Malaysia

Estimated duration : 8 minutes

Objectives

: To understand the issue faced by students and to obtain a proper solution

to combat this problem.

SCRIPT
Chairperson (Celine Woon)

Hello, good morning to our lecturer, Miss

Nurhafza and all my fellow classmates.
With me, Celine Woon as your chairperson,
today.
Recently, we have heard news of university
students in Malaysia who are forced to
starve from a few days to even several
weeks! This problem has not only been
bugging the Ministry but also the society
too. We need to view this matter in the
biggest scope in order to overcome it.
A survey of 25,632 students from six public
universities in Malaysia has revealed that
more than half are left unable to afford a
single meal a day due to the rising cost of
living. The survey, conducted by
the Muslim Volunteer Malaysia Association
found that more than 50 percent of
respondents cannot afford to spend MYR5,
the equivalent of US$1.14, a day on food.
Approximately 44 percent reported that they
only eat rice with egg, while a further 41
percent claimed all they can afford to buy
are packets of instant noodles.
Before we go further, let me introduce to all
of you about our panels who are consisting
of the most knowledgeable and experienced
person to discuss about this topic.
(Introduces panels one by one)

Panel 1 (Durga Darsni)

Chairperson (Celine Woon)

Panel 2 (Aaron Riang)

Without further ado, lets begin our

discussion. Here is my first question to
Durga Darsni (Panel 1). What do you think
of this issue? Is it a major matter?
There may be a number of reasons for the
hearty of the cause but, frankly, nobody is
taking the blame and nobody is likely to.
But theres another reason why the
university does really need to listen up to
this worrying news, even if it is difficult to
talk about. The fact that nobody knows
exactly how many students have not been
advised to visit food banks is worrying. The
fact that the university has failed to provide
a comment on the situation, despite
knowing they have referred students to the
banks, is a frightening issue.
Students are regularly blamed and accused
of miscalculating their budgets, or drinking
and sleeping too much.
But obviously there is an acceptance that we
are clever human beings who made it into
higher education in the first place, so why is
there still a taboo on the matter? The actual
taboo involves blaming universities.
Students are starting out at university
without the proper guidance and are not
equipped with the correct information of
who to go to when in need. Students are
facing genuine financial hardship without
the absolute essentials.
Of course, many will argue that this is in no
way the universitys job. And they are
wrong. Being an educational institution, and
not a profit-making one, it is paramount it
adheres to certain principles. One of those
principles is to make the students life
feasible. It is no less than its responsibility
to make the meeting of ones basic needs
affordable.
(Thanks Panel 1). Now, lets hear on what
Mr. Aaron Riang (Panel 2) has to say about
this. Do you think it is a major issue?
I find this issue to be false in the sense the
students are not starving, more likely to be

Chairperson (Celine Woon)

Panel 3 (Yong Xin Jie)

Chairperson (Celine Woon)

Panel 1 (Durga Darsni)

penniless.
(Thanks Panel 2) We have listened those
intricative thoughts from both Miss Durga
Darsni and Mr Aaron Riang. I believed most
of us here are wondering why this issue
happens, especially in Malaysia which is a
developed country? Our lives are
inseparable from food, hence how is it
possible for our citizens to be starving?
Miss Yong (Panel 3), please enlighten us
with this question.
The reason why students are forced to skip
meals and starve is because their parents do
not earn enough to feed their family
members and pay for education at the same
time. Not only that, because of the course
works and extra-curricular activates that
students are to take, some of them just did
not have the time to enjoy their meals.
(Thanks to Panel 3)
What about you, Miss Durga? Do you have
any other points to add on? I believe you
have something more to share with us.
1. Bad spending habits
University students may be spending
unnecessarily without proper financial
planning, thus leaving them with little to no
savings to the point where they cannot even
afford to fork out some money to eat.
Even if the students have relatively low
income, they would rely on scholarship and
student loans such as PTPTN to fund their
travelling activities, according to a study on
young Malaysians.
"This includes seamless online purchasing,
which encourages the buy-now-pay-later
behaviour amongst this generation of
consumers. Reliance on credit cards for
online purchasing has further encouraged
this behavioural trait," the report, targeted at
banking, financial and learning institutions,
said.
2. Low financial literacy

It is possible that Malaysian students, both

in public and private universities, have low
financial literacy. As a result, they are not
able to make good decisions when it comes
to managing their own finances, which may
lead to them not having enough money
because they overspent and have no savings.
Financial literacy clearly had the most
positive influence for financial management
because it had the desired effects for both
savings and financial problems. Financial
literacy may also have an indirect effect on
financial problems because it is associated
with more savings while savings decreases
financial problems.
3. Malaysia's strained economy
The cost of living has risen dramatically due
to GST and consumers are reeling under the
weight of the additional financial burden.
Students would usually rely on their parents
for financial support. With the rising
inflation and also depreciating currency,
students whose parents are with limited
income will be tried if they do not spend
their money wisely.

Chairperson (Celine Woon)

Panel 2 (Aaron Riang)

(Thanks Panel 3)
Now, we have learnt that the reasons which
lead to our country having starving
university students. After listening to their
explanations, we can inferred that this
matter happens not only because of the
countrys economic but also because of the
students themselves.
According to Newtons Third Law, For
every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction. Hence, Mr. Aaron can you share
with us about the impacts of this issue to
both students and the country?
When students neglect their own health,
especially starving themselves, they would
not be able to concentrate in class and, in
certain cases, a student might pass out

during a lesson.
On starvation mode, the body feeds itself
with what is inside it. By cutting off too
many much needed calories, students will
undoubtedly cut a major staple of their diet,
which leads to malnutrition. If a student
starves him or herself, normal activities will
be difficult for them to complete as their
metabolism rate decreases due to the lack of
nutrition, and this makes them put less
effort in everything they do. If this issue
continues, students might have an eating
disorder or anorexia and if it gets any more
serious than that, death will occur.
As we know, university students are the
future leaders of the country and they will
be the one to shape the countrys future. But
if many of our young bright minds are
forced to live in a very unhealthy manner,
this may caused the country to be consisted
of a generation of unhealthy citizens and
leaders. Besides, this issue will also give
Malaysia a bad image to other countries as
Malaysia is a rapidly developing country
and yet we have issues which are normally
faced by poorer countries.
Chairperson (Celine Woon)

Panel 3 (Yong Xin Jie)

(Thanks Panel 2)
Indeed, Mr. Aarons explanations are very
thought provoking. Health is wealth. Having
leaders and citizens who are physically and
mentally weak will indeed lower down the
countrys productivity.
So, what should the government do in order
to curb this matter? The question is being
directed to Miss Yong.
The first step the government can do is to
sponsor the students meals daily in order to
decrease or avoid this issue. It doesnt have
to be much, just about RM20 per day. The
government also need to survey the pricing
of the shops near universities so students do
not have to pay a hefty price just for one
meal. Besides that, the government could
also make universities to give out coupons
daily to those in need. Maybe set up a soup

kitchen for students who cant afford to buy

food or for those students who has the
munchies.
Chairperson (Celine Woon)
Panel 1 (Durga Darsni)

Chairperson (Celine Woon)

Panel 2 (Aaron Riang)

Chairperson (Celine Woon)

Panel 3 (Yong Xin Jie)

Chairperson (Celine Woon)

What about you, Miss Durga? What are

your thoughts?
Many of the programmes involve
'suspended meals', a system in which betteroff students pay in advance for extra food,
which is then given away to students who
cant afford it should be increased.The
Ministry of Higher Education should take
proactive measures to tackle this issue as it
is really more than just starving students.
The issue could even alleviate the chances
of bankruptcy in the future and more people
relying on government assistance.
On the other hand, students are also
responsible in combatting this issue. What
are your advice to the students, Mr. Aaron?
Save up. Indeed, its easy to say it but action
speaks louder than words. Keep a piggy
bank or ration your money. On the other
hand, peers should lookout for each other.
Lend a hand by help to buy food for friends
who cant afford.
Any other additional advices to the
students? This question is directed to Miss
Yong.
If your family do not have enough money,
you can consider to apply for sponsorship
such as PTPTN. In that way, starvation can
be avoided and one only starts to pay the
PTPTN loan after he or she starts working
for their income. If its possible, do not skip
meals.
In a nutshell, the issue Starving University
Students is one of the growing problems
faced by Malaysia which must be taken
seriously before it gets worsened. Not only
our countrys image is at stake, our
diamonds, our youg bright minds are
growing weaker under harsh environment
which will not only destroy their health but

also their minds.

Adam Smith, Scottish moral philosopher,
pioneer of political economy, and a key
figure in the Scottish Enlightenment once
said
No society can surely be flourishing and
happy, of which the far greater part of the
members are poor and miserable.
Hence, proper and drastic measures should
be taken in order to lead our country to the
right track, towards a brighter future.
Id like to close this forum by thanking all
of our panels for their participation. To the
audience, I hope you have a good time
listening to the discussion. Thank you and
have a good day.