Kuala Lumpur: Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) borrowers should prioritise repaying their student loans ahead of living a lavish lifestyle, the Bumiputera government agency chairman Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said.
Asyraf Wajdi had taken to Facebook yesterday to share a message he received from a MARA borrower who faced legal action for defaulting on the loan repayment.
“When I checked his Facebook account, he seems to lead a stylish and luxurious lifestyle with even a Mercedes. But to repay the study loan seems hard,” the Umno secretary-general posted.
In a reminder, he said borrowers should note the importance of being able to manage their spending.
“One ought to remember that the priority is to settle debt before spending lavishly as it is the main principle in financial management from an Islamic perspective,” he said.
Alluding to Islamic texts citing the Prophet Muhammad, Asyraf Wajdi said the only unpardonable sin is in not repaying debts.
Earlier this month, federal auditors released a report highlighting that millions of ringgit have been potentially lost by two major tertiary education institutions: Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
The 2021 Auditor-General’s Report released on October 10 found that RM58.57 million may be lost at UiTM, including RM51.08 million potential loss from unclaimed compensation, offsetting against defaulting debtors (RM6.23 million) and unclaimed compensation (RM1.26 million).
Based on the report, the audit review found that a total of 86 out of 381 debtors had breached their contracts, and were written off in 2019 by UiTM’s Financial and Development Committee.
