The Education Ministry will continue to supply milk to schools as it remained the best form of nutritional drink for the students, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

So far, none of the studies conducted on the milk supplied to schools showed that the drink was bad for students, said Deputy Education Minister Hon Choon Kim, in response to a question from Rahman Ismail (BN-Gombak).

In light of the recent outbreak of food poisoning in several schools as a result of drinking the free milk, Hon said the ministry was looking into ways to solve the problem.

"We are serious in this matter. We have taken several steps to curb the problem but we also need the cooperation from school officials and canteen operators."

He said the ministry always monitored the food menu and ensured that the canteen operators adhered to the conditions set so that cases of food poisoning could be prevented.

To a supplementary question from Rahman who urged teachers to lunch with students, Hon welcomed the move, saying that it would not only ensure that the teachers are closer to the children but also able them to evaluate the quality and cleanliness of the food served.

He said a new menu prepared by nutritionists from the Ministry of Health was being implemented in stages starting June 1 until January next year.

"The new menu is only implemented when the current contract with the canteen operator expires," he said.

Hon also said the school authorities should monitor the canteen operators to ensure that the food served is properly cooked to avoid food poisoning.

The deputy minister also said that the government allocated RM10 to RM 12 for every student in the boarding schools.

Investing in China

On another matter, the Dewan Rakyat was also told today that Malaysian companies have invested RM3.39 billion in China in this year.

Parliamentary Secretary for the International Trade and Industry Ministry Dr Tan Yee Kew said that as of June, Malaysian companies have invested in sectors like manufacturing, real estate, catering and banking in the republic.

"They have also invested in telecommunication, transportation, business and construction sectors," said Tan.

In the same period of time, said Tan, Chinese companies have invested RM1.7 billion in 362 projects in Malaysia.