Kota Kinabalu: The mechanism on the granting of airfare subsidy for public university students for domestic routes between the peninsula, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan needs to be looked at more comprehensively to ensure a clearer and smoother process after the initiative is implemented beginning Aug 15.
Parents interviewed hoped the subsidy would be channelled to all university students regardless of family income background as a proactive step to solve the issue of expensive flight tickets faced by students, especially during the festive seasons.
A parent, Peter Tong, 55, said the granting of the subsidy coincided with the current rise in the cost of living, so it would reduce the burden on parents, especially from the B40 and M40 groups, who have children studying in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
“It will lighten the burden on parents (cheaper flight tickets) each time our children want to come home for the holidays during festivals or semester breaks,” he said.
The civil servant, who has a child studying in a university in Perlis, also thinks that the subsidy mechanism needs to be reassessed, including the frequency of granting subsidies in a year, as well as the method of getting a refund if the parents have bought flight tickets earlier without using the digital voucher.
A mother, Siti Mariam Aziz, 51, feels there must be alternative methods for granting the subsidies and not just hinged on one method that is digital vouchers in order to make it easier for every student who is eligible to benefit from the initiative.
Although the granting of subsidies in the form of digital vouchers is seen as an effective method, however, Siti Mariam is of the opinion that other methods need to be explored such as the channelling of the funds directly into the bank account of each beneficiary.
Meanwhile, Idris Sani, 47, who has a child studying in a public university in Samarahan, Sarawak, said the initiative gave some relief to parents and hoped it could continue in the future.
Meanwhile, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Sabah Student Association President Muhammad Syafi Haziq Mohd Fauzi said the implementation of the subsidy will have an impact on Sabah students since the problem of expensive flight tickets often plagues them year after year.
“I also hope the distribution of subsidy assistance is done well so that no student is left behind from benefiting from this initiative,” he said, while hoping that the subsidy assistance would be maintained yearly.
On July 12, the Government implemented an initiative to subsidise the purchase of flight tickets amounting to RM300 for public university students for domestic routes between the peninsula, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territory of Labuan which will start on Aug 15.
When announcing the initiative, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said it would be implemented through the credit shell method, whereby airlines would issue digital vouchers worth RM300 to each eligible student to be redeemed for the purchase of domestic flight tickets.
The initiative will benefit more than 56,000 public university students nationwide involving an estimated cost of RM16.8 million.
The vouchers can be used to purchase Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Batik Air, Firefly as well as MYAirline flight tickets and the deadline to redeem the vouchers will be Oct 31 this year.
