LABUAN — The MADANI Student Kitchen (DSM) programmes at Universiti Malaysia Sabah Labuan International Campus (UMSKAL), specifically at Alpha and Beta residential colleges, have received Phase Two funding from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) to support student welfare and food assistance.
The funding was presented by Higher Education Department Student Affairs Division director and Perkasa Siswa Foundation (YPS) chief executive officer Hirman Awang during an official working visit to the MADANI Student Kitchen at UMSKAL.
During the visit, Hirman handed over mock cheques for the Phase Two MADANI Student Kitchen Fund and UMS Food Bank to Alpha College Kitchen manager Nurul Fatin Fatiha Azizi and Beta College Kitchen manager Dzulkifli Masri.
Appointment letters were also presented to the kitchen managers of both residential colleges.
Hirman also presented assistance from YPS, along with activity grants for the Student Representative Council (MPP) and Student Welfare Committee (JAKMAS).
He subsequently distributed food to students, interacted with the DSM @ UMSKAL team and visited the MADANI Student Kitchen at Beta Residential College.
The MADANI Student Kitchen initiative aims to ease students’ cost-of-living pressures, address food insecurity on campus and ensure access to affordable, balanced meals, particularly for students from the B40 lower-income group and asnaf (eligible recipients of zakat assistance).
The initiative includes food assistance and food bank supplies, as well as the Menu Kasih Siswa programme, which provides complete and balanced meals at affordable prices in campus cafeterias. It also offers opportunities for students to gain experience in logistics, halal standards and part-time campus employment.
Also present were UMS deputy vice-chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni) Professor Dr Raman Noordin; UMSKAL director Professor Dr Shamsul Bahari Shamsudin; UMS Centre for Student Residential Management (UniRES) director Stella @ Nurul Martini Gontol; UMSKAL residential college principal Ts Hadzariah Ismail; and UMSKAL residential college division head Norhanizah Adnan.
