Education

Sunday June 11, 2006

Not getting an accurate picture

Starting university life can be daunting, especially if you are heading for tertiary studies in a foreign country. HARIATI AZIZAN and TAN EE LOO speak to a few international students to see how they prepared themselves before coming here.

LANGUAGE was the first problem that Zayed Haman, 21, from the United Arab Emirates, encountered when he arrived in Malaysia for studies.

“I thought everyone speaks English in Malaysia but when I went to buy a computer, the salesman went on and on in Chinese.

Anis showing international students the new brochures on UCTI.
“When he finished, I said ok, that sounds good, now can you repeat everything, but this time in English?

“He gave me a very angry look and snapped ‘what do you mean? I was speaking English!’” recounts Zayed.

Now in his third year in the country, the engineering student at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) shares that he has learnt to recognise the different accents of Malaysians.

“These are cultural nuances that you can’t really know before coming to the country.”

Getting all the facts

ZAYED: The basic information foreign students receive is of no help.
According to Zayed, his first impression of Malaysia has been proven wrong with time. However, he warns that many international students may refuse to weather the initial shock or disappointment, and decide to leave even before the first week is over.

He also feels the basic information given to foreign students coming to Malaysia to study is of little help.

“The information is more for tourists. For instance, from pictures, I thought that Malaysia was very developed but when I came over, I realised that it is not so.

“I quickly found out that Malaysia is quite backward in some areas. There was also little information on student life, including the cost of living and fees.”

Zayed adds that he almost did not make it to Malaysia because it took so long for the university to send him his admission letter.

“I wasn’t sure if I had obtained a place, so my father pressured me to enrol in a university in Dubai. If international students do not get an answer from Malaysian universities in time, they would go the United States, the United Kingdom or Australia.

Need for branding

Getting all the information by word of mouth is also how Muhammad Anis Ur Rahman from Pakistan found out about University College of Technology and Innovation (UCTI), formerly the Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (Apiit).

“Apiit is well-known in the Indian sub-continent because there are branches in India and Pakistan and its graduates always get good jobs. I joined Apiit in Pakistan and since I've always wanted to study overseas, I asked for a credit transfer to Malaysia,” he says.

After six years, Anis describes himself as a half-Malaysian and is working as an international business development manager at UCTI.

“But when I first told my family I wanted to go to Malaysia, my uncle scolded me. He advised me against it because he said Malaysia is backward and unsafe.

“I think the problem for Malaysia is branding. The Government has to promote higher education in Malaysia as being equal to that in Australia, US or the UK.

“More information is going out now, but there is a lot more to be done,” he says.

Unscrupulous agents

Anis notes that he is one of the luckier ones.

“There are many who are cheated by agents. I think students need to be sure that the colleges they register with can provide the facilities and programmes they want.

“If they find the college is below expectation, students will think of two things – either that they have been cheated or that Malaysian education is below par.

“Agents are motivated by profit – all they are interested in is to get the students to Malaysia as quickly as they can so that they can collect their money. They don’t care if the college is right or wrong for the student,” says Anis.

He suggests that students go directly to the institution instead of rely on agents for information about their study destination.

“UCTI for example, promotes itself abroad so that students need not go through agents and pay commission, and then perhaps end up with the wrong information.

“The students can come directly to us,” says Anis.

“We provide an international handbook online, and also have a strict system of hiring agents. Those who cheat students are dropped.

UCTI also provides training for agents.

“It is important that colleges provide facilities and some special services. Some colleges don’t even provide pick-up service for their new international students from the airport,” he adds.

Food and cultural differences

UCTI student from Kazakhstan Akzhelen Issabayeva says that she had no problems obtaining information on Malaysia before making her way here almost a year ago.

“When I searched the internet for UCTI, I had problems downloading the application form, so I made an appointment with the education counsellor at the Malaysian consulate. He knew all about UCTI and gave me a brochure,” she says.

The 18-year-old says that she has always dreamt of coming to Malaysia for study but her friends were incredulous about her decision.

“When my friends found out that I was going to Malaysia for studies, they couldn't believe it. Malaysia is not known as a study destination, more as a tourist destination.

“There are so many things I was not aware of, like how hot it is and that Malaysia is quite conservative and traditional. That awareness was only gained here through experience, “ she adds.

“The food here is spicier compared to that in Kazakhstan, which is more European.”

But despite the differences Akzhelen does not regret choosing to study in Malaysia.

Peer support and MEPCs

President of the Vietnamese Students Association in Malaysia Tran Duc Tuan says Malaysia should offer more support to international student associations in the country.

“We can play a bigger role in helping Vietnamese students with their applications,” he says, citing language barrier as a major problem for Vietnamese students in accessing information on the Internet.

Tran says he has set up a website to provide more information for students in his home country.

“I try to translate the information on the colleges and universities into Vietnamese so that it is easier for them to understand,” he says.

Vietnamese student Do Thai Son says he knew that there was a Malaysia Education Promotion Centre (MEPC) in Ho Chi Minh City. However, he did not seek information from the MEPC before coming to Malaysia.

“It would have taken me about one-and-a-half hours to go to Ho Chi Minh City by plane, so it was not convenient for me,” says the MBA student from Hanoi.

Instead, he sought advice from friends who were studying in Malaysia on the application process and guidelines.

He believes that the Malaysian government should put in more effort to promote MEPCs as not many students know about them.

A fellow Vietnamese student, who only wants to be known as Lee, says most of his friends did not know about the MEPC office in Ho Chi Minh City.

“Vietnam is a big market but many don't know about Malaysia and are clueless on how to get the information. Malaysia is also promoted as an Islamic country. That puts off many Vietnamese students. Little information is given about its multiculturalism,” he says.

Enwereonye Promise from Nigeria also had a tough time hunting for information.

“I decided to check with the embassy in Nigeria but it was not online. I tried calling several times but I couldn't get through. I became furious and decided to go to the office, which was an eight-hour drive from my city.

“When I got there, they gave me some brochures and I discovered there is a Sedaya College but no UCSI. I was told that the name has been changed but I did not believe them. So I checked on www.studymalaysia.com and phoned the institution to clear my doubts.

“I called UCSI and they gave me the address of their agent. I didn't doubt the agent because at that point, I was communicating with the manager for international student recruitment.

IIUM student Al-Nasser Salahaddin from Djibuti, Africa, also had trouble getting information on Malaysia and its higher education opportunities as there was no one at the Malaysian consulate in the country to advise prospective students.

“Some agents in the college take the opportunity to exploit new students if the foreigners don't speak English, or are unaware of the rules and the regulations about studying in Malaysia,” Al-Nasser says.

He says his cousins were cheated.

“The agent rented a small room for RM800 in Puchong with only a fan for them,” he says.

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Branding Malaysia
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