Deadline for Varsity applications

16 March 2009

THE deadline for online application to enter public institutions of higher learning (IPTA) for Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) holders is March 23.

The Higher Education Ministry said in a statement that the applications could be submitted by calling the ministry at 03-8883 5801, 03-8883 5802 and 03-8883 5848 or via email at 
upu@mohe.gov.my.

Those wishing to enter Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) can apply directly through the university’s website at 
pohon.usm.my.

Meanwhile the deadline for online applications to enter public institutions of higher learning for holders of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or its equivalent for the 2009/2010 academic session is March 25.

The online application allows applicants to submit one application and three updates until the closing date.

Applicants need to buy only one unique ID number costing RM10.60 at Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) counters throughout the country, using the ATM or SMS banking for BSN account holders.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications early.

Those who had applied for courses before the results were out are allowed to update their choice of courses based on their actual results.

For enquiries, please contact the ministry at the numbers mentioned above.

What is Environmental Health?

The SPM results will be announced shortly in just a few days. Many students are probably wondering if they can ever continue their studies and achieve their desired goals in life. When I completed my SPM, I felt totally lost. During my time, choices were scarce and getting educational loans were limited to the maximum. I was seriously interested in Law but my personality did not suit for such a course. So, I perfectly understand the feelings of thousands of SPM leavers at this very moment. What we must realize at this stage is that it is definitely a very crucial time. Basically students are at the crossroads of life. A single mistake can cause drastic side effects. Therefore, it is time to evaluate and discover your true self and goals.

In order to guide students make clear decisions, this is just a brief overview of information gathered for an interesting course currently available with full financial assistance via PTPTN –Diploma in Environmental Health.

A definition of 'Environmental Health' 

'Environmental Health' as a term is not easy to define. If one were to refer to the 'health of the environment' it might even be possible to do so without reference to a particular species i.e. Homo sapiens. Even if one wanted to define the term with special reference to human health - as it is used in this website, this still leaves plenty of room for debate. Two definitions are presented below, the first relating to the effects of the environment on health (this aspect is discussed in much more detail in a separate page) while the second relates to environmental health services. These are followed by a historical account of how the definitions came about. 

________________________________________

Definition 1. 

Environmental health comprises those aspects of human health, including quality of life, that are determined by physical, chemical, biological, social and psychosocial factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory and practice of assessing, correcting, controlling and preventing those factors in the environment that can potentially affect adversely the health of present and future generations.

Definition 2. 

Environmental health services are those services which implement environmental health policies through monitoring and control activities. They also carry out that role by promoting the improvement of environmental parameters and by encouraging the use of environmentally friendly and healthy technologies and behaviours. They also have a leading role in developing and suggesting new policy areas.

Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are highly qualified professionals who don't actually carry out any of the tasks listed above. They do work which, as well as being varied and challenging, makes a real difference to people's everyday lives. Doctors and nurses treat illnesses when they occur; EHOs carry out preventative and protective work to stop people getting ill in the first place. Their role may not be as visible, but it's just as important to our national wellbeing.

EHOs work to ensure that the food we eat is safe and of good quality, to improve housing conditions, to safeguard standards of workplace health and safety, and to create a better environment. The training covers all these aspects, and once qualified you can either work as a generalist or specialize in the area that interests you most.

It's a career that provides excellent opportunities, both for school leavers and for adults wanting to retrain or to take forward experience gained in related occupations. A degree in environmental health opens the door to a wide range of job prospects.

Most EHOs work in the public sector, usually for local authorities, where demand for qualified practitioners now exceeds supply. Your work could involve monitoring the hygiene of food premises, ensuring that multi-occupancy housing meets a proper standard, preparing evidence for a court case about a workplace accident, dealing with noise nuisance from a disco, or tackling air pollution problems. 

Nowadays, an increasing number of EHOs are employed by the private sector, in consultancies or by organisations including food retailers, holiday firms, shipping companies and airlines. 

Environmental health is a job where no two days are the same, where you don't spend your whole time chained to an office desk, where you are dealing with all kinds of people and where you have the satisfaction of doing work that matters.

There is a huge demand for EHOs in Malaysia and due to that, PTPTN has sanctioned a full loan for qualifying students to complete this course. On an environmental health degree course you will study science, technology, statistics, social science and public administration at a general level. Food, occupational health, pollution and housing issues are covered in more depth. Laboratory work, case studies, visits, group work and tutorials make the academic studies varied and interesting.

If you want to do this course, please contact Caitanya at caitanya79@gmail.com or call 0162666190 for further information. Registrations are open now and loan applications are handled by the college authority. Loans are guaranteed as long as the students meet the basic requirements.

Updates from [TheMindBB] - scholarships

I went through TheMind's newsletter and cited some interesting scholarship details that would shed some light on those scouting around for such information. Basically there are 4 scholarships in the list for today.


1) Tunku Abdul Rahman Scholarship - Deadline 31/03/09
---------------------------------------------------
Refer - http://www.yayasantar.org.my/BTAR.html

2) Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarships 2010
-------------------------------------------------------
— Undergraduate & Postgraduate
Refer - http://www.my.emb-japan.go.jp/English/JIS/study.htm

3) Scholarship - Indian High Commission KL - Deadline 16/03/09
--------------------------------------------------------
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is offering two
scholarships for Post-Graduate courses to meritorious students from
Malaysia, for the year 2009-10 under the Indian Ocean Rim Association
for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) scholarship scheme.
Refer - http://www.indianhighcommission.com.my/whatsnew.php

4) Honda Dreams Fund - Deadline 31/03/2009
----------------------------------------
The Honda Dreams Fund is a philanthropic initiative that provides full
scholarships to promising underprivileged youths. They focus on
underprivileged youths who deserve the opportunity of a higher
education to achieve their dreams and aspirations. Honda wants to help
them discover the joy and fulfillment of realizing their dreams, to
realize their true potential and help build a brighter future. Working
in partnership with the United Nations Development Program, the Honda
Dreams Fund is the answer to ensure that underprivileged youths gain
the opportunity to empower themselves with education and knowledge.
Refer - http://www.honda.com.my/hdf

Apart from that there is also some interesting seminars for students. I think that this is a very interesting seminar hosted by TheMind in order to motivate students. If you notice, a fee of RM 90 is payable. However, for those who reserve their seats early, there will be a RN20 rebate which will knock the sum to RM70. Do check out the details below:

Seminar - Becoming A Smart Student - The Challenges----------------------------------------------------
Date : 21st March – 22nd March 2009 (School Holidays)
Venue : Sri Sakthi Ashram, Tangkak, Johor, Malaysia
Registrations: 21st March 2009 at 10am
Prerequisite : Malaysian Indian Student (Age 12-16)
: Able to speak/understand English and Malay
Organizer : The Mind Paradigm
Fees : RM90 per student (First 20 Early Birds – RM70)

Program Outline
-Life Ethics Workshops (Family Unit Respects and Family Behavioral)
-Gayathri Workshops (Student’s Intelligence & Memory Management)
-Career Workshops (Majoring Career Selections Based On Practitioner’s Advice)
-Team Building Workshops (Self Motivation & Objective Driven Management)
-Poor Indian Residents & Estates Visits (Family & Self Appreciations)

Do contact sakthiashram@gmail.com if you are interested to join.

Another interesting training programme that is ongoing at the moment is the Oracle Training. Please note that this is FREE.. I like our government for this reason. If you see the actual cost per head for this programme, it is RM8000, but the government has allocated funds to educate IT students/professionals. Like any government programme, you need to apply for the said training. If you have been bitten by the economic crisis, I guess this will be a valuable initiative to gain some exposure as well as certificate for a better future. For more information, do browse through the details as per below:

Free Oracle Training - Government Sponsored--------------------------------------------
By SNT Global S/B. Program costing RM8000 sponsored by Government.New
intakes every month. The processing takes around 10 working days. The
intake you'll be enrolled will be informed once application is
approved. The trainings is full time 12 weeks, 9am - 5pm.
Requirements
-Malaysian
-Diploma / Degree - ICT related
-Fresh Grads / Unemployed / Retrenched
-CGPA above 2.5(if less than 2.5 will need to sit for a pre-qualifying test)
For further information contact Ravi at ravindran.nadarajan@sntglobal

Students, don't forget to visit the education fair this weekend. There will be loads of colleges making available useful information.

Education & Career Fair 2009 @ Kuala Lumpur, Sentral
----------------------------------------------------
Time :9.30am – 9.00pm daily
Date : 19th - 20th March 2009
Venue: Main Transit Concourse, Level 1, Stesen Sentral, Jalan Tun
Sambanthan (Brickfields).

Where can I study Sound Engineering in Malaysia?

By: S.Rajeswary

I never knew of anyone who had even the slightest interest to do a sound engineering course, but a working colleague approached me and asked me if there were any loans available for a person who wishes to do the course. A complicated question indeed! How many of you have heard of such a course being available here in Malaysia? Well we cannot be ignorant just because the course is not in the top ten lists or even top 50 lists of choice for students.

According to Andy Jenkinson, the General Manager of SAE Technology College, “If you are interested in audio for film or theatre, consider a course that will give a thorough grounding in the craft and then specialize later. No matter which path you ~ choose, a career working with sound is among the most diverse and exciting you can imagine.”

For those aspiring sound engineers, I have bad news and good news for you. Ok, let’s start with the good news. Well, the good news is that this course is available at several colleges located in KL itself. The most popular college for this course is SAE Institute. This is the brief background information about the college:

Established in 1992, SAE Malaysia is the second institute within SAE's international network to be setup in Asia. It was setup as Malaysia's premiere audio engineering training institute that later diversified into general media technology education. Today SAE Malaysia offers various higher educational programs within the fields of Creative Media, Digital Film Making and Audio Engineering. Students enjoy studying in a highly dynamic educational environment, with well developed international programs, that are taught by specialized industry lecturers. Today more than ever before, solid training, careful practice and creative thinking can give you the edge in the media technology and creative industries.

The contact detail of the college is as below:

No.10-1, Jalan USJ 9/5R, Subang Business Center.47620 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan,Malaysia.Phone: (+603) 8024 0935 / (+603) 8024 9655Fax: (+603) 8024 9650E-mail:mailto:inquiry@saemalaysia.com

The good news does not end there. It seems that PTPTN loans are available for students with financial difficulties. Since SAE is an approved institution by the Malaysian government, PTPTN reaches out to these students. However there are several restrictions. The PTPTN loan amount is only applicable for diploma programmes and the funds allocated for a year is RM5000. The repayment of the loan will only begin after the completion of the course by the students. Students should also note that the loan is strictly handled by SAE Institute, Malaysia as it requires the school to directly liaise with the PTPTN body. EPF withdrawals are also permitted. There are also other banks like Bank Rakyat and RHB willing to give education loans (terms and condition apply as per the requirements of the financial indtitution). Indians can apply for MIED, however, on a personal note and out of experience, I think that its just a waste of time. Then there is KOJADI (Koperasi Jayadiri Malaysia) KOPERASI JAYADIRI MALAYSIA BERHAD (KOJADI) is established on March 12, 1981. The primary objective is to extend an effective educational loan facility to needy students to pursue higher education and secondly to nurture human resource into well-trained manpower for the Malaysian Community and the Nation.
For further information please visit http://www.kojadi.com.my/index-education.html

The bad news -there is no such 100% funding of PTPTN loans for this course. Though PTPTN will be able to cover bit of the course, the other half falls under the student’s burden to find the means.

Scholarships are also available, but I wouldn’t depend on that as it is surely for the best well deserving student. Average students should opt for the PTPTN loan, bank loans and EPF for funding of the course.

Apart from that there is another college called Berklee International College. This is a snapshot of their basic information gathered from http://www.berklee.edu/international/kuala_lumpur.html

International College of Music (ICOM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia



Established in November 1995, ICOM is the premier college of contemporary music in the Asia Pacific region. Located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ICOM operates from a six-story building optimized with the state-of-the-art facilities that ensure students get hands-on experience that prepares them for the professional music industry.

The academic programs are well researched and are developed by the staff in close consultation with music industry professionals. The programs currently offered are:


Berklee Transfer Program
Bachelor of Music (Hons) in Professional Music
Foundation Certificate in Music
Diploma in Business (Music Industry)
Certificate in Audio Production
Certificate in Music Performance
ICOM Weekend School
Digidesign Pro Tools 101 & 110


The intakes are January, April, July, and September.
Visit http://www.icom.edu.my/ to find out more.


The ICOM Program


ICOM offers degree, diploma, and certificate programs in the fields of performance, arranging, music production and technology, and music business.


Performance majors receive extensive theoretical and practical training, focusing on style analysis, private instruction, and ensembles.


The arranging major covers concepts relating to instrumentation, orchestration, music technology, and composition in a variety of musical styles.


Students enrolled in the music production and technology program learn the musical aspects of production as well as the principles of sound engineering methods, real-time performance synthesis, sound design, and production techniques.


Those in the music business major cover event and artist management, music publishing, marketing, entrepreneurship, record company operations, and e-commerce.


The curriculum also includes a one-year program on traditional/folk music and instruments of Malaysia designed to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of the history, culture, and evolution of Malaysian music. In addition to music concentrations, the college offers a wide range of general education subjects. ICOM faculty members are qualified individuals who bring with them years of experience in the areas of teaching, performance, production, and music business.


The contact information is:


International College of Music (ICOM)

Wisma ICOMLot 126, Section 85AOff Jalan Pahang

Postcode 53000Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Phone: 011-603-4023-6000

Fax: 011-603-4023-4344

Email: admissions@icom.edu.my




If you read the web site under admissions for financial help, there is a unique offer there. Below is a snippet from the site:



This site is designed to help you learn more about applying for financial aid and to give you easy access to important links and forms.

"Financial aid awarded by Berklee is supplemental to you and your family's total contribution of funds for your college education. Resources to help finance your Berklee education are available from many different sources including Berklee programs, federal and state programs, and private sources. This assistance may come in the form of loans, scholarships, grants, or student employment. Certain aid, such as private scholarships, requires research on your part. Funds from any single source are limited, so it is recommended to apply early for all possible sources of assistance.

Note that Berklee College of Music has two distinct offices that award and administer financial aid, and each has a separate application process and awarding criteria. The Office of Financial Aid awards all need-based aid, whereas the Office of Scholarships and Student Employment awards all merit-based scholarships and coordinates the student employment programs. A prospective Berklee student should apply for all types of aid to supplement the total contribution by the student and family."



Follow this link for details http://www.berklee.edu/financing/. It seems students can work with the college as they give employment opportunities. They claim to have over 500 positions and each post can be taken up for 10 -15 hours of work per week. The cheques are issued directlt to the students biweekly. Apart from that they also have the merit based scholarship. For more info on that visit:



That’s all for now. Hope the information was fruitful and helpful.

Can AKPK applicants apply PTPTN?

3 March 2009

By: S.Rajeswary

A friend of mine asked me an interesting question the other day. She was curious to know if her status as an applicant with AKPK will hurt her ventures for applying to a fresh PTPTN loan for education. I immediately set forth to get the answers, so I sat down and mailed AKPK. This was the response that I attained:

Thank you for your e-mail.Before financial institution approves credit facilities, they will look at the customer's CCRIS report. If customer is in AKPK's DMP, it is possible that FI does not approve the customer's new application for credit facilities due to the tagging in CCRIS (CCRIS shows that the existing accounts are restructured thru AKPK).Referring to your question whether AKPK's existing customer can get a loan from PTPTN, we would advise you to check with PTPTN as the decision is made by them.

Make Prudent Financial Management A Way of Life

Therefore the next thing that I can do is try to acquire information from PTPTN if this is possible. In the meantime, if anyone can feed me on the required information, it would be greatly appreciated.

Meanwhile, just to inform you guys, if you have any bad debts and you cannot cope with the stress, do feel free to consult AKPK. AKPK stands for Agensi Dan Pengurusan Kredit. AKPK is an agency set up by Bank Negara Malaysia in April 2006 to provide financial counselling and debt management to individuals as well as financial education to help individuals take control of their financial situation and gain peace of mind that comes from the wise use of credit.

Hope to get feedback, if not I will update. Cheers.

Cabinet nod for third intake

THE Cabinet has approved the third intake of a twinning programme for the bachelor of education in the Teaching of English as a Second Language (TESL) between teacher training institutes and foreign universities.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the approval was in line with the move to increase the number of English teachers who were not only fluent inthe language, but who could also grasp details.

“The ministry approved 500 students each for the first two intakes of the programme,” he said in a statement recently.

Hishammuddin said they would become the “model group” for other English teachers as well as Science and Mathematics teachers.

“We are certain that the quality of teaching and learning will improve with this approach, as will their overall performace in the English language,” he said.

The foreign universities involved under the twinning programme include Victoria University of Wellington, Auckland University, Canterbury University and Otago University in New Zealand, as well as Warwick University and Portsmouth University in Britain.

Hishammuddin said 10 teacher-training institutes, including those in Ipoh, Kota Baru and Batu Lintang, as well as the International Languages Teacher Training Institute, would be involved.
Those who aim to teach in primary schools will use the 1+2+1 model, whereby they will spend their first and final years in the teacher training institute, and the second and third years in a foreign university.

Those who will be teaching in secondary schools will follow the 3+1 model. They will spend the first three years in a foreign university and the final year back in the teacher training institute.
Students selected must attend and pass a foundation course before they can undergo the degree programme.

Hishammuddin said he was certain the programme would attract the best SPM school-leavers to take up teaching.

List of scholarships in Malaysia

List of scholarships in Malaysia

Monday, 2 March 2008

By: S.Rajeswary

Good morning all. I have been browsing the net to give readers plenty of information regarding scholarships and all. Well, we have to remember that scholarships are abundant these days, but the challenge to secure one is very competitive indeed. If you think you sincerely deserve a scholarship do check some brief information about the scholarship details below:

23 scholarships for hair-styling course

This sounds like an interesting course, especially if you are not part of the usual business or science liking student. It’s very much an exploration of the creative side of you. If you find this interesting and if it suits your liking, check out http://www.malaysia-scholarship.com/blog. This is just a snippet.

The hair styling course organised by the MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau in collaboration with Thomas and Guys Hair Styling Team is open for the 2009 intake.
Bureau head Datuk Michael Chong said the programme was open to under-20 youths of all races, from low-income families and with little education.
He said for this intake, the programme had received 23 scholarships sponsored by various donors – five from Datuk Yap Kim San, two from Goldhill Club, three from Tan Ah Chai, two from Lim Peng Soon, seven from the MCA, one from SG Goh and three from an anonymous donor.

Korean Government Scholarship 2009

The Government of the Republic of Korea is offering scholarship for six Malaysian students in order to support their undergraduate studies in Korea. The scholarship serves to promote education exchanges and friendship between Malaysia and Korea. Last year, the Korean government awarded scholarship to seven Malaysians for undergraduate degree course and forty two for graduate degree course.

Shell Scholarship 2009

Shell Malaysia Scholarship 2009 is awarded to Malaysian students for pursuing full-time undergraduate studies tenable at recognized universities in Malaysia or overseas, and Pre-University studies in Malaysia.Preferred field of study for Shell Scholarship are Engineering (Petroleum, Chemical, Electrical and Mechanical),Sciences (Geosciences, Chemistry and Physics),Business Administration / Economics,Finance & Accounting,IT (includes Business/ Management IT),Master of Science (MsC) in Geosciences.

Top Glove Scholarship Awards 2009

TOP GLOVE strongly believe in that people are the most important resources in building a world class manufacturer providing top quality products. Continuing with the Group’s philosophy of best practices, TOP GLOVE is inviting Malaysians who aspire to be the best to apply for scholarship.

SOCSO Loans 2009

Many parents do not kow that they can actually gain help from SOCSO to fund for their children’s educational needs if anything happens to them. From my experience, a student has applied for this service after her dad succumbed to some injuries and could not work. He was a retired man acquiring pension. Though the process is long and tedious, it is still worth the shot for genuine cases. Be prepared to be drilled with many forms, letters and proof/evidence to back up the application. Have a good relationship with the college to get the documents.
SOCSO is offering educational loans, amounting to as much as RM100,000, to children of members who are in receipt of monthly invalidity pensions.
Applicants can also be children of contributors who died while in employment because of injuries, or died before reaching their 55th year. The applicants must be below 21 years of age and pursuing degree, diploma or certificate courses recognised by the Education Ministry.

Scholarship Program For Diaspora Children 2009

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India, introduced a Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children (SPDC), in the academic year 2006-07, for wards of Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to assist them in pursuing Higher and Technical Education in India.
Educational Consultants India Limited (Ed.CIL), a Government of India Enterprise, has been designated as the Nodal Agency for implementation of the Programme.

The University of Edinburgh International Undergraduate Scholarships 2009

Ten The University of Edinburgh International Undergraduate Scholarships are offered to students for undergraduate study in any subject offered by the University. The undergraduate scholarships will be worth £1,000 per year and will be tenable for the duration of the programme of study.

Just remember, if you want to get yourself educated, you must have the will power and sheer determination. A good site that offers more precise detail is http://www.malaysia-scholarship.com/. It is a very vauable web site that can aid any students in getting scholarship info. The website has a comprehensive data of 6 bank scholarships, 49 6 bank scholarships, 49 corporate scholarships, 15 government scholarships, 33 University scholarships and 25 other scholarships. Good luch in your hunting!

Life is an echo. What you send out – you get back. What you give – you get.