100 M'sian Students Opt To Remain In Yogyakarta To Help Quake Survivors

PUTRAJAYA, May 29 (Bernama) -- About 100 Malaysian medical students in Yogyakarta have chosen not to return to Malaysia following Saturday's devastating earthquake in the city as they want to help survivors there, Higher Education Ministry Parliamentary Secretary Datuk Dr Adham Baba said.
He said that they had verbally informed him of their decision to stay back as they felt that besides being able to help victims, the experience would serve them in good stead when they qualified as doctors later.
"They see this as an invaluable experience for them," he told reporters after giving a talk to 31 university students who will be going to Australia for a study trip, here Monday.
The 12-day trip to Melbourne and Canberra is meant to expose the students to campus life Down Under.
Adham said that there were about 350 Malaysian students pursuing higher education in Yogyakarta province and that about half of them had returned to Malaysia following the killer quake, which has claimed more than 4,000 lives so far.
Those remaining behind were mostly medical students doing their practical at various hospitals there, he said, adding that all of them were spared in the earthquake.
However, he said these students needed to get in touch with the Malaysian embassy in Indonesia or Malaysian Students Department representatives so that their welfare could be monitored.
He also advised them to be in constant contact with the families so that they did not needlessly worry about their well being.
Meanwhile, in YOGYAKARTA, all the 100 Malaysian medical students studying at the Gadja Madha Medical university have been delegated tasks depending on their seniority to help survivors.
A final year medical student, Shan Nair, 25, told Bernama that he had chosen to remain in the city on humanitarian grounds as he felt that he could be of service to the people here.
Nair, who is from Taman Chi Lung in Klang, about 60 km west of Kuala Lumpur, said that he had informed his family in Malaysia of his decision to remain behind to help.