Mohamed Khaled interacting with one of the students during the presentation of the Menu Siswa Rahmah. On his right is Prof Mohd Ekhwan. - LOW LAY PHON/The Star
BANGI: At just RM3.50, Menu Siswa Rahmah can provide affordable food for 320,000 B40 students in all 20 public universities (IPTA), and 12,000 students in 24 polytechnics and eight community colleges in the country.
ASASIpintar Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) student Mardhiatul Insyirah Mohd Hamadi said the initiative would benefit students who did not have a lot to spend on food.
“This is something that can help us a lot,” the 19-year old said.
Fatimah Azzahra Mohammad Nizam, another ASASIpintar UKM student, said the menu would help her keep her spending within budget every month.
“I usually spend around RM6 to RM7 for the same amount of food and drinks offered by the Menu Siswa Rahmah.
“So, this is a huge saving for me,” she said, adding that many of her friends would usually spend more on books and stationery so they often had to cut down on their food expenses.
The Menu Siswa Rahmah was introduced to UKM students yesterday at Kafeteria Randau Rasa in the varsity and was witnessed by Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Higher Education Minister said the ministry had obtained the support of 20 IPTA, with 235 vendors involved in providing the meals.
Compared with the RM5 Menu Rahmah offerings, he said the Menu Siswa Rahmah price was much lower for students because the university management would be absorbing all rental fees for vendors, which would amount to over RM3mil per year.
“While Menu Rahmah is available for all, I would like to stress that the Menu Rahmah Siswa is strictly for B40 students.
“To make sure this is controlled, university managements will be filtering eligible students by giving out tokens to them,” he added.
UKM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Ekhwan Toriman, in a statement, said the menu would provide nutritious and affordable meals that would help ease the expenses of the students.
