Suburban International Students Trapped Outside the Transport System
18 APRIL 2025
By: WEI LEYI
Editor: XU XINTONG
When students have to repeatedly weigh even the most basic travel methods, how much freedom and possibilities are left in their lives? There is no light rail coverage in Bangi, Selangor, the intervals between railway and bus departures are long, and there are almost no sidewalks. The roads are crowded with fast-moving vehicles. For international students who do not have private cars, it is troublesome to go out wherever they want. Inconvenient transportation brings not only a waste of time, but also a kind of mental fatigue and a restricted lifestyle.
Data from the Ministry of Transport of Malaysia shows that as of March 2025, the utilization rate of public transportation across the country was only 25%. Although the government has built light rail and bus systems in Kuala Lumpur and surrounding cities, most transportation resources are concentrated in the core urban areas. Suburban areas such as Bangi in Selangor often have their transportation system coverage and connectivity ignored.
"It takes me nearly half an hour to walk from my residence to the nearest MRT station. There are no sidewalks along the way, only roads." Hu Jingyi, a Chinese student living in Bangi, said, "Once I walked there to save money on the fare and was almost hit by a car. It was really dangerous."
Hu Jingyi, she usually relies on taxis to go to and from school. "It's eight kilometers from home to school. Under normal circumstances, a taxi ride costs about RM 16, which amounts to RM 200 for a week. If you want to go shopping or meet friends in the city, you have to take a taxi to the MRT station first, take the MRT for an hour, and sometimes you need to take another taxi to the destination. It's time-consuming and expensive to go back and forth." She added, "To be honest, I gradually don't want to go out."
Students who live in the suburbs have begun to quietly adjust their pace of life. They have reduced their original frequent social activities, compressed their plans to go out, and tried to stay in the room to complete things that can be done online. " I used to make appointments with friends to go to KL to see exhibitions and have dinner, but now I don't even want to make appointments." Gong Zhaohe, a UKM student who also lives in the suburbs of Bangi, said, "It's not that I'm not interested, but I'm too tired just to go out."
Chang Jinyi, a female university student, also mentioned that she lacks a sense of security when going out alone at night, and would rather not participate in evening parties just to go home early.
Many students were originally full of expectations for their own university life in a foreign country, but when the actual life was trapped by traffic, this expectation gradually turned into "trying their best to adapt", and the enthusiasm for freely exploring the world was slowly worn away by the exhausting commuting.
The shortcomings of suburban public transportation are obviously not the problem of individual students. The imbalance in the allocation of urban transportation resources has excluded most people far away from the city center from the "convenient living circle". The government should consider planning direct transportation routes covering suburban residential areas, while improving pedestrian facilities to make the suburbs "accessible" and "easy to walk". The city can belong to everyone, and it also allows suburban students to take the first step towards having a complete life experience.
Mengenai kami
Nadi Bangi adalah portal akhbar makmal Program Komunikasi Media, Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Sebarang pandangan atau kandungan yang disiarkan tidak mewakili UKM. Ditubuhkan dengan objektif untuk menjadi suara warga kampus, Nadi Bangi menyajikan laporan berita, rencana khas, serta pandangan kritis berkenaan isu semasa yang berlaku di dalam dan luar kampus.