3 Misconceptions in Indonesia About Studying in Malaysia

Language

When my relatives found out about me studying in Malaysia, most of them said: how is it? Okay, right? Suppose to be an easy adaptation because Malaysia’s language (which is Malay) is more or less the same with Indonesian language, right? Not really. Some words are really different. Here some words that might useful to know before fellows use it.

• Budak – in Malay, budak means child/kid, but in Indonesia, it means slave, so fellows, don’t be offended if some Malaysian called us “budak-budak” Indonesia because it means Indonesian children or kids.
• Comel - in Indonesia, “comel” means someone who cannot keep secret while in Malay “comel” means cute or pretty. So, fellow, don’t be offended when Malaysian call you com :D
• Seronok - in Indonesia, seronok is a bad word because it means something to do with pornography while for Malaysia, seronok means good, enjoyable.
• Kereta- kereta” in Indonesia means train while in Malay, “kereta” means car.
• Bilik - “bilik” in Malay means room, while for Indonesia, “bilik” means a really small modest house.
• Pusing - “pusing” in Indonesia means headache. In Malay, “pusing” usually use when you want to turn around or just walking or driving around (pusing-pusing).
• Percuma - fellows, if in Indonesia, “percuma” means useless, for Malay, percuma is something that we like because it means free of charge etc

Politics and discrimination

As we know, fellows, the relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia has always colored with a kind of cold war even include cyber war where Indonesian and Malaysian keep taunting or mocking with each other not to mention the fight about culture. So, some people think those Indonesians who want to study in Malaysia or already become students in Malaysia do not have nationalism toward Indonesia. Moreover, many parents afraid to send their children to study in Malaysia because of rumor about Indonesia students will be discriminated because of the bad relationship between the two countries. Well, as an Indonesia who already studied in Malaysia, I have to disagree with this. Fellows, for us who already studied in Malaysia, being abroad and far from your family and country, our nationalism will be greater instead of lowering. It is because when we in the middle of international environment, we want to show that Indonesia also has something to be proud of. At least, this is what happened in my university where Indonesian students have an organization which wants to show the beauty of our culture. Even during Independence Day, Indonesian students will celebrate it in the university where we do a ceremony with Indonesia’s flag flapping proudly and it is continued with the traditional competition like is done in Indonesia, and we invite our foreign friends to participate. So, we can say it proudly that studying in Malaysia has nothing to do with lower nationalism. Next, fellows, do not be afraid about discrimination. I have been living and studying in Malaysia for 3 years and not even once, I suffer discrimination. I cannot say there will be no single person who discriminate Indonesians but fellows, you have to remember, all the people around you during study are educated people. Educated people judge based on what we achieve not on where we come from. Hence, work hard, prove that we are good and nobody will discriminate us.

Post power syndrome and quality

Many people especially the “baby boomer” (60s-70s) still think that Malaysia does not have a high quality education because during their time, many Malaysian studied to Indonesia. Most of them said “Last time, they studied from us. So, why now, you want to study to them? It’s not right!!” This is the post power syndrome which affects their perspective on quality. The past is the past. We have to realize now, Malaysia together with Singapore recently have been regarded as important hubs of regional and international knowledge and they have world-renowned local universities offering high quality education (Rogers, 2010). So, its education surely has good even high quality.

Source:

1. Personal experience
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differences_between_Malaysian_and_Indonesian
3. http://www.alloexpat.com/malaysia_expat_forum/bahasa-melayu-vs-bahasa-indonesia-is-there-a-difference-t34831.html
4. http://www.livinginindonesiaforum.org/showthread.php/17957-Bahasa-Malaysia-vs-Bahasa-indonesi
5. http://edukasi.kompasiana.com/2011/05/03/kuliah-di-malaysia-antara-cinta-dan-benci/
6. http://graduateschool.topuniversities.com/articles/asia/asia-and-australasia-emerging-destinations-international-graduate-students