Building resilience as a starving student

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A RECENT survey of some 25,000 students in six local universities has claimed that more than half are unable to afford a single meal a day, thanks to the rising cost of living.

The survey conducted by the Muslim Volunteer Malaysia Association (MVMA) apparently found that more than half those surveyed could not afford to spend more than RM5 a day on food, while 41 per cent indicated that they pretty much survived on instant noodles because it is all they can afford.

The universities’ top guns and the Ministry of Higher Education were quick to debunk the survey, which had resulted in sensationalised headlines that our students are ‘starving’.

There are no students who are starving, cried the university officials, while other news portals highlighted students who were,  literally crying because they were feeling sorry for themselves.

There was even a report on a student with supposed intestinal problems because she didn’t have enough to eat.

Yes, it is disturbing to know that our undergraduates barely have enough to eat when a healthy diet is crucial to doing well in their studies. And there is no denying that there are students from poor backgrounds in local universities who are barely getting by each day on their loans and scholarships.

There were also reports of assistance programmes provided by student bodies which help provide food to those in need on campus, which Eye applaud.

Things seem to be a far cry from what it was like back in the day when Eye was also a student making the best of each day through university.

However, Eye wouldn’t say that we never starved back then. Which low to middle income background student doesn’t go hungry at some point or another at this stage in life?

Yes, we also pretty much lived on instant noodles (and sometimes eggs).   It was either that or an RM2 budget meal at the mamak shop, which consisted of one cup of hot milk tea or iced lemon tea, and one piece of roti canai kosong with three types of kuah (gravy) – dhal, chicken curry and a sambal of sorts.

Yes, back in the day it was possible to have a basic roti canai meal with a drink under RM2. But that still doesn’t mean that we never went hungry.

Students back in the day were more resilient too. We never had food aid programmes or surveys to check if we were hungry. We were on our own. We made do with what we could and we were smart about things.

Scholarship funds and loans were used mainly for school expenses. Remember, photostating and printing used to cost a whole lot more back then. Eye remember having to pay RM3 for a coloured page and RM1 for a black and white print. Photocopying was charged between 20 and 50 sen a page as compared to merely 2 sen today.

And during those really ‘pokai’ times, we had to sit down and meticulously write by hand, the notes we needed from books in the library instead of conveniently having them photocopied. Just so we could save the credit in our library photocopying cards for more important documents.

We didn’t have notes that we could download from programme portals or reference materials we could download from the Internet.

Oh yes, we didn’t have mobile phones back in the day too. So there was never a need to top up for calls or mobile data so that we could go on Facebook or Instagram.

We didn’t have the convenience of using phones to snap photos of notes from books or the projector screen. We lined up at public phones to call home, putting aside just enough coins and rehearsing in our heads what we wanted to tell the folks back home so that we could time our calls.

Some of us did part-time or freelance work to supplement our wallets so that we could make the best of our university time to pay to visit nearby places of interest, and of course, treat ourselves to a nice meal occasionally.

One close friend worked at a cafe near campus as a cashier (yet at most times she had to double up as a waitress). A few gave tuition or babysat the young children of lecturers.

Others would earn their room and board. Back in the day, if one wanted to stay in university dorms for ‘free’, they had to pretty much earn their rooms by being active in the student councils and numerous clubs under the university’s auspices.

All without neglecting their studies. So are our young students these days making much ado over nothing? Are they simply just spoilt, having been uprooted from the comforts of their homes to a stark independence in university?

How did things get so bad, that food aid programmes had to be set up on campuses?

Yes, we too went through tough times back in the day where we would scrimp on a loaf of bread for two days.

We too faced late deposits of scholarship funds and parents having to hold back on pocket money because things were not all that hunky dory at home too.

It was even worse for those from low income families who never received pocket money from home. What more, our uni-mates who came from the far reaches and interiors of Sarawak and Sabah!

There were no universities in Sarawak or Sabah then. They had to fly to the peninsula to get higher education.

Yet we didn’t whine or gripe about having to go hungry or lacking in necessities.

Those from the interiors never complained and they never had food aid programmes to help them out. Many were solely dependent on their scholarships and loans to cover everything – food, board, school needs and travel to campus for the very first time.

They came, flew over the South China Sea and registered for university on their own. They didn’t have van-loads of family and kampung folk to escort them to campus on the first day.

Some never went home during long holidays for four whole years because it was just too expensive to go back to the longhouses. Instead, they took the opportunity to work.

One young man Eye knew worked as an odd job labourer for construction sites during the long breaks because he just couldn’t afford to fly home to his longhouse. Still, each Gawai he would send a portion of his measly pay, which he had saved, to his parents.

Other students from Sarawak and Sabah would sign up as part-time staff at fast food outlets or coffee shops.

We somehow handled it all very well. We even had food to share among ourselves. We were innovative in pooling money to buy canned food to eat with cooked white rice we bought from the cafeterias. It was more expensive to buy cooked vegetables or meat from the cafeteria.

Not enough carbs to sustain through a full day running around from class to class? No problem! We would buy 50 sen of nasi putih from the cafeteria to add to our one packet of instant curry noodles, when we knew we were going to need the energy.

We were not fussy with what we ate. As long as we had food in our tummies, we were grateful.

Yes, times have changed and yes, the cost of living has risen tremendously, but still, the core principles of a university student’s life are discipline, resilience, making the most of the experience and being prudent with time and money.

Remember the chap who worked as a construction labourer during the holidays to make ends meet? He was never ashamed about it. Needless to say, he did well for himself in his grades and even after graduation. Last Eye heard, he landed a good job in the IT sector and was later given another scholarship for postgraduate studies overseas.

Eye also heard he still remains humble and true to his roots by returning to his longhouse as often as he can to help with farming.

There’s a lesson to be learnt from his story.

Many will ‘starve’ at some point of their student lives, but it is how we handle the situation that will decide how far we are capable of going later in life.

Comments can reach the writer via [email protected].