Studying in Malaysian university can be breathtaking, and here’s why
My trip to Malaysia was memorable because I was with two young men and two ladies. The fact that we had to stay for more than five hours at Dubai to connect the next plane was exciting. The hours we spent together when we were waiting for the next flight made us to interact with […]
My trip to Malaysia was memorable because I was with two young men and two ladies. The fact that we had to stay for more than five hours at Dubai to connect the next plane was exciting. The hours we spent together when we were waiting for the next flight made us to interact with each other. We were not allowed to go out of the Dubai airport, but it was no big deal because, we could get practically anything we needed at the airport, and it was duty free.
We arrived at our final destination in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The airport is magnificent. We had to take a mono-rail to get to the arrival terminal. The university’s representative was there to help us with immigration formalities. We were given a welcome pack that contained cup noodles and apple when we got into the shuttle bus that came to pick us. Although there was no snow in Kuala Lumpur, there was what they called the monsoon season. That’s the period when Malaysians experience heavy rainfall that could cause severe floods.
On getting to the campus of UCSI University at Taman Connaught Cheras in the capital city of Malaysia, we were paired as two persons to a room in the hostel to stay. The next day was a Sunday and eventful. I met a family friend who had been schooling there for two years. He took me to the main city and we moved from one amazing point to another. The city is beautiful and one of the country’s icons (the twin tower at KLCC) was a sight to behold. One could have a bird’s eye view of the whole city from the top of the tower. There are numerous shopping malls in the twin tower. Most tourists always like to do their shopping there. There is mono rail that goes short and long distances. I was fascinated with their road networks. By Monday, there was a welcome ceremony for new students, followed by an orientation. We were given T-shirts with the university’s logo on them. After that, I started my registration and I had to attend lectures concurrently with it ot. Over there, lectures start on the very first day of a new semester.
There are three campuses of the UCSI University, namely: Sarawak campus, Terengganu campus and Kuala Lumpur campus. I studied at the Kuala Lumpur campus. It is situated on a 19-acre piece of land. The campus is located in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, with convenient access to numerous facilities, including banks, restaurants, transportation services, entertainment, and accommodation. The campus has seven blocks.
Sporting facilities in this campus include: basketball, badminton and squash courts, as well as a gymnasium, a football field, and a swimming pool. Other facilities include the four-level library, an auditorium, a recital hall, a multi-purpose hall, computer laboratories, residential halls, bookstores and cafeterias. Also available on campus is an Apple Experience Centre. The campus faculty facilities include: an anatomy & pathology museum, clinical skills laboratories, a petrochemical laboratory, a physiology & pharmacology laboratory, a molecular biology laboratory, and a microbiology laboratory, fashion design workshops, a psychology laboratory, as well as drafting and design studios.
Due to its rapid expansion, an additional 48-storey building will be built on the existing campus that will include a 5-Star hotel, twelve floors of parking bays and hostel accommodations for UCSI University students, administrative offices, restaurants, a ballroom and also a clubhouse.
UCSI University began as the Canada Institute of Computer Studies, a computer training centre located in SS2, Petaling Jaya. It was named Sedaya College when it was accorded college status in 1989. In 2001, it evolved into Sedaya International College, to reflect its increasing international focus. Accorded university College status in 2003, it soon became UCSI university when it received university status in 2008.
The learning environment is conducive due to the fact that most classes have less than 50 students. This helps for a one-on-one interaction between student and lecturer. For instance, while I was taking a course called Copy Writing, I had to meet my Indian lecturer Dr Subrahn to explain how to design logos and texts that should accompany them. Though he had taken the lecturers previously, I still had to meet him to attend to my specific problems, because it’s part of the duties of lecturers in the university to attend to student after lectures. The system of grouping students to carry out projects helps to develop students inter-personal relationship skills. All the class rooms have projectors, among other visual and audio aids, to enhance learning. For every course, there is a group project and individual project, which are presented in classes, after which, question and answer sessions are carried out to confirm that the students did their research and that they were well prepared before coming to present their project.
It is a must for students to attend all their classes throughout the semester. If a student should miss classes up to five times without a solid reason or a medical card, such student would be bared from writing the examination. That means the student would automatically fail the paper and take the course all over again. Examinations only cover 40% of the marks, while mid-semester test, group project, individual project and presentation cover the remaining 60%. This system is imposed to make sure that students participate in all the school work and not rely on exams to pass. Some courses don’t have final exams, but such courses are packed with different projects and presentation.
There are three semesters in a session. Two long semesters, January – April, May – August and one short semester, September – October. Students are expected to do their IT from November to December. This education training programme will enhance the student’s employability. It integrates classroom learning with work place training. Students must complete two months work experience for every year of study. This will help students to have up to six months working experience and it will prepare them for full time employment.
Students are allowed to evaluate the teaching system, which is done online and it is strictly confidential. This helps the management to know how well the lecturers are performing and how to improve on the students’ learning condition.
The school adopted a programme that is called, Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) it is an academic assistance programme based on Supplemental Instruction (SI), which was developed by Dr Deanna Martin at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC), USA in 1973. This helps students to have a close interaction with their fellow student when it comes to sharing ideas.
Life in school and Malaysia as a whole was interesting. The university has international students from different countries. All of them celebrate their different Independence Days. The country has a lot of tourists attractions that draw a lot of tourist from different countries to visit the beautiful sites. I travelled to Malaka, the historical state of the country. I saw the first boat that sailed to the port of Malaka and I tried their traditional food. I also travelled to Pangkor Island with my coursemates in my first year. We went snookering and we were shown different sea life like sea porcupine and sea cucumber. We went on a banana ride on the sea. We went to the island through ferry and we saw how the fisher men make their catch.
The school celebrates its birthday by organising festival called Unifest. It is celebrated like a life show. Students perform different songs and dance steps. Outside musicians are invited as well to perform. Different games are played and the winners go home with gifts. The festival starts in the morning with the sales of clothes, books, food, pets and souvenirs. The games are also played during the day. Then the concert starts in the evening till late hours. During this festival, students can decide to join any club or sport team of their choice.
Another good thing about the school area is that there are different restaurants and one of them is an African restaurant. This is a joint where most Africans meet at night to socialise. Sometimes, they end up turning the place to where they settle their differences. This act makes the people of Malaysia look at Nigerians as a bunch of trouble makers, who likes disturbing others with loud music. They as well believe that Nigerians sell and take drugs. The perception that they have of Nigerians is nothing good. It is only those who are open minded and close to Nigerians that know it’ not all Nigerians that are involved in anti-social acts.
When I was in my second year, some scholarship students from Nigeria came into the university to study Engineering. They made matters worse with their attitude and lifestyle. They harassed local girls in lift; they would always make noise and fight when they are drunk. This affected the image of Nigerians the more.
An incident happened latter on that made Nigerian students to sit up and put their act together. The scholarship students have a union and the union demanded that their monthly pay should be increased. The Nigeria government granted their request. After this, they requested that their scholarship be transferred to Canada so that they can continue their studies there. The government explained to them that what they asked for could not be done because the first batch of ex-militants sent to Canada was accused of raping women, and that the Canadian government was not willing to accept more of them. The ex-militants decided boycott classes, saying they were on strike.
Generally, the country is a conducive place to study because of the fact that their universities make studying easy. The environment is quiet and the facilities for studying are provided. The ugly part of it is that they don’t give blacks jobs and they expect foreigners to spend their money. However, most Nigerians that are there are not there to study. They look for student visa, simply to be stay back.