The government is bent on maintaining the National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) to “protect the interests of businessmen” who have built colleges to make money, said Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).

NONE The party’s higher education fund coordinator R Karthiges said this explains the government’s fear of calls to abolish the scheme.

He blamed the harsh action of KL City Council (DBKL) officers against student protestors, who are currently staging a sit-in in Dataran Merdeka, on the issue being seen as a “threat” to the government’s “capitalist aims”.

“There are also allegations that the ones who are really dependent on the PTPTN loans are the businessmen who build the colleges with business aims in mind,” he said in a statement yesterday.

NONE “So the real question is, who is the one who truly needs the PTPTN?” asked Karthiges.

The socialist leader also questioned the ruling party’s extreme reaction to opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s suggestion to abolish the loan scheme.

“All sorts of justifications have been given (by the BN) including how it would ‘bankrupt’ the nation, how the government will sustain a loss, how Petronas will collapse, who private colleges will have to close down.

“And finally, the racial card is played out by claiming the abolition of PTPTN will undermine the position of the bumiputera,” he said.

Growing student discontent over the loan scheme, that some have likened to "ah long" (loansharks), culminated in a 500-strong rally through the Kuala Lumpur streets last Saturday.

30 of the protestors stayed on at their final destination Dataran Merdeka, setting up camp for an indefinite sit-in until the authorities can answer their demands.