KUALA LUMPUR - If previously, Nur Syafiqah Abdul Kahar was only able to return to Sabah once a year due to the high cost of airline tickets, now she is among the 60,000 students who can breathe a sigh of relief after the government decided to continue subsidising Flysiswa air tickets.
The Sabahan, aged 22, who is a student at International Islamic University (IIUM) said purchasing flight tickets poses a huge headache for her as costs are high, so she and her fellow Sabahan students try to find ways to have additional money to buy their airfare home.
She said due to the high cost of flight tickets, many students who come to the Peninsula must forget about going home when they are on semester break or during festivals.
Therefore, she said the Unity Government's decision to continue subsidising the purchase of airline tickets through Flysiswa is greatly appreciated as this relieves the financial burden for students from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan who are studying at public universities in the Peninsula and want to return to their respective hometowns.
"I can only return to Sabah depending on my current finances as flight tickets are costly," she said.
"The subsidy incentive greatly helps this group of students, including myself, who leave Borneo for the Peninsula and face a financial burden," said the second-year Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Management Sciences student to Bernama.
In Budget 2024, themed "Economic Reform, Empowering the People", which was tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Parliament on Friday (Oct 13), the government announced that the Flysiswa flight subsidy will continue next year and this involves nearly 60,000 students from underprivileged families especially from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) student, Carolnesa Dorie Tan Kar Mean, 20, who is from Kota Marudu hopes the initiative will not only be continued but expanded as a special aid to students who are entering the university for the first time.
Meanwhile, Terengganu-born Asrul Hafetz Zulkifli, 22, who studies at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) said the RM300 flight subsidy was the right amount to give as the average price of a flight ticket between Sabah and Kuala Lumpur is from RM300 to RM500.
The second-year Bachelor of Oil and Gas Engineering student also suggested that apart from the family income, the factor of academic excellence should also be used as a measure for the subsidy to encourage students to excel in the academic field.
Meanwhile, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) student, Noornazratul Imelda Muhammad, 21, said the subsidy was helpful in reducing the cost of air tickets and any extra money could be used to cover the purchase of reference materials.
This incentive was heartening news for parents as the Flysiswa subsidy helps to lighten their financial burden in managing their children's studies in the Peninsula or in Sabah and Sarawak.
Civil servant Peter Tong, 55, from Sarawak, said the subsidy helps him pay for costly airline tickets for his daughter, Natasha Abigail Peter, 21, who is studying for a Bachelor's Degree in Business at the Faculty of Business and Communication at Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMap). - BERNAMA