IPT students find ways to overcome high cost of living

0

KUALA LUMPUR: Students of higher institutions of learning (IPT) take various measures to overcome the problems arising from the increasing cost of living, to accommodate their daily lives.

Realising he could not depend totally on his education loan, Ag Mohd Nasharudin Awang Nayan, 20, opted to work part-time at a restaurant near where he stayed.

He said he had only RM200 left from the loan after deducting his study fees and accommodation, whilst he needed RM300 to RM400 a month to meet his expenditure.

“Despite getting RM45 a day from my part-time job, it is enough for me,” the second year Multimedia Design student at a private college, here, told Bernama. He said working part-time also helped him to become independent in preparation for the working world, despite being tired after lectures and assignments.

Meanwhile, Mohd Faeis Mohd Niza, 22, chose to be thrifty in his daily spending to face the hike in living costs.

“I do my own cooking except if I am too busy,” he said.

Mohd Faeis, who is pursuing a degree in art and design at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Shah Alam, also listed the items to be bought to avoidwastage.

Sharing a car and using public transportation is how Hamiza Hamidon, 25, a Textile Technology degree student at UiTM minimised the effect of the increase in the price of petrol on daily spending.

“Prior to this, I was comfortable using my own car, now I use public transportation or share a car to class or for outside activities,” she said.

She also photostated books borrowed from the UiTM library to save costs, adding most books used in her study could be found at the library.

She also suggested that the usage of the Student Discount Card, which wasintroduced in 2012, be expanded.

According to Hamiza, students were offered discounts of five to 60 percent, but the number of shops taking part was still small and their impact in helping to reduce the burden of students, was negligible.– BERNAMA