i-GPS: Sarawak university students grateful for flight fare subsidy
KUALA LUMPUR : Universiti Malaya third-year law student, Arif Adam Patahul Ariffin, would have previously thought twice before returning to his hometown in Bintangor, Meradong, in Sarawak during semester breaks or festive seasons.
The expensive fares, coupled with the high cost of living, made the eldest of the three siblings always ensure he would not deplete his pocket money to take a plane or commonly referred to as a “balloon” among Sarawakians.
However, Arif Adam told Bernama that he felt very lucky to be among the thousands of people who benefitted from the “Inisiatif Graduan Pulang Sarawak” (i-GPS) introduced by the Sarawak government in 2019. i-GPS is for Sarawak students studying at institutions of higher learning in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Labuan.
“So far, I have applied for this initiative three times – twice in 2019 including the Chinese New Year season and once in 2020. Alhamdulillah, everything was approved.
“It really helps to reduce the cost of travelling back to Sarawak. Even my younger sister, who studied at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Perak, took this initiative and we used to go back (home) together,” said Arif Adam, who is also the chairman of the Sarawak Student Association, Universiti Malaya.
Through the initiative, the state government provides a flight ticket subsidy of RM300 for eligible Sarawak students in the Peninsula Malaysia, Labuan and Sabah for the return trip to Sarawak, and these students can apply for this twice a year.
The initiative by the Sarawak Volunteers and Yayasan Sarawak was announced by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg during the “Lan Berambeh Anak Sarawak” programme, at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here in 2018.
It was after Sarawak students voiced this issue to the state government of the help they needed to buy flight tickets to go home to meet their loved ones, especially during the festive seasons.
Dayang Nur Ainin Sofiya Abg Mortadza, a student at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said usually the price of flight tickets would skyrocket during the festive seasons and some students had to suppress their desire to return home to their families.
The student, who comes from Miri, said this was because their loans or scholarships received were sometimes just enough to cover the cost of living and their needs away from home, thus requiring them to be more frugal.
Sarawak Volunteers advisor and Tupong state assemblyman Fazruddin Abdul Rahman said as of February 2019 to Oct 29 this year, the state government had allocated RM10.7 million for the initiative.
During the same period, a total of 49,195 applications were received and 34,905 of them were approved, namely 18,118 in 2019, 13,167 last year and 3,620 so far this year, he said.
“This is one of the initiatives to prove the Chief Minister’s concern for the wants and needs of the youth in Sarawak. So far, the Chief Minister has given his commitment to continue this initiative.
“Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, many students have been affected, and the state government has provided food aid and brought back students through specially booked flights,” he told Bernama when contacted.
Apart from i-GPS, the Sarawak government also provided assistance of RM30 million to Sarawak graduates to repay loans from the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) apart from providing scholarships and educational assistance at schools and institutes of higher learning to ease the burden of schooling and education for sons and daughters of Sarawak. – Bernama
