Kindly allow me a space to add my voice to that of the concerns raised by the Higher Education Ministry of Malaysia that African students have been given a bad press image in Malaysia.

The facts cannot be denied because the newspapers in Malaysia and some of the writers of these stories do not even know that Africa is a continent and not a country because they have consistently used the name Africa as if Africa is a country.

They cannot differentiate that Africa is a continent made up of 53 different countries just like Asia and they always write in the newspapers an 'African man' has done this or that.

Such write- ups have no credibility with any African who reads it except to please those who are not aware that the identity of the offender(s) cannot be substantiated and to those with evil intentions on innocent Africans in Malaysia.

Again, most Malaysians hate Africans for no reason forgetting that there are Malaysians living or studying in other countries around the world and they expect the people in these countries to respect, accommodate, like and accept Malaysians.

I have experienced on countless occasions when drivers and motorists drove into me because I was walking by the road side and some even threatened me by blaring the horns of their cars simply because they see you walking and this gives me the fear that its dangerous to walk in Malaysia as an African not to mention the abuse on the public buses.

Also, the press has over the years fed the Malaysian public with a bad image of Africans and therefore they have taken these stories and believe that every African they see in Malaysia is either a bastard, homeless, hungry, aimless or has no moral standing to be accepted into any society so they better kill that person or do away with him or her by any foul means.

I'm not saying that every African is an angel right but if the reporters are able investigate their stories, they will know what and how to write it and that will give credibility and professionalism to the story.

But as I write this story, there is a Malaysian family who has been staying in my grandparents' home back in my country for more than eight years now and a staff of TV3 also staying in my brother's house and nobody has troubled or hated them.

However, if you want to rent a house or a room in Malaysia, the owner will tell you 'I want to rent to a certain race only or a local only' or 'you pay me three months' deposit plus one month utilities' and then he or she will triple the normal price of the house or the room.

Well, all said and done, Malaysians and the press in Malaysia should learn about Africa and know that the continent is made up of 53 countries and therefore they must be precise and able to write stories of whomsoever they find to be doing the wrong thing and not just say 'African man' as it will be unfair to say 'an Asian man' - where is he from in Asia?

And when all this bad reportage is corrected, the public will stop their ill behaviour towards the Africans who are innocent and who are here for studies the purpose of which colleges and universities in Malaysia went all the way to Africa to ask them to come and study here in

Malaysia.