Education

Sunday August 7, 2005

Nightmare of orientation

AFTER years of struggling and hard work, my son’s dream of becoming a doctor finally paid off when he was offered a place to study medicine at Universiti Malaya (UM).

The registration for the new students at UM began on July 3, followed by the orientation programme. To the best of my knowledge, the orientation programme is meant to provide information to the new undergraduates pertaining to their studies, to familiarise them with life and the facilities in campus, the rules and regulations, and most importantly, to get to know the senior students. However, instead of a warm welcome from the seniors, the orientation programme has proven to be a nightmare.

The new students were made to perform various silly acts such as bowing to the seniors. They are not to look into the seniors’ eyes or patronise the mini-market for their daily necessities, etc.

Their hand phones were kept by the seniors and they were not allowed to contact their parents, family members, and friends. All these so-called orientation programmes go on until 2am or 3am, and they have to get up by am the next day. They have barely three hours of sleep and no time to do daily chores such as washing clothes. My son is not feeling well now and I am worried about his health both physically and mentally, if this continues.

Life in UM is not what he thought it would be – it's been rather like living together with a group of gangsters or in a secret society. Medical faculty students are future doctors. The university should provide a conducive environment to mould these young, ambitious and energetic people to become thoughtful, considerate, dedicated and patriotic citizens.

They should not live in fear of their seniors and pass on this attitude to the subsequent year’s freshies. I wonder whether these are the traditions of all universities?

Could the UM authorities or someone in the Higher Education Ministry seriously look into this problem and put a stop to it before it becomes worse?

The university should organise educational and motivational programmes for the orientation week which both senior students and fresh undergraduates can look forward to.

UM should prohibit orientation programmes initiated or organised by senior students which could tarnish the good image of this top 100-ranked university.

WORRIED PARENT Via e-mail

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