RI students learn Chinese at Xiamen University<\/p>\n
This is the seventh article of a series based on a visit to
\nChina by six Indonesian journalists, including The Jakarta Post's
\nHarry Bhaskara, courtesy of the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry.<\/p>\n
Indonesian students studying at Xiamen University, in the
\nsouthern Chinese province of Fujian, have found academic life
\nhere challenging.<\/p>\n
"The lecturers are good and the libraries have good
\ncollections," says Cecilia Sebastian, 23, who hails from the East
\nJava town of Sidoarjo, near Surabaya.<\/p>\n
Cecilia is one of some 140 Indonesian students, mostly Chinese
\nIndonesians, who are studying in Xia Ta, as the Xiamen University
\nis locally known. Most of the students are taking Chinese
\nlanguage courses, she said.<\/p>\n
The course usually takes two years to complete, but students
\nwith some proficiency in the language may take less time. This
\nalso applies for those who want to pursue study in other courses
\nsuch as business or engineering. However, students here said that
\nonly a few Indonesians are planning to take further study.<\/p>\n
"With a mastery of Chinese language, it will be easier for us
\nto find jobs in Indonesia," said Ling Ling, 27, who comes from
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Tuition fees for the course are US$850 per semester. The
\nregular fee is $900, but Indonesian students have been given a
\n$50 discount ever since the anti-Chinese riots of May 1998 in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
"The policy has not changed," she said.<\/p>\n
The Chinese language has some 66,000 characters but people in
\ngeneral have a mastery of only a few thousand.<\/p>\n
In two years, students are expected to master some 3,000
\ncharacters, an adequate number to survive in Chinese society.
\nStudents learn 300 to 400 characters per semester.<\/p>\n
Xiamen University was founded in 1921 by an prominent overseas
\nChinese by the name of Tan Kah Kee. It was the first university
\nin China to be founded by an overseas Chinese. To date, over 50
\nacademicians of the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences and
\nChinese Academy of Engineering undertook all or part of their
\nstudy at this university.<\/p>\n
Vice President of the university, Prof. Ying Zhang, said that
\nXiamen had a cooperative agreement with a university in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
"At present, we have one professor who is teaching Chinese at
\nthe University of Hasanuddin in Makassar," he said.<\/p>\n
The university also has a regular program to invite
\nbusinessmen to teach at the university to keep the business
\nfaculty abreast of the latest developments, Ying said.<\/p>\n
Most of the Indonesian students who come to Xiamen University
\ndo so on the recommendation of their relatives who have lived in
\nChina and who are familiar with the university. Others
\ndeliberately choose to study there.<\/p>\n
"In Beijing, there are too many Indo's," says Cecilia,
\nreferring to Indonesian students. "I think we can master Chinese
\nhere faster because we don't have as much opportunity to speak
\nIndonesian as there are not too many Indonesian students."<\/p>\n
Xiamen University's total student population is more than
\n29,000.<\/p>\n
The 500-hectare campus offers a very international setting.<\/p>\n
"Besides Chinese, we also practice English with other foreign
\nstudents," Cecilia said.<\/p>\n
The students said in addition to a high level of safety in the
\ncity, living costs are about half those of Beijing or Shanghai. A
\nlow-cost apartment is about $25 a month, although there are
\napartments that may cost six times as much. Student dormitories
\nare available from $100 a month. Books cost $10 per semester. In
\ngeneral, living cost for a student in this city is about $200 a
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
"That is if you are a spend-free type of person. Otherwise it
\ncould be lower than that," Cecilia said.<\/p>\n
Xiamen is a quiet and safe city, the students said.<\/p>\n
"Although petty theft, like losing your handphone to
\npickpockets, does occasionally occur," Ling Ling said.<\/p>\n
Not all the students are high school graduates. Some have
\nfinished their undergraduate studies elsewhere. Cecilia, for
\nexample, graduated from an Australian university in Perth
\nmajoring in computer science.<\/p>\n
Asked what they missed the most about Indonesia, the students
\nreplied, almost in unison, "The food!". They said Chinese food
\nuses different kinds of spices compared to Indonesian food,
\nciting kluek, a large, hard seedling with a black flesh inside,
\nas an example. Kluek is the main spice ingredient for rawon, a
\npopular dish from East Java.<\/p>",
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