Foreign students build careers in Canada

Julie Eveline Wijaya, in her early 20s, left her hometown and parents in Medan in North Sumatra three years ago to study chemical engineering at Ottawa University in Ontario, Canada.

Julie joined Canada's oldest and best university with the help of an agency in Jakarta after failing a rigorous national entrance test to attend University of Indonesia in Jakarta. Prior to her departure for Canada, Julie had taken an English course in Malaysia to make herself adept in the language used at her prospective university.

"I decided to go to Canada after taking a nine-month course in Malaysia," said the daughter of a businessman, who is now sharing an apartment with Christina Indriani Suryanto, an Indonesian compatriot also studying at Ottawa University.

Julie expects to finish her four years of study toward a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree next April, and return to Indonesia to build a career for her future.

Yutta Rizelia, a graduate of Regina Pacis senior high school in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, entered York University in Toronto to study computer science after studying at a high school in Pennsylvania, the United States, for two years.

Yutta is staying with her uncle, an architect who has lived in Canada for the last 17 years in Scarborough, a one and half hour bus ride from York University. Yutta, the daughter of an architect living in Jakarta, said she would look for a job after graduating from York University.

Otto Dharmalaksana, the son of a businessman from Bandung, West Java, said he studied tourism at Capilano College in Vancouver, British Colombia to enter the tourism sector, while Sophia Shinta, a BSc graduate from the University of Brawijaya in Malang, East Java, studies business at Capilano college in Vancouver under the Asia Pacific Management Cooperative Program (APMCP).

Despite frequent rainfall, Vancouver, a picturesque city, had a strong belief in multiculturalism and high quality education.

Bebeb A.K.N. Djundjunan, a consul at the Indonesian Consulate General in Vancouver, said there were around 3,000 Indonesians living in Vancouver. Some of them owned houses in high class residential areas and drove luxury cars.

Many international students from Asia who study at Canada's universities and colleges, including Indonesians, are able to communicate in understandable English after staying in the country for one or two years. Some of them are even quite assertive and outspoken, although one or two admitted to still having communication problems arising from language barriers and the differences in social systems and cultures between their home countries and Canada.

"I still face communication difficulties arising from language problems. I think it will take me three to five years to feel confident in English," said Steven Lie, 35, a 1999 BSc. graduate from Shong Hui Jiao Tong University in China. Lie is working for his Masters of Science on high-voltage engineering at Waterloo University.

Julie, Yutta, Otto, Shinta and Lie are Asian youths now studying at Canada's universities and colleges. They left their home countries to experience Canada's modern and rich academic life as part of a dream to pursue better careers in the future.

The subjects taken by Asian students vary, although many of them, especially those going to colleges which focus on skill development through strong linkages with industries and business sectors, take computer science, business administration and engineering.

Some of Canada's colleges provide easy access for international students by lowering requirements on English as the students can learn the language in the preparatory courses especially established for students who want to master their English first before they continue their studies in their chosen fields.

Foreign students cited the ability to speak English, interact with people from different cultures, exposure to international experience in business and high-quality education among the prime reasons for studying in Canada.

International students pay costs ranging from tuition fees, meals and apartment rental. The amount varies from one area to another depending on the costs of living in the respective provinces.

At Ottawa University the costs paid by international students for one-year or eight-months of study is between C$19,895-20,895 (between Rp 109.4million and Rp 114.9million) for students living in residences and between $20,925 and $21,925 for those living off-campus. The costs include residence fees or rent (between $2,745 and $3,725), tuition ($11,000-$12,000), food (around $2,000), books and school supplies ($1,000), personal expenses ($1,000), miscellaneous ($1,500) and health insurance ($700).

Chang-ho Kim, PhD, a colleague from South Korea who joined a recent Canada outreach education tour for Asian journalists organized by Canada's government, said the fees paid by South Koreans studying in Canada's colleges was high, but he quickly said that most of the students had no difficulties in paying the fees because they came from rich families.

The ability of Indonesian students by and large are almost similar with their South Korean colleagues to pay the fees as many of them come from rich families.