GOING FORWARD: Fatimah (back, third left) and Mohd Fadzil (back, second left) posing with the students after they received the 1Malaysia book voucher. — Photo by Jeffrey Mostapha
KOTA SAMARAHAN: The RM200 worth of 1Malaysia book vouchers given to undergraduates from low-income families is proof of the government’s seriousness in providing education to all in its aspiration to make the country a developed nation, said Minister of Women, Welfare and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah.
Speaking at a ceremony to present the RM200 vouchers to students at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) yesterday, Fatimah said the ultimate aim of all the universities in the world was to provide higher and lifelong learning.
“For Unimas, it responds accordingly to the needs not only to fulfil the demands of the complex academic world but also to meet the manpower of the country in particular and the region in general,” she said.
She said the presentation of the vouchers was in line with the National Transformation Programme to prepare for global challenges and changes ahead.
“The changing trends that we see today must be fully understood, and for this reason we need to have fair distribution of knowledge to accommodate the interconnected and interdependent world.
“All these to a certain extent have changed the academic and organisational nature of our institutions and demographic character of our students as well,” she explained.
On the programme, she said the government spent about RM60 million through the vouchers to help 1.3 million students and undergraduates across the country.
Meanwhile, Unimas Deputy Vice Chancellor (Student’s Affair and Alumni) Prof Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rahman advised students not to sell the vouchers.
“Use them wisely for knowledge. Do not sell the vouchers to get cash for something unnecessary,” he said.
Unimas Students Representative Council vice president Hwong Yie Hahn and the university’s officials and staff were among those attending.