Anti-Malaysian sentiment puts universities at risk

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung/Makassar

Staff at Bandung's Padjadjaran University are worried that anti- Malaysian sentiment could cause Malaysian students to leave the country, depriving the institution of much-needed revenue.

Spokesman Hadi Suprapto Arifin said on Thursday there were 350 students from Malaysia studying medicine and dentistry at Pajadjaran.

The students were charged an average of US$8,000 per year each and contributed a total of US$2.8 million a year to university revenue in study fees, Hadi said.

"We hope that the diplomatic row between Indonesia and Malaysia is settled through diplomatic channels and not through war. If the war happens, there is too much at stake, including the revenue that our university earns hosting the students," he said.

Local businesses would also be hurt by any exodus, as Malaysian students generally spent between US$2,000 and US$3,000 a year each in living costs, he said.

Malaysians have been studying at the university since the 1960s. High demand in recent years has led Padjadjaran staff to establish separate classes for international students, where all the learning is conducted in English.

A diplomatic row between Indonesia and Malaysia about the Ambalat Block undersea oil field has caused nationwide protests in recent weeks.

However, the protests had not greatly affected the Malaysian students at the university yet, Hadi said.

Relationships between Padjadjaran and Malaysia were still good and the university would take part in an education expo there on March 29, he said.

There are currently about 6,000 Malaysian students studying in learning institutes across Indonesia.

In South Sulawesi, Hasanuddin University deputy dean of medicine Wardihan said that several Malaysian students had come to him following the anti-Malaysian protests in the province. They had asked him about a range of issues, including security and how to deal with the media. The students told him they still felt safe, although they admitted the anti-Malaysian protests had disturbed them, Wardihan said.

If the protests continued, the students would eventually leave the country, which would constitute a great loss to the nation, Wardihan said.

Indonesian universities would not only suffer from financial losses, they would also lose future business, he said.

"It is not easy to build trust (in education institutions). "We can visit Malaysia many times to promote our university, but if people lose their trust in us, these promotional efforts will be useless," he said.

One hundred and fifty-two Malaysian students study at the university.