KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Vice Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kamaruzaman Hj Ampon said they have yet to receive any reports about their students’ involvement in prostitution.
He said the university would nevertheless take the possibility of their students’ involvement seriously, and officers will be asked to monitor them.
He said the university will investigate and try to identify those, if any, involved.
Kamaruzaman conceded that it would be difficult to obtain evidence of students’ involvement in the flesh trade.
He said if there is evidence of any students’ involvement, disciplinary action will be taken by the university.
“We would investigate first before taking disciplinary action because students involved in part-time prostitution must have their own reasons for doing it…might be they do not have enough money to pay for the education fees,” he said.
He said the university would handle the problem discreetly and if they did it because of financial problem, the university is willing to offer a loan.
“How we handle the problem would depend on the seriousness of the cases. We want to ensure students can continue and finish their study.
“I would like to stress here that we are looking seriously into this matter and we will closely monitor our students,” he said
Kamaruzaman was commenting on Upko Women chief Dr Jaina Sintian’s claims that she had received information from well-informed sources that an established syndicate was luring tertiary students here into the flesh trade.
Dr Jaina said she was told that a pimp was getting in touch with the girls who were willing to offer sex services, and the girls earned up to RM500 per session.