Malaysian Indians in Malaysian Universities
Written by tzarina on July 23, 2008 – 12:12 am
Even though it has been quite some years since I finished my studies in a local Uni, I still am not able to forget my experiences. I hope what I am about to tell you may help some other out there.
Most of my school life was spent with one burning ambition; to get into University. This was my one and only thought. Nothing else. I simply wanted to graduate. It was a thought imprinted in my head I guess, since even before I was born, by my parents. So determined was I, that I competed tooth and nail with my Chinese friends to get through SRP, SPM and eventually STPM. I did not do that badly in STPM, even though I never wanted to be there in the first place (I thought I could escape through SPM to Uni, which later I found out is just a day dream for many). My results in STPM got me into a good engineering course, though, and off I went to my most favorite place on earth - University. Wow.
However, I came across the biggest stumbling block in my very first week. MSIAN INDIAN MENTALITY. The first one month was spent solely trying to please the senior Indian students; studying and courses were the LAST priority. Here are some of the most important concerns at that time:
1. Girls to wear punjabi suits and pottu.
2. Every day, we must meet our seniors for their fun.
3. The typical question must be answered; Are you Tamil? What are you? Tamil pessa theriuma? Oohh..ni kunjem kunjem thamilla? Boyfriend iruka?
4. Dance practise for Freshie Night…for a month at least…every evening…
Looking back, I still do not mind these activities. They were fun, after all. But what I did not realize is that while we Indians were dancing and dating and orientating, the Chinese students have been given educational advice, motivation and materials from day ONE by their own seniors! They forged ahead like they were soldiers, while we were lazying around like Time itself will wait forever for our convenience.
What "education" related advice did I get from my seniors?
You get CGPA 3.0 means you are damnnnnnn clever. It is soooo difficult to obtain. Very few Indians have gotten above 3.0…
Bloody Indians.
And I, in my innocence (more like ignorance), bought it hook, line and sinker! The first year was spent going to clubs, parties, dinners, ronda ronda. Morning classes…skip!…evening classes…escaaape!
Stupid me.
My first semester results was 3.000. Wow. All my Indian friends were at awe…wow…can get 3.0 meeeh for a girl in engineering…pandai la luu…therrerrr….Then my next semester result. 2.6xxx. That was a slap on the face. It wasn’t that my other Indians friends were doing much better. It was the fact for the first time, I realized that most of the Chinese students got more than 3.0! See, I have always competed with my Chinese friends back in school days, and I was always within the the top three in class. What the hell happened in University???
I had stopped competing. I was comparing myself within the narrow Indian community.
Stupid stupid me.
That was the first day I felt like shit in University. Here I was, being given a precious gift, a University seat, and instead of treating it with care, I was on the fast lane towards Second Class Lower with eyes wide open. I still did not think that this was too bad, see. I thought I should only reach towards 3.0, to get a Second Class Upper.
Anyway, to cut the long story shorter, I got serious. Reduced my parties. Serious studying (although it was done mostly at the last few weeks before the exams). The third semester result was much better. Deans List. Now, call it what you want, but I called it a mental UNblocker. My seniors had told me vehemently how difficult 3.000 was. So, as a freshie, I only aimed towards 3.000. NO ONE told me to aim for Deans List. NO ONE advised me to try for First Class. Only 3.00000000000! Yes, it was my fault for listening to them, for living a life in University where studies is second priority, and everything else is FIRST.
Sadly, even though the rest of my semesters I received Dean List, I could never make up for the results of the first two semesters. First Class was out of the question. I graduated with second class upper. Nothing special there. But I made sure that I gave the right advice to my brother when he started his first year.
Don’t you bloody waste your life in University. Don’t you bloody listen to your Indian seniors who have their priorities wrong. You aim for FIRST CLASS!
Good for him, he took my advice, and received a First Class. The moral? He did not have to pay for PTPTN, while I am still sitting here, paying for my mistakes. Literally!
I hope if any University student read this, they will work their butt off in University. You will not know this now, but the QUALITY of your entire future may depend on those grades you get when you graduate. Unblock your mind from whatever barriers people and you yourself have instilled. Why aim for Second class when you can get First?
Posted in Education, Social |
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:03 am
good write up…
it think, most of these stuffs only happen in LOCAL UNI, not private..
am I right?
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:35 am
Vanakkam,
good writing. i think the msg should be delivered to all our brothers and sisters.
getting a place in local uni is a gift. Many dream about it and only few win the opportunity. don’t waste it.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:37 am
With the permission of the writer and the blog’s admin, i suggest that this post should be posted in all the indian blogs.
what the admin got to say on this?
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:40 am
So the writer got second class upper just because the seniors? Just because seniors did not tell about Deans list?
From 12 years of study before stepping into University, the writer did not know about getting first class degree ? Did not know to get into Deans list?
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:20 am
Novinthan,
Did I say that the results are entirely due to the seniors? Did you not read the parts where I took the blame?
I just described the University environment and the mentality of many (if not the majority) Indian students. This is not just my experience, but summarized from observations, and discussions with several ex-Uni students. How many Indians receive first class degree every year? Not many, I bet (if you have the data, please share…).
My brother is one of the lucky ones. But he had to sacrifice his friendship with many of his Indian friends because he was not willing to spend too much time lepakking.
The Indian seniors could have helped condition their juniors towards achieving academic excellence, instead of focusing on non-academic activities most of the time. This is not entirely their fault. It is simply the culture. And it clearly shows that we lack in this department compared to the Chinese students.
If things have changed since I finished undergraduate education in local Universities, please do enlighten me. I will be glad to hear if this is so.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
“If things have changed since I finished undergraduate education in local Universities, please do enlighten me. I will be glad to hear if this is so.”
Nah it hasn’t. They still have ’suai-kenal’ activities, Indian cultural nights, Indian movie marathons, blah blah and blah!
Some people might call this “having a bit of fun in uni”, “bonding relationships”, “creating unity”.. all my foot.
While we are partying and dancing away our time, the Chinese study day and night and simple get the better jobs because they have better grades. And the great thing about them is that, like Tzarina mentioned above, they help and look out for each other. They forward scholarships details, job applications, internship details to their friends, while we sit and forward jokes, “yahoo will pay 11 cents per email you forward” type of emails, chain letters, and oh not to mention tamil movie posters and crap.
And not to mention that our own expectation of our grades and confidence start to wither just because we mix with a group who places more importance on all those activities. We start comparing ourselves to these kind of people and not with high-acheivers. So what happens to our expectations? “Ahh its ok if I get lower marks, I just need to pass this semester..”
Yes you can party away now. Yes you can join in the so-called “unity-creating” activities, but are these people gonna look out for you when your job applications get rejected one by one?
This problem can not only be found in Malaysian universities, but also abroad. And this does not apply to Indian students from India, but only Indian students from Malaysia (and sometimes Singapore). Its the same thing, drinking, partying, “orientation”, etc etc.
Work hard now, enjoy later. Fool around now, suffer later.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:54 am
@ murali
i would say Indians in private uni have a different ‘problem’. maybe one of these days, a private uni/college student can talk about it in MINDSBLOG.
@ punithan shan
each article would be original contribution of a particular author. as such, the author holds the copy right to the article, and in this case it is tzarina. only she can decide on your query.
thank u.
ammu.
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:05 am
@ tzarina
good article there! i’m a public uni alumi, spent 7 years of my life there and right now i am in a private uni. i can’t help it but to agree with your views. but in my case, i never bothered about my seniors . heard they were nice people but i didn’t see the point why i have to tag around them to get notes etc when i will get the same thing when i attend my classes! 3 years of my first degree, i never skipped a class. i feel its a remarkable achievement when i think about it now.
yes, i have got comments about being a dean list student. i was in that list throughout my study period. but the best student in my class was a chinese gal with 4.00. u know the system.. it is impossible to push your cgpa after the first year. it works that way. i really envied her and no, my aim was never 3.00 but 4.00. in the end, i graduated with 3.51. if u ask me, i am still unhappy about it. but i made up for it during my master studies with a clean 4.00
talking about orientation, there was this senior guy from ipoh tried to be funny with me. i told him off on the first day of uni and ever since then no one dared to orientate me. i was never a lepak kaki at uni and i stayed away most of the time from ‘them’. i had a small group of frens and thankfully for me, being in medical faculty only meant i’m surrounded by studious characters.
i had fun in my own way, and i loved every bit of it.
ammu.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:15 am
படிக்கும் போது நல்லா படிங்கப்பா! அம்மா அப்பா காசை கரியாக்காதீர்கள்
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Yah man this is really gud…im studying in Universiti Malaysia Terengganu and here really rocks man….
No ragging…(99.9 percent) not like UUM with full of indecent indian torchuring those 1st year student.. I heard lot of case over there until sexual harrasment and this only done by this indian students.What a shame…. Hope anyone can help the student over there…pity those 1st year students.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:42 pm
All the first year students who went thru “hell” will be seniors,obviously. So logically the system should have been changed by now. U didnt like , u will change it. Law of nature.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
betul tu subash…time belajar kene belajar elok elok, duit emak bapak tidak harus di bazirkan.
i agree with this article , but not fully. Shall write on it from a different view.. work comes first
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:07 pm
hey
good insight on the university life.yes i agree,we should not waste our precious time n we must work hard to strive,yet we must not forget,wat is the real definition of institution n education.i strongly believe in university n the life there should serve in character moulding without comprimising neither academic nor social aspects.wat do we expect when we graduate,a scroll? a better job? better life?..i think ultimate objective should be a better PERSON/individual.we must not shy away from the presumed good an bad influence.experience it,take it as a challenge n strive.so i say the cgpa is important yet not vital.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Thanks for all the feedbacks, both supportive, and with different views.
FYI, I was in the University that has the reputation of practicing the most hardcore Indian orientation. So it was almost impossible to get away from seniors. Even girls from Diploma were ragging the older first year students. I did get a reputation of being “arrogant” because I did not do exactly what they wanted.
Do you know what was one of my biggest mistake in the very first week? I asked a senior, what do you have to do to get Masters? Ooops! That’s it. Everyone knew about it and started making fun…first year student asking about Masters??
When I started to buck up to get down to serious studying, I lost many of my friends. When my results improved, jealousies were rampant among my own housemates. I had to move out eventually to escape their bitchiness. This is not just my story. My brother also had to face much trials from his friends when his results were far better than theirs.
I finally received around 3.4. It was a tough course, made tougher by hardcore Maths most of the time. Lucky me, that was my best subject. If not, I don’t think I would have done to that level. After graduating, I was given a job in one of the best companies in my area. Those days, the economy was booming, and it was a jobseeker’s market. Eventually, I made up for my undergraduate mistakes by getting a phd overseas.
There are moments which I really enjoyed lepakking with my friends. I think you definitely need those moments. But as a student, many of us forget that lepakking comes AFTER studying in our list of priorities. That, my friends, is the saddest part about our Indian mentality.
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:59 pm
tzarina, even I have fallen into that kind of mentality. sometimes the crowd you hang out with does influence how you think. it’s only human.
good to know you’ve done well for yourself. I’m a fellow engineer, too.
P.S. Did you like go to UPM or something?
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Crankshaft,
Yes it is tough to be different when everyone around you do the same things. Even though in school, I used to make the right choices when it comes to priorities, in University, the environment is an entirely different ball game. The community simply encloses you. Which may not be a bad thing if they also provide some academic support.
p/s: My uni definitely had a U and an M somewhere
July 24th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Well, i heard that there are few Uni that are having this so called stupid ‘ Freshie Week’. Evan a uni in Melaka had its week long Freshie week where i got to know through a friend. Activities were organized up to 1-2am for the whole week. I wonder why they cant cut it short or just have it every Sunday for the 1st month. But no matter what i personally think these activities are waste of time and students should be more focused in their studies rather than spending out time with these so call ‘SENIORS’!
July 24th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Punithan Shan,
Sorry for the delayed reply to your request. Go ahead if you think this is worth it.
Ammu,
Congratulations. You did the right thing by focusing your priorities.
cheers.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Exactly. I think the orientation or freshie week is not a bad thing - in fact, I’d say we got to know our seniors better than if we were left to befriend them on our own.
At the end of the day, a university education should not be limited to studies alone, it should encompass all facets of social integration. After all, the university is the stepping stone to the working world.
And I realise that’s why extracurricular activities are so important - they’re supposed to make you all-rounded. Unfortunately, in Malaysian education, more often than not, they’re quite retarded!
But back to the issue, I guess the mentorship between a junior and senior is lacking - very evident if a bunch of seniors with inferior complexes start making fun of the ambitious junior.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Well i have to agree with tzarina. Its kinda true on your view on indian student in IPTA. I truely understand as an engineering student in a IPTA.
but come to think about it…..
Is 1st class that important?
Probably you can skip your masters and do your PhD.
I have meet 1st class engineer’s who cant even do work out there during my industrial training. What they have is just theory, they cant even solve simple stuff.
I am not saying this just to justify myself bcoz i am shy from 1st Class. I truely feel a second class upper is a good degree if you do have other competent skills. I am sure any indian out there can make a good engineer.
To me a 3.000000000000000000000000000000000
is a good degree. not excellent (xseelan) of coz but sufficient enuough. anything lower than that then …….
July 24th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Satya,
I agree that Second Class Upper is also a good degree. There is nothing wrong with that if you have the skill sets and the confidence plus the character to excel in your job within your sector.
However, have you noticed that the cream de la cream of companies tend to hire First Class degree holders? I remember my MD telling us once that our company had 2000 applications for 1 post. Within that application list, there were Cambridge and Oxford and IIT degree holders. Correct me if I am wrong, but such Fortune 500 companies tend to consider a 2nd Class Upper from Cambridge is worth a First Class degree from UM. So it is not the fact that Second Class Upper is not good enough a degree. It is just that when you compete for the best jobs with the best salaries in the best companies, the degree suddenly takes precedence over everything else. A First Class from a local IPTA will at least get you an interview opportunity, which you could use to eloquently communicate and impress upon them why you are a better candidate than those overseas degree holders.
Hope you understand where I am coming from…
July 25th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
i guess i’ll do a post on Malaysian Indians from a “Malaysian Indian”-based university… private one, of course. You guys know which one I’m talking about. Being a graduate from there, I have my insights too.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:36 am
[...] A Malaysian-Indian University » Preventing Preventive Detention » SeNet JobFair » Malaysian Indians in Malaysian Universities » Culture, clothes and us » i guess i’ll do a post on Malaysian Indi…» Yes Mr [...]
July 28th, 2008 at 11:25 am
tzarina,
Well its true that you will stand out among the rest but….but i dont seem a difficulty to find a job in Malaysia. All my seniors in uni get jobs before they even sit for final examination….maybe not from Fortune 500 company but well to do company (Intel, Motorola, Gamuda, YTL) and non of them were 1st class. I am sure we still have a chance to get into the interview with a 2nd class upper. When we do we can prove we are actually better then the rest.
1st class degree is obviously better. but at times we get stuck with few lecturer who nv gives an A to any1. plus we have to mainatain the flow of getting 3.75 for 8semester(4years)…There will be some subjects that you will nv get in to your system…no one is perfect….I have meet someone who studied so bloody hard and manage to gradtuate with a 3.74. I feel so much for him….because at the end of the day his degree and a 3.00000000000000000000000000 degree has the same value……..(2nd class upper)
July 28th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Glass half full or half empty.
All are right in this case I guess
July 28th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Satya,
Yes, you are right. If your CV looks good with a 2nd Upper, and the job suits your background, there should be no reason for you to NOT be called for the interview for a first job with a blue chip company, provided that you happen to graduate at the right time, in the right economic conditions. As mentioned earlier, I myself was one of those lucky ones.
My gripe is the fact that many Indians that I personally have come across in University seems to be satisfied with mediocre results. Instead of striving for the best. And getting swayed by other elements. This is the mentality that I described in my article. If someone tries to set their goals for First Class, and end up getting 2nd Upper, that is admirable by itself. But if you set your goal as 2nd Upper, don’t be surprised if you end up getting 2nd Lower.
Therein lies the mental block among those people I described in my article. Tell me this is not a norm in our local Universities, and I would be very happy indeed.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Congratulations on graduating! Now what? Stay in Malaysia and face discrimination, risk body being taken away for Muslim burial because someone said you became one when you were in a coma, vote for MIC(key)party, etc, etc?
Migrate now. Great life in western society..no discrimination, earn RM$25,000 per MONTH (yes, true), being free, gain migration for parents, siblings, etc and even (if you want) marry an orang puteh.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
tzarina,
There us no doubt what you are saying is true….I can see it clearly in uni nowadays….I am quite surprised as the once who enters usually are the smart’ER once and end up doing badly in uni….as soon as they get into uni it seems like everything is settled down and they dont look into their future anymore….and they will give you this comment…there is more to life than studies.
It is true there is more to life then studies if you happen to know your choice or path…. the problem with our Indian community is they will give advice (like some ‘nyani’) to many but they themselves “tak boleh pakai”
Like you said i have experienced the same comment when i did badly last semester 3.2** and a fried of mine was like
“Wow…you can get 3.0++ for an engineering student. I wish can get that for one semester at least for my course”.
quite surprising as these people are really smart as they got above 3.00 for STPM which to me is still the toughest exam I have taken in my life… even uni exams are way simple…. They just seem not to get the priorities right…. They seem to fall to many things in uni…..love, entertainment, “so called skim cepat kaya”……
Hope to see a difference in future……
Signing off…..xseelan