KUALA LUMPUR: The government is prepared to provide free food to all university students under the food bank initiative if it has sufficient allocation, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“We will try. If we have a lot of money, we can give a full meal to everybody, but our money has been stolen.
“…and the person who stole the money has become the boss… the boss to certain people so it is hard for us to manage. The money is there somewhere, but we don’t know the actual location. We hope they will bring it back to help these students,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here today.
He said this in response to the recent report that there were students who had ‘to starve and eat less’ due to financial constraints and most of them were from the Bottom 40 per cent (B40) income group.
Nevertheless, Dr Mahathir said, the government would always strive to ensure the wellbeing of the students in every aspect.
In another development, the prime minister said the authorities were always monitoring the security at mosques nationwide to prevent untoward incidents.
“We always monitor our mosques, but we know there is a huge number of mosques nationwide. The same goes to temples and other houses of worship, so we also have to depend on the people’s common sense,” he said.
Yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun was reported as saying that policemen had been instructed to monitor all temples and churches for fear of any retaliation following the terror attacks at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, last Friday, which claimed the lives of 50 people and injured dozens more, including three Malaysians.
Dr Mahathir stressed: “Do not retaliate because if we do, other people will do the same in other places, so we will have a never-ending problem.
“So, let’s use common sense and try not to seek revenge. Revenge will only create a cycle of retaliation,” he added.
— BERNAMA
