Studying in Malaysia – Why so?

In 2011, it was reported that there were more than 90,000 foreign students in Malaysia and Malaysia has become the 11th most sought after country for tertiary education amongst international students. But what makes Malaysia stand out from the rest? Why did these students choose Malaysia as their destination to further their education? Well, these are their stories.

When Alua Tussupbekova, a sweet girl from Kazakhstan decided to study in Malaysia, her decision was solidly based on the fact that she able to get good quality education at a discounted price without sacrificing the quality of the education. Even though Malaysia was not her first choice but after being here for a while, she was glad she did choose Malaysia. This is because being a Muslim girl, a foreign country can be a very challenging place to live in but since Malaysia is a Muslim country, she felt that she blended well with the locals and found ease walking on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Majoring in Finance from Monash University Malaysia, she found life in Malaysia very interesting and warming. Everywhere she went, she was met with friendly faces and kind voices saying “Hi” to her, making her feel welcomed. Like anywhere else in the world, Malaysia has a wide variety of local food and international delicacies to choose from so satisfying her taste buds was really easy. But most of all, she is able to find “halal” food almost everywhere she goes and for her that is a great deal breaker.

Alua added:

“As a student, you have very tight budgets but almost everything in Malaysia is affordable if you know where to look. But In Malaysia that is not an issue at all. For me, studying in Malaysia has been a great experience without putting a hole to my parents’ pocket.”

As for Wang Gang from China, all he ever wanted to do after he finished high school in China then further his studies in a foreign country to get different experience or at least, get more exposure so he be better equipped himself for today’s global challenges. He wanted to study somewhere closer to home and wanted a place whereby English is widely spoken and an affordable cost of living and education. He had heard many great things about Malaysia especially on the diverse culture that somehow resemble his own and therefore chose to enroll in the Business Degree Programme with HELP University Malaysia in 2008.

“The similarity in culture has always made Malaysia feel like home to me and almost everywhere I go, if I did not know the English word, there are always people who can converse in mandarin as well. So, they will just ask me to say it in Mandarin, so communication is not a problem here to me,” Wang Gang added.

Life as a business student was a breeze for Wang Gang that he decided to continue his Masters degree in the same university, Wang Gang is now planning to get some working experience in Malaysia once he finishes his Masters before he heads back to China to start his career.

Similar to Wang Gang, Dedi Purwanto from Indonesia blended in immediately the moment he stepped off the aeroplane. Because of his boyish Malay looks, he is often mistaken as a local student by the locals. Dedi is currently a final year student majoring in Software Engineering Degree from INTI International University. Drawn to the rapid advancement of the coolest IT gadgets and software of the century, Dedi decided to make his future all about it and pursued his studies in the area of software engineering.

“I did scout around for the same courses in local universities in Indonesia, but could not find anything with matches my interest, so I decided to scout internationally but wanted to look for a place that will be close to home, geographically and culturally. I’m so glad that I was able to find a course here in Malaysia because its culture and language are so similar to my homeland,” Dedi explained.

Upon completing his studies, he was thrilled to be given a chance to do his internship with a fast growing MSC status company right here in KL. His studying and internship experience in Malaysia has certainly equipped him with the skills that he needs to excel in his career when he goes back to Indonesia. He feels that Malaysia has provided a very affordable and quality education by accredited world- class institution with a fraction of the price. To him, his decision to study in Malaysia was the right one because of its similarity in culture, religion and language.

“Here, I never felt like a foreigner because the Malays here look and almost talk like me, except I have a different accent and slang. To most of my Malaysian friends, I’m just another Malay brother with a cool accent,” he claimed with a grin.

There will always be various reasons why people choose to study and stay in a place but for these foreign students, Malaysia is seen as an education hub that provides good quality education at an affordable price with friendly people, diverse traditions and rich cultures.

To some it all, Malaysian hospitality has certainly rubbed off on these students and we are happy that they’ve had a great and unique experience in Malaysia.