IIUM Students Raised RM2,500 To Feed Starving Stray Cats On Campus Amidst The MCO
The cats are accustomed to being fed by generous students around the campus.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 25 Mar 2020, 06:29 PM
International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) students have gone viral for raising thousands of ringgit in funds to feed stray cats on their campus
In a tweet published yesterday, 24 March, the IIUM Student Union posted photos of volunteers transporting big bags of dry cat food into the campus.
"We have just received food for the cats all around our campus. Thank you to all donors," read the tweet.
"If we're hungry, so are they. We gotchu kitties!"
At the time of writing, the post has garnered over 2,900 retweets and 3,800 likes.
When the Movement Control Order (MCO) was announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on 16 March, many IIUM students packed their bags and moved back to their hometowns
It is learned that many universities had ordered their students to vacate their dormitories, which forced many students to head home. The move was criticised by the public as the purpose of the MCO was to minimise movement - vacating students was doing the exact opposite.
However, before the Federal Gazette could come to a firm conclusion that interstate travel is banned, many university students had already returned to their respective kampung.
According to Malaysiakini, the IIUM campus in Gombak, Selangor which has over 30,000 students is now left with just 3,500 students.
With over 85% of students no longer on campus, stray cats who relied on students' generosity to fill their stomachs were left starving
Stranded students are still able to gain access to food, albeit with some difficulties, as there are four shops that remain open in IIUM throughout this period.
The stray cats, however, are not so lucky. Hundreds of cats on campus were walking around with empty stomachs since they have grown accustomed to being fed by tens of thousands of kind students.
"There are cats that have not eaten for several days, starving," lamented a concerned fourth-year Information Technology student.
"When we open our room doors, there will be five or six cats waiting for food."
Once the IIUM Student Union learned about the cats' predicament, the group started a campaign to raise funds for their feline friends
IIUM Student Union chief Amir Nadzim Kaharudin told Malaysiakini that they organised a fundraiser two days ago with the support of the IIUM's cat lovers club.
Within a short time, they managed to raise RM2,500 and the entirety of it was spent on buying cat food.
The union currently has 20 volunteers going around campus and feeding these furballs
A volunteer from the IIUM Student Union sending a cat named Abu to the vet after it was bitten by a larger cat.
Image via Twitter @iium_suThe MCO, initially set to end on 31 March, has now been extended by two weeks following Muhyiddin's announcement today, 25 March.
Amir said the union is currently recruiting more volunteers.
"We are still looking for volunteers because there are many cats here," said the 23-year-old union chief.
"We will try to feed the cats at every college every day, InsyaAllah."
