Putra Heights: University students affected by Tuesday’s gas pipeline fire in Putra Heights have described the RM2,000 financial aid announced by the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) as a welcome relief.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the contribution, to be distributed by Yayasan Perkasa Siswa (YPS), is highly meaningful for students who lost essential gadgets such as tablets and laptops necessary for their studies, which will resume tomorrow after the Aidilfitri holiday.

Nur Ain Aisya Mohmad Johar, a 23-year-old Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) student, plans to use the aid to replace her tablet and laptop, which were ruined in the fire. “UiTM also provided a small contribution… this has brought some relief to us,” said the human resource management degree student from Kampung Kuala Sungai Baharu.

Meanwhile, Adlyn Safiah Abu Samah, 20, a student at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), along with her two siblings who are also students at IIUM and Universiti Kuala Lumpur, expressed their gratitude for the contribution. She mentioned they might have to skip classes since they still lack access to their laptops and books. “We will use this contribution to repair our gadgets.and use the rest (of the money) to help ease our parents’ burden. Our family suffers significant losses.our family car and my brother’s motorcycle were also damaged,” she explained.

Higher Education director-general Datuk Prof Dr Azlinda Azman stated that they have identified 70 higher education students from public and private institutions affected by the fire to receive the contribution. “We will provide immediate assistance in the form of cash if any of them have lost or had their bank cards destroyed in the incident, and the rest will be done via online transfers,” she said. She also added that discussions with the Digital Ministry regarding laptop donations to affected students are underway.