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