By Azman Zakaria
Photo by Mohd Hasrul Hamdan
SERDANG, 22 Feb - Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) students can now obtain their lunch and dinner through online orders, delivered directly to them without the need to go to a café or food stall.
The first ever food delivery service called the ‘Putra Food Delivery’, is a food preparation transformation aimed at saving time for students who are busy with daily routines and helping students without transportation.
It is also a form of entrepreneurial platform exploration that directly creates an entrepreneurial culture among students who become ‘delivery boys’ or food conveyors, helping to generate side income.
The Student Affairs Division (BHEP) and UPM Student Council implemented the programme in collaboration with several food entrepreneurs around UPM campus and Serdang.
UPM Deputy Vice Chancellor (Students’ Affairs & Alumni), Prof. Dr. Mohd. Roslan Sulaiman said that surveys would be conducted from time to time to ensure the quality of food prepared by the food operators involved is always at a good level.
Through the ‘Putra Food Delivery’ service, those who wish to place an order only need to state the type of food, dishes and beverages using the online application that is currently under development, which has the phone numbers of the ‘delivery boys’. Currently, orders are placed using the WhatsApp application.
Reservations for lunch are open from 9am to 11am, and the food will be delivered between 1pm and 2pm, while dinner reservations are from 5pm to 7pm, and the meals would be delivered between 8pm and 9pm. The price of food is within the students’ affordability range, which is about RM5. Services are extended to weekends.
Prof. Dr. Mohd. Roslan said, a total of 13 students had expressed interest in becoming delivery boys within a few days since the service was introduced on 20th February.
He said that each delivery boy could only send three orders at a time because the special bag created to hold food packages could only fit three sets of food and beverage packages.
The idea to implement ‘Putra Food Delivery’ came as a result of observations that found many students going out of campus to buy food, he said, adding that a ‘delivery boy’ should have a motorcycle and a relevant driving license.
Second year student from the Faculty of Design and Architecture (FRSB), Asyraf Norhanif who became a ‘delivery boy’ said, his part-time job does not interfere with his studies as he does it only during his free time and when he has no classes.
“In addition to helping fellow students who want food delivered to them, this can also help increase my pocket money,” he said. - UPM
