Police to act against abuse of BB1M

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 27, 2012) : Police will act against students who sell or auction off the 1Malaysia Book Voucher (BB1M) given to them by the government, in order to get cash.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar said the book voucher worth RM200 should be used by the recipients for the actual purpose.

"But when there are reports saying that some recipients have sold their book voucher to make a quick buck, we will investigate and we will see what appropriate action to take against those who have abused this facility.

"We will also see whether we should refer the cases to the Higher Education Ministry or to act on the cases ourselves," he said after attending a police leadership and mosque activities promotion programme at Al-Imam As-Syafie Mosque in Taman Maluri, Cheras, here, today.

Also present was Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Mohmad Salleh.

Khalid said the recipients should not misuse the BB1M as it must only be used to buy books for the their own good and to lighten their financial burden in buying books.

There have been reports of students selling or auctioning off their book voucher at a lower amount than RM200 through the Internet in order to get quick cash.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when tabling the 2012 Budget last year, announced that the government would give a RM200 book voucher to all Malaysian students at the public and private higher learning institutions, and those doing matriculation or in Form Six, and the voucher could not be exchanged
for cash.

At the function, Khalid also urged the public to establish close cooperation with police by channelling information that could enable the police to act efficiently against crime.

Earlier, he had a question-and-answer session with residents of Taman Maluri on crime in the area. - Bernama