Studying in Singapore, Malaysia less costly

T.Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

Studying abroad has long been the choice of many students who want to have an international experience while enjoying quality education.

There is a long list of options but most prefer to continue their study in an English-speaking country. America and Australia remain favorite destinations, but there are also students who go to neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

In fact, Singapore and Malaysia have become among the most popular destinations for Indonesian students. The number of students studying in the two countries continues to increase from year to year.

Basically the parents send their children to Singapore or Malaysia because they are close to Indonesia. It takes less than two hours by air from Jakarta and there are many airlines serving the route to those two countries every day. The tuition fees and the cost of living are also lower. Besides, when it comes to culture, they share many things in common.

The tuition fee to study in a private university in Singapore is between S$9,000 (about Rp 54 million) and S$12,000 a year, much lower than in Australia which reaches between A$13,000 (about Rp 97.5 million) and A$16,000, or between US$9,000 (about Rp 85.5 million) and US$18,000 in the United States, according to Gianti Atmojo, director of Aspectama International Education Advisor.

In Singapore, a student who lives in a homestay or a dormitory spends between S$700 and S$1,000 a month. "Students can also rent an apartment and if they want to save money, they may share a room, which may cost them between S$300 and S$500 per month," she said.

Pursuing education overseas also encourages students to become independent. This works well for the "spoiled" children of affluent families with many domestic helpers, as being away from home, the students have to do the household chores by themselves.

Indonesians, like many other international students, have the tendency to mingle among themselves. In this case, Anita Sutandya, director of Anindo, another international education consultant, suggested that the Indonesians make the best of the chance to study abroad by mixing with students from other countries and building an international network.

Singapore, which has more than 90,000 professional expatriates living and working there, is home to 60,000 international students, including Indonesians.

There are three state universities in Singapore: National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and Singapore Management University (SMU), which offer internationally recognized degrees. Research and scholarship opportunities are also available to post-graduate students.

NUS is the oldest university, which was founded back in 1905. It offers courses in various disciplines such as the sciences, engineering, technology, law, arts and social sciences and medicine.

Singapore also has more than 200 private commercial, IT, fine arts and language schools. These private commercial and speciality schools offer various courses at the certificate, diploma, bachelor and postgraduate level.

Educational institutions in Singapore usually have partnerships with international universities from the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

The Management Development Institute of Singapore, for example, has a partnership with the Edith Cowan University in Perth, Southern Cross University in Sydney, Oklahoma City University in the United States and University of Wales and University of Bredford in the United Kingdom.

The Technology Management Centre cooperates with Deakin University and Monash University in Melbourne, Utah State University in the United States and the University of London and University of Westminster in the United Kingdom.

Under the partnership program, after studying for two years in Singapore, students can continue their study at the university in Australia, America or England. Students who want to take undergraduate studies at the University of London, for example, do not have to spend all their academic years in England. Since they can study for the first two years in Singapore they will save money and still get quality education.

They can save more money by studying in Malaysia, where the tuition fee is between RM9,000 (about Rp 22.5 million) and RM17,000 a year, while the accommodation is about RM500 per month.

Malaysian educational institutes also have partnerships with universities from Western countries. Sedaya International University in Kuala Lumpur, for instance, has a partnership with the University of East London and Curtin University of Technology in Perth.

Anyone who wants to study at a foreign university but does not want to spend much time abroad may enroll at San Benda Graduate School of Business in Manila. Starting this year, it offers special courses for Indonesian students: the MBA program is only Rp 35 million (around US$3,600) while the doctoral program is Rp 69 million.

And the students can study here at home because for each academic term, you need only study for one week on campus. The MBA program lasts for one year, comprising of four terms. If you take the doctoral program, you study for two years -- each year comprises of three terms, and in the third year you should work on your dissertation.

"On June 26 we will send 15 students of the doctorate program to Manila," said Agung Martono, the university's representative for Indonesia.