Special serving: Chef lecturer
Darren Teoh demonstrates how liquid nitrogen can be used to prepare food.
Looking on are Mohamed Khaled (second from left), The Star deputy group chief
editor 1 David Yeoh and chief events officer Iris Tan.
With almost 600 booths and close to 200 exhibitors, school-leavers were
able to shop for a programme that catered to their interests and budget at the
country’s biggest education fair.
When it came to making important decisions about the future, student Kevin
Chen Tze Zhiong decided it was best to hear it straight from the horse’s
mouth.
Instead of relying on secondary sources, Kevin decided to attend the popular
“Options after SPM” talk at the Star Education Fair.
The 17-year-old certainly wasn’t let down because the talk turned out to be
the highlight of his visit.
“After sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, it is good
for school leavers to understand the various study options by coming to the
fair,” he said.
He also took home a Yes Buzz 4G Cloud phone during a lucky draw at the
talk.
Kevin was among the thousands of visitors who came from near and far to visit
the nation’s largest education fair.
The two-day event was packed with an interesting lineup of experts who shared
insights about the challenges and career prospects of the various industries
such as medicine and engineering.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the fair attracted many parents and
students who came to the one-stop centre to obtain information and guidance on
study options and career developments.
Loyal exhibitors who had taken part in the fair over the past 25 years were
also recognised at the fair.
For many of them, visiting the fair was a must-do when making important
decisions regarding the right programmes and institutions.
A-Levels student Tan Vee Yen, for instance, is no stranger to the annual
fair.
She visited the fair last year when she was choosing her pre-university
programme.
Now that she is about to complete the programme, the 18-year-old visited the
fair again to look for options in degree programmes.
“I want to join the teaching profession so I will be visiting the booths
which offer education programmes,” said Vee Yen, adding that her younger brother
Vee Keong, 16, tagged along to experience the myriad of courses and institutions
on offer.
Mobbed: Counsellors and
institution representatives were busy helping students and parents shop for
tertiary education options.
Merry with food
The Christmas spirit was evident with many culinary art schools dishing up
delectable treats with the Yuletide theme.
Chef Jochen Kern cut a jovial figure in his immaculately starched chef coat
as he sliced smoked salmon for visitors at the Berjaya University College of
Hospitality booth.
“Thanks to the popularity of the Masterchef cooking programmmes on TV, there
has been a growing interest in culinary art courses,” said Kern who hails from
Germany.
The School of Culinary Arts director added that his father-in-law used to
scoff that chefs were doing the “servant’s job” but over the years, chefs have
been enjoying high salaries.
“The work in the kitchen is very tough though, so that is why you may see
more male gourmet chefs around. However, females chefs are equally capable,” he
said.
Starting young
It is never too early to start thinking about tertiary education.
Daniel Koh, 15, went to the fair with the intention of attending the series
of career talks slotted throughout the two days.
“I play a lot of computer games so I think being a computer games designer
might be quite cool,” he said.
Asked on whether he was still passionate about his ambition after attending
the Career in Games Development talk, he said “Maybe, why not?”.
SEGi University vice-chancellor Emeritus Prof Dr Muhamad Awang said the
education fair is a wonderful platform for parents and students to find out
about options in tertiary education.
“It helps for students who want to further their studies because they can
obtain more information about the programmes that they are interested in,” said
Dr Muhamad.
He applauded the newspaper’s effort in organising the fair and hoped that it
would benefit more students in the years to come.
The Star Education Fair was also a platform where students gained insights
into the professions that they aspired to join after completing their studies.
Taylor’s University institutional marketing vice-president Loy Teik Inn said
attending the fair helped students crystalise their thoughts.
“Students tend to see just one side and not the entire picure when deciding
on their career pathway. We are here to help them understand what the industry
really requires by showing them a realistic picture of the real-world settings,”
he said.
Enquiry: Fashion design
lecturer Alex Yeo (second from left) speaking to students (from left) Jack
Cheong, Shen-Nii Choo and Jessie Chan at the fair.
Nation-building
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, who opened the
fair, said that higher education had an important role to play in driving the
nation forward.
Explaining that research, development and commercialisation activities were
key to developing a country’s wealth, he encouraged private tertiary
institutions to “develop a talent pool of high-level intellectuals in
postgraduate studies” in order to spur more research and innovation.
He added that the ministry sought to draw more international students to the
country as it would generate income as well as promote knowledge-sharing.
“Based on the 87,000 international students last year, internationalisation
contributed to approximately RM2.6bil of our national income.
“The country has awarded a total of 788 international scholarships to
recipients from 87 countries, with 292 active students in our local institutions
of higher education.
“This scholarship aims to support the government’s effort to attract,
motivate and retain talented human capital from abroad,” he said.
Mohamed Khaled also lauded
The Star for being an “enthusiastic
proponent of education” for organising the fair as well as offering scholarships
through the Star Education Fund.
“Even though the government has always strived to address this need by
providing scholarships and study loans under the National Higher Education Fund
Corporation (PTPTN) for qualified students, additional support from the private
sector is greatly appreciated and welcomed.
“In this respect, the Star Education Fund is an important endeavour that
serves to help talented young people realise their dreams,” he said.
The Irish Minister of State for Education, Training and Skills Ciaran Cannon
came to support the Irish institutions that took part in the fair.
Cannon said his department would be coming up with proposals next year on
potential areas that could bring the relationship between Ireland and Malaysia
to the next level.
He said the two countries had a successful partnership in medical education
and Ireland was keen on expanding beyond that relationship.
“What we want to show is that these universities also excel in other areas
like computer science.
“Our educational institutions have strong industrial linkages. That’s one
aspect of the Irish education system that the whole of Asia finds
attractive.
“Malaysia is emerging as the global economic powerhouse in the area of ICT.
It’s going to need world-class graduates who understand the industry well and
can make immediate contributions once they graduate,” he said.
Citing an example of collaboration, Cannon said 10 Malaysian lecturers
recently started a three-month intensive training programme in Ireland to learn
how to teach entrepreneurship, an area that Ireland is known for.
He said it was a pilot project between the Higher Education Ministry and
Dublin City University.
Financial concerns
There was a hive of activity at the booths for the Star Education Fund,
Higher Education Ministry and PTPTN.
A representative from PTPTN said the team received many enquiries from both
students and parents on the loan process.
Choong Ah Kin and his wife Tan Gin Cheng were interested to know how their
younger daughter could apply for a loan.
“She is waiting for her PMR results but we would like to prepare early as
education is very expensive and we are worried it could eat into our retirement
savings,” said Tan.
Choong hoped the government would consider extending the loans to students
without SPM results.
“My eldest daughter was offered an Asean scholarship in Singapore after Form
Three. She obtained very good grades in the A-Levels but could not get a PTPTN
loan when she wanted to continue her tertiary studies here,” he said.
Amalina Hashim was at the PTPTN booth to enquire if she could reapply for
another loan to continue with her studies.
“I have completed my diploma in business and want to continue with a degree
in the same area,” she said.
She added that she had visited other booths to find out about available
degrees.
Pamela Victor who is a recipient of the Star Education Fund, was a volunteer
at the fund’s booth.
“We have been advising prospective students on the scholarship process as
well as sharing our own experiences,” she said.
Pamela is a second year International Communications student at The
University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC).
Ne’ryez Singh Randhawa just completed his Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia
(STPM) examination and is “looking into studying for a medical science degree
either locally or overseas.”
Meanwhile, a representative from the Scholarship Division at the Higher
Education Ministry’s booth said he received enquiries on the MyBrain15
programme. “It is a programme to finance postgraduate studies for Malaysian
citizens,” he said.
Another programme being promoted was the Malaysian International Scholarship,
he said, adding that it is to attract the best brains from around the world to
pursue advanced studies in Malaysia.
British education
As a partner in education for the Star Education Fund, Prof Stephen W.
Doughty said the UNMC is committed to giving deserving Malaysian students a
chance to pursue higher education in a British institution.
“Even if some students may not be able to afford it, they will have the
opportunity to experience what British education has to offer,” said Prof
Doughty who is UNMC vice-provost (Teaching and Learning),
He added that students studying at the local campus will be able to go to the
United Kingdom campus or the China campus for a semester during the duration of
their undergraduate programmes.
He also pointed out that UNMC offers art and social sciences courses in
international relations even though only a small number of students signed up
for the programmes.
“We realise that like engineering and business, programmes in arts and
socials sciences are very important and we want to give students the opportunity
to further their studies in this field should they be interested to do so,” said
Prof Doughty.
Career testing
The fair was abuzz with activities like free personality and interest tests,
psychology games, and eye and health screenings.
HELP University Psychology lecturer Justin Yap who facilitated the career
testing, began the session by asking students to think about their hobbies.
“What if there was a job that lets you do your hobby? The interest test helps
you identify jobs with elements that you’re interested in,” he said.
The test consists of statements about specific activities, for example,
tending flowers, managing money for a company and so on. Students who took the
test had to rate their interest in each activity on a scale of one to five.
A high rating meant that the student had more interest in that activity while
a low one meant the opposite.
Jayse Lee, 17, said that in terms of personality, the test was accurate but
she was uncertain of what she wanted to do. She explained that while the test
indicated her interests were more arts-related, she was a science student.
Yap said that students should not take the interest test as the ultimate
truth about themselves.
“Your interests will keep changing as you get older and usually stabilises in
your 20’s,” he said, adding that the test can be used for students to explore
further options.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2012/12/23/education/12474295&sec=education
