Kad Diskaun Siswa 1Malaysia (KADS1M) HOAX

I'm writing this not for myself, but for a friend of mine who felt cheated by another programme of 1Malaysia designed by Najib, Malaysian Prime Minister.

I believe most of Malaysian full time students who currently pursuing higher education with minimum 1 year term (certificate, diploma, degree, masters, phd) in Malaysia are aware of Malaysia Student Discount Card (Kad Diskaun Siswa 1Malaysia, or KADS1M). KADS1M are given for free to students, with the objective to help undergraduates and students at private and public education institutions of higher learning to reduce the daily cost of living. Sounds cool isn’t it?

2 weeks ago my friend has received her KADS1M for free. Of course she’s happy to receive that card because there is a long list of attractive privilege for the card holder, including offer 50% discount for firefly fare. So my friend checked the normal fare via firefly website, flying from Senai to Subang which cost RM189.90. She was thinking that it’s pretty awesome since she can save more than RM90. The first problem is that she can’t book online, but to travel all the way to Senai airport (which is 40km away) but that’s okay since she can save RM90.

So we are here in Senai. Guess what? The guy at counter told her that the discount only applies to student fare. Okay, fair enough but how much exactly is the student fare? It’s RM432! This is more than double than original fare. Okay what happen if she were to use her KADS1M card? She would end up paying RM216, which is more expensive than the original fare. Well, reduce the daily cost of living eh? But what makes her feel better was the respond from that Malay guy from the counter. He felt sorry, and he said, “that’s why we must UBAH.”

If you are also holding the KADS1M, I’m sure you have similar experience – feeling cheated. I did some research online and found out that many are having similar experience. Not a big issue, we can always go for cheaper substitute such as buses. This is just one tiny little bit of the empty promise that the current ruling party has for us, of all other empty promises that have made us suffer for the past 55 years. Enough is enough.

UBAH. INI KALI LAH!