M'SIAN PM TELLS UiTM STUDENTS, ALUMNI TO REMEMBER BN GOVT'S HELP

JASIN (Melaka, Malaysia), Feb 19 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Najib Razak
Saturday reminded students and alumni of the Mara University of Technology
(UiTM) to remember the good deed of the ruling Barisan Nasional (National
front-BN) government in nurturing them to become successful citizens.

He said the estimated 500,000 UiTM alumni, who now held high positions in
the government and private sectors and were professionals, were products of the
university established by this government.

Many of these people came from ordinary families, among them smallholders,
farmers, fishermen and junior assistants, but today they are successful and hold
high positions because of UiTM, he said at the groundbreaking for the Jasin
campus of Melaka UiTM near here.

The prime minister said the BN government had all along continued to
transform the livelihood of Malaysians through the most effective tool,
education.

He said the government would continue to nurture the estimated 180,000 UiTM
students into making them successful as well.

Najib said the transformation being implemented by the government, including
investment in the education sector, would mould Malaysia into a developed nation
by 2020.

"If there are people who think that Malaysia will go the way of Egypt, I say
that it will not experience any political upheaval because we have met the
expectations of the people.

"We have given the people hope," he said.

The prime minister said there was no reason for the people to hold street
demonstrations or participate in processions when they had a secure future.

"It is our struggle (to ensure they have a secure future)," he added.

The UiTM Jasin campus, to be built on 213 acres (about 85 hectares) at a
cost of RM297 million (US$95.8 million), will be developed by YBK Usahasama Sdn
Bhd and was expected to be ready in three years.

The campus, which will also have a faculty of applied science, a faculty of
farm management and a faculty of computer science and mathematics, will be able
to accommodate 5,000 students.

Also present at the groundbreaking ceremony were the prime minister's wife,
Rosmah Mansor, Melaka Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam and Higher Education
Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin.