Communications and multimedia minister Annuar Musa said many of the applicants were undergrads from the B40 (low-income) category.

“I was informed in six to seven hours, we received 27,000 applications online. It was an overwhelming response,” he said, Bernama reported.

The Malaysian Family Student Device programme was announced in the 2022 federal budget tabled in late October. About 350,000 students from the B40 families undergoing diploma and bachelor’s degree courses would benefit.

Details of the devices have not been announced. However, Annuar recently displayed photographs of portable computing devices which appeared to be similar to tablet or notebook computers.

It was reported yesterday that the devices, to be distributed in June, would be “of superior quality” and from renowned manufacturers.