Asians study in Canada to build better careers<\/p>\n
TORONTO, Canada: Julie Eveline Wijaya, in her early 20s, left
\nher hometown and parents in Medan in North Sumatra three years
\nago to study chemical engineering at Ottawa University in
\nOntario, Canada.<\/p>\n
Julie joined Canada's oldest and best university with the help
\nof an agency in Jakarta after failing a rigorous national
\nentrance test to attend University of Indonesia in Jakarta. Prior
\nto her departure for Canada, Julie had taken an English course in
\nMalaysia to make herself adept in the language used at her
\nprospective university.<\/p>\n
"I decided to go to Canada after taking a nine-month course in
\nMalaysia," said the daughter of a businessman, who is now sharing
\nan apartment with Christina Indriani Suryanto, an Indonesian
\ncompatriot also studying at Ottawa University.<\/p>\n
Julie expects to finish her four years of study toward a
\nBachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree next April, and return to
\nIndonesia to build a career for her future.<\/p>\n
Yutta Rizelia, a graduate of Regina Pacis senior high school
\nin Petamburan, Central Jakarta, entered York University in
\nToronto to study computer science after studying at a high school
\nin Pennsylvania, the United States, for two years.<\/p>\n
Yutta is staying with her uncle, an architect who has lived in
\nCanada for the last 17 years in Scarborough, a one and half hour
\nbus ride from York University. Yutta, the daughter of an
\narchitect living in Jakarta, said she would look for a job after
\ngraduating from York University.<\/p>\n
Otto Dharmalaksana, the son of a businessman from Bandung,
\nWest Java, said he studied tourism at Capilano College in
\nVancouver, British Colombia to enter the tourism sector, while
\nSophia Shinta, a BSc graduate from the University of Brawijaya in
\nMalang, East Java, studies business at Capilano college in
\nVancouver under the Asia Pacific Management Cooperative Program
\n(APMCP).<\/p>\n
Despite frequent rainfall, Vancouver, a picturesque city, had
\na strong belief in multiculturalism and high quality education.<\/p>\n
Bebeb A.K.N. Djundjunan, a consul at the Indonesian Consulate
\nGeneral in Vancouver, said there were around 3,000 Indonesians
\nliving in Vancouver. Some of them owned houses in high class
\nresidential areas and drove luxury cars.<\/p>\n
Many international students from Asia who study at Canada's
\nuniversities and colleges, including Indonesians, are able to
\ncommunicate in understandable English after staying in the
\ncountry for one or two years. Some of them are even quite
\nassertive and outspoken, although one or two admitted to still
\nhaving communication problems arising from language barriers and
\nthe differences in social systems and cultures between their home
\ncountries and Canada.<\/p>\n
"I still face communication difficulties arising from language
\nproblems. I think it will take me three to five years to feel
\nconfident in English," said Steven Lie, 35, a 1999 BSc. graduate
\nfrom Shong Hui Jiao Tong University in China. Lie is working for
\nhis Masters of Science on high-voltage engineering at Waterloo
\nUniversity.<\/p>\n
Julie, Yutta, Otto, Shinta and Lie are Asian youths now
\nstudying at Canada's universities and colleges. They left their
\nhome countries to experience Canada's modern and rich academic
\nlife as part of a dream to pursue better careers in the future.<\/p>\n
The subjects taken by Asian students vary, although many of
\nthem, especially those going to colleges which focus on skill
\ndevelopment through strong linkages with industries and business
\nsectors, take computer science, business administration and
\nengineering.<\/p>\n
Some of Canada's colleges provide easy access for
\ninternational students by lowering requirements on English as the
\nstudents can learn the language in the preparatory courses
\nespecially established for students who want to master their
\nEnglish first before they continue their studies in their chosen
\nfields.<\/p>\n
Foreign students cited the ability to speak English, interact
\nwith people from different cultures, exposure to international
\nexperience in business and high-quality education among the prime
\nreasons for studying in Canada.<\/p>\n
International students pay costs ranging from tuition fees,
\nmeals and apartment rental. The amount varies from one area to
\nanother depending on the costs of living in the respective
\nprovinces.<\/p>\n
At Ottawa University the costs paid by international students
\nfor one-year or eight-months of study is between C$19,895-20,895
\n(between Rp 109.4million and Rp 114.9million) for students living
\nin residences and between $20,925 and $21,925 for those living
\noff-campus. The costs include residence fees or rent (between
\n$2,745 and $3,725), tuition ($11,000-$12,000), food (around
\n$2,000), books and school supplies ($1,000), personal expenses
\n($1,000), miscellaneous ($1,500) and health insurance ($700).<\/p>\n
Chang-ho Kim, PhD, a colleague from South Korea who joined a
\nrecent Canada outreach education tour for Asian journalists
\norganized by Canada's government, said the fees paid by South
\nKoreans studying in Canada's colleges was high, but he quickly
\nsaid that most of the students had no difficulties in paying the
\nfees because they came from rich families.<\/p>\n
The ability of Indonesian students by and large are almost
\nsimilar with their South Korean colleagues to pay the fees as
\nmany of them come from rich families.<\/p>",
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