Students raise fund to fight hunger

Students raise fund to fight hunger

BANDUNG: Students from the Bandung Institute of Technology
staged a rally here on Monday to demand the government do more to
fight malnutrition in the country, and to collect donations to
help fight hunger.

They said recent reports of malnourished children only
represented the tip of the iceberg, with many more children than
had been reported by the media suffering from the condition.

Syaiful Anam, who chairs a student organization at the
institute, described the presence of malnutrition in Indonesia as
a preventable tragedy that was in sharp contrast to the
comfortable lifestyles of top officials and lawmakers.

This is happening amid endemic corruption among officials and,
ironically, is taking place despite continual economic growth, he
said.

"The plight of our poor does not discourage others from living
in luxury, and the inability of some people to afford basic foods
does not reduce the number of malls being built in big cities,"
Syaiful said.

The protesters urged the government to take concrete steps to
put an end to malnutrition, and not to issue controversial
policies that could potentially harm the economy. --JP