KOTA BAHARU: The National Security Council (NSC) is preparing to fly home Malaysian citizens living in areas affected by earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
SWEET MOMENT: A student from Tokai University of Japan, Mohd Izhar Ishak, 23, hugged by his father Ishak Embam when arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. — Bernama photo
Its secretary, Datuk Mohamad Thajudeen Abdul Wahab said Malaysian citizens were reported to be safe and the government had yet to decide whether to evacuate them as it believed the situation was under control.
“Anyway, we are awaiting the green light to carry out the evacuation exercise.
“We have no problem in bringing Malaysian citizens home as we have experience in dealing with such situation,” he told reporters after chairing the Kelantan Security Committee meeting at the state police contingent headquarters here yesterday.
The Foreign Ministry managed to contact all 416 Malaysians studying in earthquake-hit Japan and have confirmed that they are all right.
There are 5,009 Malaysian citizens, including 2,100 students, registered with the Malaysian Embassy in Japan. Separately, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung said a total of 242 Malaysian students who were in 10 areas where tremors of magnitude six and higher were felt in Japan on Friday have been accounted for and are safe.
He said at the Dewan Rakyat sitting the students were from 20 institutions of higher learning in Sendai which was the worst hit by the 8.9-magnitude quake and a 10-metre high tsunami unleashed by the tremblor.
He said records of the Japan Education Students Organisation showed that there were 2,465 Malaysian students in Japan, with 1,327 of them sponsored by the Malaysian government, 201 funded by the Japanese government and 937 self-financed.
“However, 1,521 students were registered with the (Malaysian) embassy,” he said when replying to a supplementary question from John Fernandez (DAP-Seremban).
John had wanted to know what measures the government had taken to get Malaysian students abroad to register with the Malaysian Students Department or embassy, including in Japan where he said there were students who could not be traced following Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.
Dr Hou said the Foreign Ministry would coordinate the Malaysian operations in Japan and students and parents should seek prior advice and instruction from the ministry.
Replying to John’s original question, he said Malaysian students registered with the Malaysian Students Department are nine in Singapore, 124 in China, 3,811 in the United Kingdom, 948 in the United States, 513 in France and 672 in Germany.
He said registration with the Malaysian Students Department was voluntary, and many of the students did not register themselves.
“The department and Malaysian embassies will continue to advise Malaysians and Malaysian students abroad to register to facilitate operations during a disaster or crisis in those countries,” he said. — Bernama