Students march to PTPTN headquarters protesting new loan policy
About 400 students marched to the PTPTN head office in Kuala Lumpur today to protest the loan repayment policy that was announced in the Budget 2019 speech.
Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam (Gamis) executive committee member Yazid Khairul said that the march served as a “warning” to the Pakatan Harapan government for breaking its promises to students.
“We want to remind them (Harapan) of its PTPTN promise (in its 14th general election manifesto) and we want to save the country...
About 400 students marched to the PTPTN head office in Kuala Lumpur today to protest the loan repayment policy that was announced in the Budget 2019 speech.
Gabungan Mahasiswa Islam (Gamis) executive committee member Yazid Khairul said that the march served as a “warning” to the Pakatan Harapan government for breaking its promises to students.
“We want to remind them (Harapan) of its PTPTN promise (in its 14th general election manifesto) and we want to save the country.
“We don’t want leaders who are hypocrites and who break their promises. If they break their promises, they are not worth saving (in the next election).
“Then the rakyat should kick them out of Putrajaya. Students voted for Harapan because of their GE14 promises,” he told reporters.
Harapan’s election manifesto had promised to delay PTPTN loan repayments until debtors earned more than RM4,000 monthly, and further offered to discount and abolish repayments to underprivileged and high-performing students.
It had also promised to remove loan defaulters from the Immigration Department's travel blacklist.
While the latter pledge was kept, the Budget 2019 speech stipulated that loan repayments would begin when debtors earned RM1,000 and above.
Mostly dressed in black, the students held up signs saying “Tuntut janji PTPTN” (Claiming the PTPTN promise) and chanted “Bangkit mahasiswa” (Students rise up) and “Tolak kezaliman” (Reject tyranny).
They also called for the resignation of Education Minister Maszlee Malik.
Call for Wan Saiful’s resignation
Beginning at Masjid Jamek at 2pm, the protesters took just over an hour to arrive at Menara PTPTN, which is located along Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. Police were seen monitoring the scene.
Gamis president Muhammad Faizzuddin Mohd Zai told the crowd that PTPTN chairperson Wan Saiful Wan Jan ought to resign for breaking Harapan’s election promises on the education fund.
“What Harapan is doing is more cruel than what Umno and BN did (when they were in government). Umno and BN had given students a year before making us repay our loans.
“But what Harapan is doing is very upsetting; from 2019, our salaries will be cut in order to repay our loans,” he said.
Wan Saiful previously apologised for failing to deliver on the government’s PTPTN promises, saying he had tried his best but could not find a way around the country’s RM1 trillion debt. He also explained that funds were needed for loans to new applicants.
Faizzuddin vowed to mobilise Gamis members nationwide to send memorandums to PTPTN offices in each state, urging the government to delay repayments until debtors earned a salary of RM4,000 and above.
“The (new) system oppresses the poor and benefits those who earn high salaries,” he added.
To emphasise their opposition to Harapan reneging on its promises, the students held up a drawing of a hand and symbolically “sliced” off its little finger.
They also left behind all the protest paraphernalia, including placards, at the entrance of the building.
“Let Wan Saiful see all this when he comes to work on Monday," Faizzuddin quipped.
The protest ended at 3.50pm.
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