SHAH ALAM, Oct 25 — The Selangor government is prepared to bring back all the students who were stranded at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Thursday (October 23), allegedly due to issues involving their travel agency’s management.
Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said they will contact the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta for the next steps to be taken regarding the matter.
“We will contact the embassy (in Jakarta) to see whether they need any help to bring them back. The state government is willing to charter a flight or make other arrangements to bring them home.
“I will check later with the school and the ministry (Ministry of Education) if any support is needed. We are ready to help bring them back. I believe there are issues we need to address,” he said.
He told reporters this after officiating the 2025 Selangor state-level Festival of Ideas (FOI) at Dewan Agung Tuanku Canselor, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) here today.
Yesterday, the media reported that, in the 3 pm (local time) incident, 61 students from Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Taman Selasih and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bukit Kapar were stranded for over three hours at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after the travel agency failed to turn up to help sort out their transport and accommodation matters.
Also present at the two-day FOI 2025, which began today, were Higher Education Ministry director-general Datuk Prof Azlinda Azman and UiTM vice-chancellor Datuk Prof Shahrin Sahib@Sahibuddin.
The FOI Selangor showcases various events, including pitching of ideas sessions, leadership forums, research exhibitions, community workshops and knowledge transfer activities involving the participation of students, industries and government agencies.
Amirudin also officiated the launch of the inaugural Selangor International Drone Cup 2025. About 50 local and international professional racers are competing in the two-day event, which began today at the UiTM Sports Complex in Shah Alam.
The foreign participants are from South Korea, China, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.
The inaugural edition is jointly organised by Persatuan Pengusaha dan Penggerak Industri Drone Malaysia (MyDrone), UiTM and Malaysia Sports Aviation Federation (MSAF).
In addition to promoting drone sports in Malaysia, the inaugural edition is also in line with the Visit Selangor 2026 campaign, which is aimed at promoting Selangor as a venue for organising international sports in the Asian region. — Bernama
