Student leaders have fired back at the government and public university administrators for downplaying reports that undergraduates were going hungry in local universities.

Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam Universiti Malaya (PMIUM) president Muhmmad Wafiuddin Rosli said public university administrators were merely making their own assumptions from the comfort of their offices.

He said this in response to the secretariat of deputy vice-chancellors (student affairs and alumni) of public universities chairperson, Adnan Hussein, who denied students were not getting enough food on campuses.

"As university administrators, they have the authority to go down to the ground, research and find the students who are in need of food.

"Don't comfortably declare the students aren't hungry from inside air- conditioned rooms while wearing a tie," he said in a statement today.

Wafiuddin added that while there were university mechanisms to aid students in need, they were often bureaucratic in nature, making help difficult to come by.

He said a large part of the students' National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) money went towards tuition fees and lodging costs, leaving little for food.

"Therefore, some students choose to do part-time jobs instead of focusing on their university education.

"There are also students who try to cut their budget by relying on instant noodles instead of rice as a staple," he said.

Belittling students

He added that some students also have had to turn to soup kitchens for food.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah Labuan campus (Umskal) Pro-Mahasiswa activist Ashraff Nazrin (photo) also criticised authorities for belittling the students' plight and accusing them of being "pampered".

He said university administrators should not be asking how students use their money as they themselves have been less than prudent with finances.

"Don't ask us how we spend our money but ask how the university spends its money," he said in a statement today.

For example, he said the 2011 plans to construct a lecture hall and a library at Umskal had yet to materialise.