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Sunday, June 24, 2007

6 Things You Should Know before Stepping Into Local Public University

Posted by Chong

1. The university orientation week will be your unforgettable experience of your lifetime – or so we heard. You are going to listen to various formal talks and play many activities and games during the orientation week. The arrangement of programme for orientation week is usually tight and hence you might not have enough sleep. Consequently, those who are weak will fall sick and eventually get homesick. Falling sick at a new place that you have yet to acclimatize to will be nightmare for many. So, I would strongly advise you to bring along necessary drugs like paracetamol and vitamin pills for your own good.

2. Besides, non-Muslim will be sharing the same hostel room with non-Muslim and otherwise. For non-Muslims, it is your luck if your roommates are of different races from yours. It might be another experience of a lifetime for you since you can learn a lot from each others, a priceless chance for you to become more tolerant and open-minded. Take good care of your roommates and yourselves.

3. You might have heard the chilling stories of seniors acting in discourteous ways to treat (or to threaten?) the juniors – the poor year-one undergraduates. To what extent these stories are true? I do not know for sure since I am just an upper sixth former this year.

4. A very serious event during which you will see vice chancellor, deputy vice chancellor and other main administrators during the orientation week will be the signing of Surat Akujanji and swearing to adhere to the rules in it. What is Surat Akujanji? Read it yourselves before you decide to sign. What will happen if you choose not to sign? You will be able to tell us after that event.

5. Different universities will have different definition for proper attire. Some universities have loose rules for attire while some very strict. Sometimes it depends on the lecturers. For certain universities, if you are not wearing proper attire, you will be unable to take the university’s buses or see the doctors at the university. Many local public universities impose fines on undergraduates not wearing in the attire allowed by the rules.

6. You can see the doctors and dentists at the health centre (Pusat Kesihatan) of your university for free since you have paid the fees when semester starts.

I am sure I have left out many other things that one should know before stepping into the local public university due to fact that I am still an upper sixth student. Any Malaysia Students reader cares to offer more insights on this topic?

If you are to be enrolled into local public universities next week and feel that you have learned something from this post, would you please share your orientation week experiences with Malaysia Students readers once you have gone through it by leaving your comments?

Related Posts:
First Year Experience at University Putra Malaysia (UPM)
Definitive Guide to University Malaysia Sabah (UMS)
University Technical Malaysia Malacca
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Comments
11 Comments

11 comments:

  1. those past old ragging stories are history liao...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i am joinig nottingham malasysia . is there serious ragging happenig their

      Delete
  2. Indeed, the orientation is the living-hell that most local undergraduates has to endure. (Kudos, to those who chose to skip it)

    I for one, had the misfortune of being assigned to the most "skema" and rigid residential college in a local uni. The seniors DEMANDED that we must bow our head the instant we meet them. (haven't they heard of "respect should be earned, not order?") Furthermore,` I couldn't find any reasons that they deserved my respect. They cursed, belittled us and called us "a bunch of ignorant fools - apa-apa pun tak tahu, bodoh sangat! Tahu baca buku saje, sosial skill tak de" for no apparent reason.

    No wonder, most of my friends applied to stay out of campus after their first/second semester.

    However, there is a bright side to this, you get to know more friends (juniors and seniors) and live to tell the tales when you graduated.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ok, the first few days i hated the orientation week. but after a while, i felt sad that it was about to end! you meet people from other faculties, seniors and other people you might never get a chance to know after the orientation week. yes, i didn't have enough sleep and i missed a few prayer times due to the packed schedule. we had a night hunt activity which required some of us to crawl in a puddle of mud. at first, i was hesitant but after thinking more than twice about doing it, i felt it was worth it! the seniors were so nice and the way they treated us made us forget sometimes that they are also students of the universities! even graduates came to witness some of the interesting activities such as the performance night where we must perform on stage and dance and sing (the theme for th eperformance was musical drama). the only drawback of the orientation week was the lack of sleep and the dress code. i pity those who missed the whole week of orientation b'coz they could never have an experience like this ever again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was a 2004 entry student of a local U. The ragging part really was history for my U, I wasn't sure for other U. And I found that orientation week was a memorable one. I didn't mind staying with other ethnic groups, but I stayed with a Chinese. The schedule was really packed, but useful for us as part of the U. They had taught us how to fill up PTPTN form, how to use the OPAC (library searching system)and introduce us all kinds of extra curricular activities, and also PALAPES. The orientation week was mainly focused on academic side, the societies, clubs and student bodies such as Persatuan Peranakan Kelantan or religion related societies would start their activities after the first week of orientation. As I said earlier, I only stayed in the hostel for four days, then at the end of orientation week, they shifted us to another new blocks of hostels. Quite a different experience too, as all my friends from other U wouldn't experience that.
    Overall, orientation week is the fastest way to know the campus, they bring you along the whole campus, which you might not even get to know the whole campus from your friends, and they will point out the rules they want you to follow. My advice, don't miss out orientation week, as I got the chance to know my campus well in the first two weeks because of it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. hey..i just need help on the course i wanted to take..i am thinking of taking mass communication public relation..but i am not sure of the job opportunity in Malaysia..and it would be helpful if u guys give me some websites related to searching like this information...thank you..

    ReplyDelete
  6. So far , there is no interview conducted for selection of critical courses in Public gov universities . Courses like Phamarcy and medicine even accept students with a band 3 in MUET. As a result, they have to resit for the MUET to qualify for the proficiency in English.

    Of course, besides the over stressing and stressing of the importance of Cocu and academics performance, our Ministry of higher education should revamp and reconsider their prerequisites for the admission into local universities. There are doctors who are not qualified, there are even a phamacist who hardly cant speak the basic english.

    Should it be an interview conducted as a prerequisite for the admission into certain courses in local public universities? Since to propel our local universities into a greater height of global achievements, a proper selection of courses especially the critical one , should be revamp all over again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree, but I doubt it will make a difference... as malaysian's culture, everything will go undercarpet sooner or later... haha

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am a form six student year2008. i had applied for IPTA and waiting to enter in local u(but stil do know yet), in other hand , i applied for the star education fund and i called to interview this . from this ,what should i do ?

    ReplyDelete
  9. U mean, your scholarship interview? Just be well prepare for the interview, choose the course u wishes the most, as far as I know, the scholarship offer places in private college, so you've a chance to choose what you want to study...

    PS: I came across 8tv and Genting Group offering scholarships too...

    ReplyDelete
  10. I just finished my SPM. I have really thought of becoming a speech therapist. Unfortunately, there's only one university offering speech science degree in Malaysia, which is UKM. Is there any other pathway for me to pursue my degree in this field if I were to study within Malaysia? And is it ALWAYS possible for me to get a chance to get into UKM if I did my Pre-U course well even if I am a non-muslim student? What is the suitable course to choose to enter public U besides STPM? South Australian Matriculation or Canadian Pre-U Matriculation will do just fine? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

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