Stranded in India: Malaysian student thanks MCA Youth chief Nicole Wong upon successful return



(Kuala Lumpur, 5 Apr) When India implemented a 21-day nationwide lockdown to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, 43 Malaysian medical students who were stranded in Manipal since 26 March 2020, managed to secure a flight back home through the intervention of MCA Youth National Chairperson Nicole Wong Siaw Ting who notified Wisma Putra of the students’ predicament. Relieved at having arrived safely on our tanahair, one of the students expressed her gratitude to Nicole for the latter’s help.

In a Facebook posting, a student by the name of Jolin Tan on the afternoon of 4 April 2020 wrote:

“Thanks Nicole Wong and her team for your deep concern, convey our message, make arrangement and follow up on the issue. We are now back to Malaysia and stay quarentine. Our parents can finally be relief and sleep well. Thanks a lot for your care and stay with us (sic).”

According to news reports, the 43 students completed a two-and-a-half-year stint with the Faculty of Medicine on 16 March 2020. They were scheduled to return to Malaysia on 18 March 2020 but their flights were suddenly cancelled. They continued to make reservations with other flights or airlines, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all flights were eventually shelved.

In an interview with China Press  on 27 March 2020,  Nicole said that this group of students had already registered with the Malaysian High Commission in India to prepare for the evacuation of Malaysians and the departures were carried out in batches. But when India suddenly announced the closure of its borders, this resulted with the remaining students being denied the opportunity to board the plane before India’s borders were shut.

Nicole Wong successfully contacted student leaders and learned that there were 43 students stranded in Manipal. As soon as possible, she notified Wisma Putra which then coordinated with the authorities to assist the students to return home.

Nicole Wong Siaw Ting
MCA Youth National Chairman

-MCA online-