By Stephanie Sta Maria KUALA LUMPUR: The government's decision to eventually scrap the Public Service Department's (PSD) overseas scholarships has received the thumbs-down from previous scholarship recipients. The scholars, who all attributed their current professional standing to their respective PSD scholarships, unequivocally called for the country's brightest students to continue being given the opportunity to study abroad. Kamila Mohd Kamil, 25, who was granted a full scholarship to study Pharmacy in the University of South Australia, said that her four years there provided her invaluable exposure to the “real world”. “Being around people from various cultures gave me a different perspective of my profession,” she said. “And working in a multicultural environment further enhanced my ability to serve Malaysia's multiracial society. I daresay I wouldn't be where I am today if not for that scholarship.” Mazleen Abdul Rahman, 31, echoed Kamila's sentiments. The dentist, who spent five years in Canada's Dalhousie University, believed that studying in a local university would have restricted her professional growth. “I'm not criticising local institutions,” she clarified. “But international universities place critical thinking and experiential learning above textbook-style education, which is the preference of many local universities.” Mazleen added that international universities also had an edge over local ones with regard to practical training. “Patients were lining up to be treated during our practical,” she recalled. “But my friends who were studying dentistry locally complained that their universities were struggling to find patients who were willing to be treated by students.” Strong sense of maturity For Shaiful Azrin Zakaria, 25, whose parents are both retired, a PSD scholarship was the only means of pursuing his architectural ambition in Australia. He returned five years later, not only with a Masters in Architecture but also a strong sense of maturity. “I would have missed out on so much had I not gone abroad,” he said. “The level of competitiveness is so much higher there and you have no choice but to push yourself harder to stand out from the crowd. This really boosted my self-confidence and independence.” Shaiful Azrin suggested that the government tighten the qualification criteria instead of scrapping the overseas scholarships. “My application process was very tough and there were very few Malaysians pursuing architecture in my university,” he said. “But towards the end of my studies, that number had ballooned considerably and it seemed that it was no longer difficult to win a PSD scholarship.” Andreen Lee, 32, meanwhile, can't help but feel a twinge of wistfulness when hearing of these accounts. Her hopes of studying abroad died with the birth of the Asian financial crisis, when her entire class was told to continue their studies at local private or public universities. When asked what she believed she missed out on, she ticked off studying Engineering at the best university abroad, gaining exposure to a wider range of learning opportunities and enjoying a larger network with other students. “Local education has limited resources,” she said. “There is also discrimination in the job market between local and international graduates. I had to work harder to prove my capabilities as a local graduate during both job interviews and job performance. The scholarship was priceless in that it provided much-needed financial assistance but I wish it could have seen me all the way through.” Incomparable experience Parents of current and former scholars have also come out in support of continuing the practice of sending PSD scholars abroad. A parent, who only wanted to be known as Lee, said that as a former army personnel and the sole breadwinner, he pinned his hopes on a government scholarship to see his five children through university. Two of them were PSD scholars. “All my children are successful, in many ways because of the scholarship,” he said. “If the government scraps overseas scholarships, many deserving students will be deprived of a good education and the country of more productive citizens.” “There are many like me who served in the army during the communist insurgency. We risked our lives because we believed that the government would not forsake us and our family. I urge the government to come up with a more pragmatic approach to help these students.” Albert Teo, whose son is completing his final year of medicine on a PSD scholarship, was loud in his praise of an international education. A foreign student himself, he said that the benefits of that experience was incomparable to a local one. “Venturing outside the confines of your backyard prepares you for a better future,” he said. “My son studied in Ireland for two years before returning to continue his final years in Penang. I have seen the positive changes in his character as a result of those years abroad. The government cannot afford to scrimp on education. Instead of building structures, it should focus on building people.”

By Stephanie Sta Maria - Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: The government's decision to eventually scrap the Public Service Department's (PSD) overseas scholarships has received the thumbs-down from previous scholarship recipients.
The scholars, who all attributed their current professional standing to their respective PSD scholarships, unequivocally called for the country's brightest students to continue being given the opportunity to study abroad.
Kamila Mohd Kamil, 25, who was granted a full scholarship to study Pharmacy in the University of South Australia, said that her four years there provided her invaluable exposure to the “real world”.
“Being around people from various cultures gave me a different perspective of my profession,” she said. “And working in a multicultural environment further enhanced my ability to serve Malaysia's multiracial society. I daresay I wouldn't be where I am today if not for that scholarship.”
Mazleen Abdul Rahman, 31, echoed Kamila's sentiments. The dentist, who spent five years in Canada's Dalhousie University, believed that studying in a local university would have restricted her professional growth.
“I'm not criticising local institutions,” she clarified. “But international universities place critical thinking and experiential learning above textbook-style education, which is the preference of many local universities.”
Mazleen added that international universities also had an edge over local ones with regard to practical training.
“Patients were lining up to be treated during our practical,” she recalled. “But my friends who were studying dentistry locally complained that their universities were struggling to find patients who were willing to be treated by students.”
Strong sense of maturity
For Shaiful Azrin Zakaria, 25, whose parents are both retired, a PSD scholarship was the only means of pursuing his architectural ambition in Australia. He returned five years later, not only with a Masters in Architecture but also a strong sense of maturity.
“I would have missed out on so much had I not gone abroad,” he said. “The level of competitiveness is so much higher there and you have no choice but to push yourself harder to stand out from the crowd. This really boosted my self-confidence and independence.”
Shaiful Azrin suggested that the government tighten the qualification criteria instead of scrapping the overseas scholarships.
“My application process was very tough and there were very few Malaysians pursuing architecture in my university,” he said. “But towards the end of my studies, that number had ballooned considerably and it seemed that it was no longer difficult to win a PSD scholarship.”
Andreen Lee, 32, meanwhile, can't help but feel a twinge of wistfulness when hearing of these accounts. Her hopes of studying abroad died with the birth of the Asian financial crisis, when her entire class was told to continue their studies at local private or public universities.
When asked what she believed she missed out on, she ticked off studying Engineering at the best university abroad, gaining exposure to a wider range of learning opportunities and enjoying a larger network with other students.
“Local education has limited resources,” she said. “There is also discrimination in the job market between local and international graduates. I had to work harder to prove my capabilities as a local graduate during both job interviews and job performance. The scholarship was priceless in that it provided much-needed financial assistance but I wish it could have seen me all the way through.”
Incomparable experience
Parents of current and former scholars have also come out in support of continuing the practice of sending PSD scholars abroad.
A parent, who only wanted to be known as Lee, said that as a former army personnel and the sole breadwinner, he pinned his hopes on a government scholarship to see his five children through university. Two of them were PSD scholars.
“All my children are successful, in many ways because of the scholarship,” he said. “If the government scraps overseas scholarships, many deserving students will be deprived of a good education and the country of more productive citizens.”
“There are many like me who served in the army during the communist insurgency. We risked our lives because we believed that the government would not forsake us and our family. I urge the government to come up with a more pragmatic approach to help these students.”
Albert Teo, whose son is completing his final year of medicine on a PSD scholarship, was loud in his praise of an international education. A foreign student himself, he said that the benefits of that experience was incomparable to a local one.
“Venturing outside the confines of your backyard prepares you for a better future,” he said. “My son studied in Ireland for two years before returning to continue his final years in Penang. I have seen the positive changes in his character as a result of those years abroad. The government cannot afford to scrimp on education. Instead of building structures, it should focus on building people.”