Greed can blind one’s vision

The following article, which I found at Malaysia-Today touches the morality issue behind our investments in Students Accomodation. Koon Yew Yin is a philanthropist who has donated a lot of money to the development of the UTAR campus in Kampar and provided scholarships to poor and deserving students to study there. He has found that there is a lack of affordable accomodation around the campus and hence offered to donate money to build a hostel for the students. Interestingly, the UTAR board has been slow to accept this donation as there are vested interests who are making huge profits renting properties at high prices to the students.

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On the opposite spectre of it, Taylors College hostel is charging RM870 for a room within campus. This is almost double the cost of accomodation outside the campus. While one might argue that students who study at Taylors are rich while those who go to UTAR are generally poorer, this inevitably affects students welfare and obviously the demographics of students who can afford to live in campus.

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I applaud Koon Yew Yin's intentions. While we are not as wealthy to emulate his examples, I wish that while we investors are in properties to make money, we should be considerate towards the students' welfare too.

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Here have a read:

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GREED CAN BLIND ONE'S VISION

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After receiving confirmation that UTAR has no plans to build hostels, exactly one year ago, on 20th Aug last year, I offered a RM 30 million donation to UTAR to build hostels with all the net profit to go towards building more hostels. (But) for the last one year, it appears as if the Board of Trustees of UTAR has been using various methods to delay or reject my donation offer. Various stakeholders whose names I shall not divulge who own land outside the university campus and are reaping windfall gains from the booming student rental market do not want me to disturb their fantastically profitable real estate business.
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By Koon Yew Yin
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Every past issue of the Ipoh Echo during the past several months has carried an advertisement of my offer of scholarships to help poor students whose family income is less than RM 2,000 per month. In the last three and half years, I have given scholarships to about 70 really poor students and most of them are studying in UTAR Kampar.
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Before the end of the year, my first scholarship holder will be graduating as an accountant. This student had 10A1 for his SPM but failed to receive a scholarship from anywhere. Moreover, his father died soon after he completed his SPM. He is one of many thousands of bright but poor students who do not have the resources to continue their higher education.
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My assistance on its own can only make a small dent in this large scale phenomenon of deserving Malaysian students who cannot further their studies and realize their potential unless the government, private sector and the well-to-do step in to provide assistance.
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Direct financial assistance by sponsors is one way to reach out to the poor and deserving students. There are other ways, including more structured approaches that are available, especially to higher educational institutions that can play such an important role in ensuring equity of access to poor bright students.
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Let me explain one of these structured approaches. There are currently 12,500 students in UTAR and 2,100 students in TAR College. The student population is increasing by 2,000 a year and is expected to hit well above the 20,000 mark soon. As reported the Perak Government has allocated 520 ha of land and UTAR has utilized less than 100 ha. for the current development.
After receiving confirmation that UTAR has no plans to build hostels, exactly one year ago, on 20th Aug last year, I offered a RM 30 million donation to UTAR to build hostels with all the net profit to go towards building more hostels. I have openly declared that my intention is to help the students and I do not want any part of the profit for myself.
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For the last one year, it appears as if the Board of Trustees of UTAR has been using various methods to delay or reject my donation offer. Various stakeholders whose names I shall not divulge who own land outside the university campus and are reaping windfall gains from the booming student rental market do not want me to disturb their fantastically profitable real estate business. Needless to say, whist they are making hay while the sun shines, the tens of thousands of UTAR students and parents supporting them are the big losers.
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Frequently my scholarship holders complain that the amount of money I give them is not sufficient because the room rentals continue to go up. Moreover, they have the constant fear that they might not get a place to stay on their return from the university break period. According to the last check I did, the monthly rental of a twin sharing room was RM 420 some months ago. It may have gone up more since then.
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I have been begging the Trustees of UTAR to accept my donation. To remind them of their fiduciary duty and their vision, I wrote this to UTAR Board of Trustees on 7th Sept 09 which should be of interest to all your readers.
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Advantages of hostel and recreational facilities within the campus:-
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1. To help students especially new ones and those from out of the state to solve their immediate housing problem.
2. The hostel environment is more conducive to learning as well as helping nurture the fuller development of human relationships.
3. There will be more than 10,000 UTAR students next year and all of them will be searching for accommodation. As they will be scattered all over Kampar, the University has practically no control or little control over them after lectures. They are free to drink, gamble and misbehave or engage in unhealthy activities which will influence their future life style. If hostel accommodation is provided, the house masters or wardens will be able to exert an influence over the students and have them engage in more wholesome and educational activities.
4. The rapid increase of the student population has created a big and urgent demand for accommodation and housing developers are taking undue advantage of the situation. Students have the constant fear that their landlords would kick them out or that their tenancies will not be renewed, and many will have to spend much time trying to find new accommodation before the start of the new semester. This situation can be quickly remedied if the UTAR Council accepts my Proposal.
5. University students are always burdened with a lot of difficulties. Many studies have shown that hostel living provides a stress free and healthier living environment, leading to better academic performance and more developed social skills.
6. Most parents will welcome the hostel facilities since they can enjoy peace of mind that their children are staying in the campus in secure and peaceful environments.
7. The problem of commuting between outside place of residence and the campus for students will be resolved. This will help reduce students’ living costs and also save on the time taken to travel to lectures and seminars.
8. Living in a university hostel is often the most pleasurable period of a student’s life. The hostel facilities will generate fellowship and comradeship among fellow students which will bring benefits long after they graduate. This sense of camaraderie will be a key factor in helping ensure strong alumni support for UTAR.
9. The availability of high quality and yet affordable hostel facilities will build up the image of UTAR as well as serve as a major attraction in attracting good students from all over the country and region.

I trust readers who feel as frustrated as I will persuade the leaders of MCA to instruct UTAR Board of Trustees to accept my donation to help students. I would like to complete the introduction I began with this conclusion.

Greed can blind one’s vision but at what price to one’s soul and peace of mind?

Koon Yew Yin