Reports emerged yesterday that eighteen Bhutanese students have been left stranded in Malaysia after being duped by an education consultancy firm that promised visas and university placement in Malaysia.
KuenselOnline, a Bhutanese news blog, reported that all the students had used the services of Drupthop Education Consultancy & Placement Firm (Drupthop ECPF), winner of Least Catchy Con Company three years running. Their parents are meeting with government officials this week to facilitate their safe return.
Each student paid upwards of RM18,600 (US$4,300) to Drupthop ECPF owner Chhimi Rinzin for tuition and student visa fees, for what they believed would be a two-year course in hospitality management. With an average annual yearly salary of US$2,800, many of the students had taken out loans to cover the costs.
Rinzin has had legal action taken against him in Bhutan by parents of five students who managed to make their way back from Malaysia. The courts had ruled that he was to repay the money taken from the five, but disappeared before a third payment installment was made. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
Bhutanese officials came to Kuala Lumpur to check on the condition of the stranded students after the five who returned alerted authorities that others were still stuck.
Education ministry official NB Raika met with them, and reported that “five of them were staying idle in an apartment without any work.” Probably catching up on all the great treasures that daytime Malaysian television has to offer, while other had found part-time work, albeit illegally.
Six wanted to return home, as they did not feel safe in Malaysia.
Bhutan, famously, measures their citizens’ prosperity not through monetary values, but via a gross happiness index that sees over 90% of their citizens reporting themselves as “narrowly, extensively or deeply happy.” Leave it to Malaysia to rain on their parade.
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