Most of us are lucky to be quarantined in the comfort of our own homes and what more, in Malaysia itself. Of all the times, this is a time to be a proud Malaysian as our country is one of the best at handling this pandemic. Sadly, this isn’t the case for all. While most Malaysians who were stranded overseas have been brought back, there are still some Malaysians who are stranded with still no means of coming back home.
World Of Buzz was approached by a group of medical and dental students studying in Davangere, Karnataka, India. Davangere is a confined district situated 263km from the main city, Bangalore with its nearest international airport located 5 hours from there.
“We have been under this lockdown condition for the past 3 weeks with no proper nutrition, money and health safety. “
Unlike students in Malaysian university hostels who are provided with food daily, the students there have to get their own food which may not even be 100% safe. India currently has 5,194 confirmed cases with 149 reported deaths.
Even obtaining their groceries from stores has been difficult as the usage 2 and 4 wheelers, as well as other public transports such as the “autorickshaw”, has been banned in the state of Karnataka. A student was also reprimanded by the local police for going out to buy groceries.
They’re facing an extreme shortage of cash
Most of the students get their cash from money transfer agents such as Western Union, Merchant Trade and Muthoot Finance which are currently non-operating. Currently, the students are just supporting each other with the money they have but even that’s running out. Unlike other Malaysian students in India, they are unfortunate to have food and supplies provided by the government as they have a “koperasi” facility by the Malaysian government. Not only that, but the state of Karnataka is also facing a Bird Flu and Swine Flu outbreak which has completely cut-off protein sources. These students frequent the hospital almost every day but the lack of face masks, hand sanitizer and hand wash are worrying as well.
The students’ are currently in distress and they’ve been contacting the education consulate from Chennai embassy and higher authorities for about two weeks but they’re yet to receive any promising response. Unfortunately, the rescue flights have already left the country as the Malaysian government has successfully extracted stranded Indians in the other states of India.
“With the same hope, we are still anticipating for the government to get us back to Malaysia. We hope this issue goes viral so that the embassy and higher authorities can hear our plight.”
What we can do now is to make sure their plight reaches the necessary authorities and our students can be brought back. It’s disheartening to think that while we’re comfortable in our quarantine, our Malaysian students are suffering more and more each day.
So share this story, and if you know someone who can help, forward this to them.
Also read: Almost 2,000 People Died In One Day From Covid-19 In The U.S, Marking Record High Spike
