Education

  Star Education Fair

Sunday October 30, 2005

Adelaide woos Malaysian students

BY NEVILLE D’CRUZ

ADELAIDE, the capital city of South Australia, has embarked on a programme to woo more Malaysian students.

“No other city in Australia has stronger links with Malaysia,” said Adelaide’s Lord Mayor Michael Harbison in an interview with Bernama recently.

Harbison: Adelaide is a fantastic city for parents to send their children to study.
“Adelaide is a fantastic city for parents to send their children to study,” he said.

“Our universities, student accommodation, shopping and cultural centres, and recreational facilities are all within walking distance.

“We offer the best learning environment in Australia and we are proud of this,” he added.

More than 13,000 international students made Adelaide their study destination last year.

“Our plan is to double South Australia’s share of international students in the next 10 years,” said Harbison.

To achieve this, Adelaide has embarked on a huge student-housing programme, worth millions of Australian dollars, which will provide foreign students with affordable accommodation.

The Lord Mayor said he was looking forward to the introduction of post-graduate United States degrees through the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University – an Australian first.

“Carnegie Mellon will lure even more Asian students to Adelaide.

“We are also establishing a Cordon Bleu School – an executive chef school – which should attract about 1,500 students from all over the world. Adelaide is noted for its world-class wineries and this will add value to the Cordon Blue course,” he added.

Adelaide also has an equestrian centre that offers a two-year horse-training course.

There is a strong Australia- Malaysia community support system, with several clubs and organisations taking a keen interest in Malaysian student affairs.

One such example is the Australia-Malaysia Business Council (AMBC), South Australian chapter, headed by Prof Tan Hock Lim, which has a Merdeka awards programme to encourage students to study hard. Each year, three Malaysian students in Adelaide are awarded certificates and AUD$1,000 (RM2,844) each, with a six-month work experience offer at a firm of their choice.

The award, currently in its eighth year, was initiated by AMBC’s (South Australia chapter) former president Chan Wee Kiat, under the patronage of the former Governor of South Australia Sir Eric Neal. Chan is the current deputy president of the national AMBC.

Then there is the Malaysian-run Alexandra Lodge in Rose Park that provides accommodation for 110 students, mainly from Malaysia and Singapore. Hassan Salleh, formerly from Johor Baru, manages the Lodge.

Prominent alumna include Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, and Sabahborn Penny Wong Ying Yen who represents South Australia in the Australian Senate.

Wong first came to Adelaide for her primary education in 1977.

“Penny’s mother, Jane Chapman, is very close to my family. It’s funny – other people see her as Malaysian or Chinese whereas we see her as Australian,” Harbison said.

Wong’s father Francis Wong Yit Shing, an architect in Kota Kinabalu, initially came to Australia under a Colombo Plan scholarship in the 1960s. It was in Adelaide that he met his future wife. – BERNAMA

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