A group of 15 Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) students today submitted a protest memorandum to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) on their university's ruling to make it mandatory for all students to live on campus.

The three-page memorandum was received by Suhakam commissioner N Siva Subramaniam at the commission's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

He also promised the students, who had traveled from Johor, that they would not be subjected to any disciplinary action for raising the issue with Suhakam.

"No action will be taken on students who attended the discussion this evening. No one has the right to take action for any issue brought up with Suhakam, including universities," he said.

As for the new ruling, Siva said he will arrange a meeting with the university authorities to discuss the matter.

Earlier this week, UTM deputy vice-chancellor Dr Alias Mohd Noor said the move was to curb social ills among the students.

He claimed that Malay students get involved in drugs, the Chinese cohabit while the Indians become immersed in gangsterism when living off campus. There are some 4,000 UTM students living on their own.

However, students claimed that the move would cause problems for them since they have purchased furniture and household appliances. Apart from this, there is also the issue of cancelling tenancy agreements with their present landlords.

Right to choose

This evening, the 15 students told the Suhakam commissioner that they had the right to choose their accommodation.

They also highlighted the extra RM40 they would have to fork out to pay for the hostel every month as they pay about RM150 for rental off campus.

One of the students, Ng Aik Hao, who represented the ad-hoc 'hostel crisis team', said students would naturally prefer the cheaper option.

(The 'hostel crisis team was set-up following the university's announcement of its new ruling.)

According to him, students were also informed that their hostel fee would be deducted from their loans regardless of whether they register for a place in the hostel before the March 14 deadline.

Ng said this was unfair, adding that no decision was reached on the ruling during a meeting between the students and the deputy vice-chancellor on March 8.

He also urged the students not to register for a hostel place until the university authority comes up with a decision.

Profit making scheme?

Genie Lim Siew Lin, a representative of the Malaysian Undergraduates Solidarity group, criticised UTM for not being democratic and transparent.

She said the decision was made by the university without consulting the students.

"We do not agree with profit making policies," she added in reference to the allegation that the ulterior motive behind the ruling was to collect funds for the construction of new residential colleges.

Students from other local universities such as Universiti Malaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia also attended the meeting.