Miti reaches out to students on TPPA

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) is reaching out to student representatives as part of its outreach programme to brief the public on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
In conjunction with this, Miti held a "TPP Programme With Student Representative Council" townhall meeting involving more than 300 students from public and private universities across the country yesterday.
Speaking at the townhall meeting, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said it is important for the "leaders of tomorrow" to understand what the TPPA is all about.
"We encourage this kind of dialogue and we always welcome views and feedback," he said.
However, two student representatives from Universiti Sains Malaysia said the programme should be done on a bigger scale to enable all students in the country to get the right information on the deal.
They said considering the varied coverage on the deal's implications by several parties, especially through online portals and social media, it was difficult to decide on the merits of the deal.
One of the students, Haja Mydin Abdul Kuthoos, 27, said the government should come out with clearer explanations on the impact of the deal, particularly on its disadvantages, to avoid speculation by other parties.
"Most of us already know about the advantages of the TPPA, but not its disadvantages. Therefore, there is a lot of speculation out there that makes all of us more confused.
"In terms of the intellectual property (photocopying) issue, it was reported that the deal will make textbooks more costly for us, which will definitely burden us, but today we found out that we're allowed to photocopy textbooks if they're for academic purposes," he added.
Haja Mydin said there are many things to be explained further, and suggested the government explain each of the chapters specifically, rather than deliver a generic one.
Meanwhile, Ruziatun Amirah Ismail, 22, said she found the talk useful, as it creates awareness among the students on the deal's real implications, which will affect not only students but the whole country as well.
"Honestly, I haven't really been up to date on the TPP deal, but after the talk I can say that I am much more informed on its benefits," she added.