Education

  Star Education Fair

Sunday November 29, 2009

Identifying future leaders

By RICHARD LIM

WORKING on an oil rig isn’t something many would relish, but Gan Hui Ling, 23, enjoyed her stay and made full use of her offshore experience.

Spending a week aboard the Bunga Raya Platform – located in the overlapping maritime zone of Malaysia and Vietnam – the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Bioprocess Chemical Engineering final-year student familiarised herself with the processes and equipment aboard the rig.

Though thankful that she wasn’t claustrophobic, Hui Ling’s only gripe was the rig’s limited space, which raised some accommodation problems.

Hui Ling says that the scholarship award gives her more motivation for her final year.

Her one week on the rig was part of her internship with Talisman Malaysia Limited, the national division of the oil and gas company from Calgary, Canada.

And if the experience wasn’t good enough, Hui Ling had more reason to smile as she received a scholarship from the company, which covers the final year of her degree.

“I’m happy to receive the scholarship as Talisman is a prominent oil and gas company with extensive operations in the region,” she enthused.

“This award gives me more motivation to obtain good results in my final year. I’ve got six more months to go and I’m looking forward to work with the company.”

Hui Ling will be attached to the company for 15 months, and if all goes according to plan, she will handle operations engineering, reservoir engineering and inspection duties.

And this could mean going out to oil rigs to check their condition on a more regular basis.

“Living on a rig was exciting and educational the first time, but I’m not sure how things will be if I do that on a regular basis,” she said. “Perhaps I can go offshore once in a while.”

Covering the full and normal duration of a recipient’s course, the scholarship addresses tuition and exam fees, living allowance, book allowance, a one-off allowance for computer and printer purchase, and costs incurred during specific course requirements such as field work.

The scholarship programme was developed in collaboration with UTM, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Malaya (UM). It focuses on niche areas relevant to the company’s operations in Malaysia, namely geology, geophysics, and petroleum and chemical engineering.

Wright and special advisor to the Higher Education Minister Prof Dr Raduan Che Rose (in striped tie) with the scholarship recipients.

Sixteen scholarships were handed out at this year’s awards ceremony. UTM was well represented with eight students receiving scholarships while UM and USM had five and three recipients respectively.

Talisman vice-president Jonathan Wright applauded the quality of the students and said in jest that he was glad that he wasn’t competing against them.

“This year marks the second year of our scholarship programme and we’re proud to underpin Malaysia’s future and that of our company as well by identifying future leaders,” he said.

“Speaking from experience, I’m sure that these students will make good hires upon graduation. Sometimes, we think that we’re just bringing them in to learn a thing or two, but they’ll catch us with provoking questions. And their work is good, too.”

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