Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) has confirmed that one of its sponsored students, Amirul Ashraff Md Azhar, 22, died at his residence in Sydney, Australia yesterday morning.
Mara, in a statement, said that based on information obtained from authorities, Amirul Ashraff’s death was due to falling off the building.
“Overseas Mara officers in Australia rushed to the scene shortly after the incident was reported, for identification purposes.
“Mara wishes heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased,” the statement said.
Amirul was believed to have fallen from the 23rd floor of the apartment, Utusan Online reported.
According to the statement, Mara with the help of the embassy there, will ensure that arrangements to bring the body back commence as soon as the post-mortem is concluded.
“Mara will manage the process of bringing back the body before it is handed over to the family for burial,” the statement said.
The former Langkawi Mara Junior Science College student from Taiping was in his final year of a Mechanical Engineering degree course at the University of Technology Sydney.
Amirul’s father, Md Azhar Hasbullah, 48, said he got to know about the incident involving his son after being contacted by Mara officials from Australia yesterday afternoon.
He said Amirul Ashraff was the eldest of three siblings, and had just celebrated his 22nd birthday on July 30.
“His birthday was the last time I got in touch with him,” he said, adding that the burial process was expected to take place in Taiping.
According to Utusan Online, Amirul’s mother Zunaidah Ahmad, 46, said that her son had told her that he had failed five subjects and needed to appeal to Mara.
“He had appealed to Mara and I feel he was under pressure. Nonetheless, I am awaiting further information from officers over there,” Zunaidah was quoted as saying.
She added that her son had never mentioned other problems during his stay in Australia.