UM students found guilty, issued warning, says report

Six Universiti Malaya students who allegedly breached regulations by holding a press conference without prior approval were found guilty of the offence but let off with a warning, news portal Malaysiakini reported today. According to the report, the decision was announced through a press statement this evening. The statement added that an appeal could be made within 14 days of the written decision being received by the students concerned. The six students had appeared for disciplinary proceedings yesterday. The country's oldest university commenced the proceedings after the six held a press conference on university grounds on December 14 to complain about Internet quotas at their campus. Two student groups, Universiti Malaya Association Youth (Umany) and Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam UM (PMIUM), had said UM would limit Internet access campus to 5GB from March, compared with the current unlimited quota, following the reduction in allocation to institutions of higher learning announced in Budget 2016. They said the plan would put additional burdens on students who were already affected by the cost of living. PMIUM representative Suhail Wan Azahar added that based on their own survey among 1,000 UM students, 70% of respondents were against the idea. UM denied the allegations, saying that it would only monitor, not limit, Internet use. Its vice-chancellor professor Datuk Dr Mohd Amin Jalaludin said in a statement that the students would not be charged for extra usage and any decision on the matter would not be made without first discussing it with the student representatives. The Malaysiakini report said yesterday's decision was effective immediately. – February 16, 2016.]]>