冰的起点

Dear All,

First of all, I wish to express my sincere apologies for the unintended delay regarding the above matter. Anyhow, I had finally put up a letter and had already emailed to the Political Secretary (Dr. Oh Ei Sun) of the Prime Minister's Office as below:

Dear Dr Oh,

With reference to the above matter, I am pleased to represent my colleagues to bring our appeal for PTPTN (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional) loan repayment exemption to your kind attention.

2. As a First Class Honours (CGPA 3.89) graduate from Universiti Utara Malaysia of the enrollment session of July 2005/2006, my academic achievement had qualified me for the loan repayment exemption. However, my application for the loan repayment exemption on 29 June 2009 was officially rejected by a letter received on 11 August from the PTPTN (Ref: PTPTN/SPP/851127085124, dated 17 July 2009). The reason for the disqualification was such that only borrowers whose loan had been approved before 1 July 2005 AND graduate with a First Class Honours Degree are eligible for loan repayment exemption.

3. Following the announcement of budget plan of 2010, I sincerely believed that all the university students were delighted, nevertheless, motivated by the news that First Class Honours graduates would be exempted from the loan repayment as the loan would be automatically converted to scholarship. Unfortunately, after checking with the authority from PTPTN, we were informed that only graduates who complete their study in 2010 are eligible to that privilege.

4. In this regard, I hope that your good office could assist to bring this issue to our Most Honorable Prime Minister’s kind consideration to waive PTPTN loan repayment for First Class Honours Graduates. Before the new condition for the eligibility of loan exemption was enforced, First Class Honours graduates had been exempted from the loan repayment all these while. There had been cases whereby Second Class Upper graduates (whose CGPA was slightly away from First Class Honours) managed to obtain special consideration from PTPTN to repay only 50 percent of the loan. The new condition for loan repayment exemption and the loan conversion in the budget plan of 2010 had eventually left ONLY the First Class Honors graduates who obtained their PTPTN loan after 1 July 2005 and graduated in 2009 not being granted the accessibility to this privilege which had been enjoyed by all the First Class Honors graduates.

5. In my earlier effort to seek assistance from the Honorable Senator A. Kohilan Pillay on this matter, we are informed that the Ministry of Higher Education is studying the explicit impact of the implementation of PTPTN loan repayment exemption for First Class Honors Graduates (letter as enclosed--Please request by email if you wish to have a look at the said letter). However, we had not heard from the relevant office since then.

6. Attached herewith a name list of affected students whom I knew for your reference (confirmed attached, not deciding to reveal here). We sincerely hope that this loan repayment exemption reconsideration could also be extended to all the unnamed students who are affected as well. Your attention to this letter is highly appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance for your kind assistance. We hope to hear from you soon.

Your Sincerely,

(My Real Name...Forgive me as I do not wish to reveal it here) @ TRACY

H/P No.: (Also not consider to reveal here..hehe)

To PTPTN borrowers who graduated with First Class Honours but not entitled to loan exemption:

All these years PTPTN borrowers were exempted from loan payment provided they graduates with a First Class Degree Honours. However, things changed in 2005. If one were to refer to PTPTN website, it was stated that "Exemption of repayment will only be considered for borrowers who obtain first class honours for loans approved prior to 1st July 2005 ONLY by submitting an application". And I was among the unfortunates.

Following the announcement of budget plan of 2010, I sincerely believed that all the university students were delighted by the news that First Class Honours graduates would be exempted from the loan repayment (again). Unfortunately, after checking with the authority from PTPTN, only graduates who complete their study in 2010 are eligible to that privilege. How could this happen? It is extremely unfair to the a few batches of students whose loan was approved after July 2005, and graduated in 2009.

In a letter I received from the office of the Higher Education Ministry recently, it was stated that: "Kementerian sedang mengkaji beberapa impak khusus kepada kerajaan apabila pengecualian daripada membayar balik pinjaman daripada PTPTN bagi pemegang Ijazah Kelas Pertama dilaksanakan. Perkara ini akan dibentangkan kepada YAB Perdana Menteri dan keputusannya akan dimaklumkan kelak."

I hereby appeal to all PTPTN borrowers who graduated with First Class Honours but not entitled to loan exemption to leave me a message, with your name/University/program/graduation year stated. I sincerely hope that we could be connected to each other via FB, united we stand and spell out our wish to be exempted from the loan repayment. I hope that we could at least put up a letter by the second week of June 2010.

Many thanks!

Best Regards,

Tracy

(tracy.gwen@gmail.com)