DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang lambasted Higher Education Minister Idris Jusoh for his "callous" statement that belittles student sufferings and solve their problems,instead of trying to control media reports on the issue.

"Idris Jusoh should stop being elitist, patronising or even ‘Marie Antoinettish’, as he should stop arguing whether there are hungry university students but get down to resolve the problem of students cutting down on meals because of economic exigencies," Lim said in a statement.

Lim conceded that while Idris' statement two days ago was not on the level of the infamous Marie Antoinette statement of “Let them eat cake!” - when the French queen learned that the peasants had no bread - it was close enough.

The DAP veteran argued that when Idris said that he too went hungry when he was a student, but lack of money was not always the issue, the statement was "sufficiently unsympathetic to the students’ problems as to approximate Marie Antoinette in callousness and indifference to social sufferings among the people."

Don't browbeat media

"This is most shocking for the problem of students cutting down on meals or even going hungry because of the economic strains on the students and their families, is not synthetic problem but a very real issue, as I had met university students in such straits in the past few weeks," sniped Lim.

He berated Idris for only thinking of browbeating the media by ordering them not to highlight such issues, joining other BN ministers which he noted had dismissed the existence of the problem of hungry university students.

Idris, argued Lim should devote his energies and times to find real solutions like setting up foodbanks for students like some student groups are doing on their own, instead of orchestrating declarations by university deputy vice chancellors that their students are not starving.

"By continuing to deny the existence of the problem, Idris is not providing leadership or doing any service to university students or higher education in Malaysia," lambasted Lim further.

Lim called on Idris and public university administrators to cut down on bureaucracy and help the students so that they do not have to turn to soup kitchens for food.