Students from different cultural backgrounds getting along together.

Participating in a tree planting activity in Wollongong, Australia.

Students enjoying campus life at UOW Australia.

By UOW Malaysia 

Hours after landing in Wollongong in southwestern Australia, Hikaru Aso knew he had entered a cosmopolitan city.

Hikaru is a Japanese pursuing the Bachelor of Business (Hons), majoring in marketing at UOW Malaysia.

After a year in Malaysia, he chose to take up UOW Malaysia’s Semester Abroad Program (SAP) and is now spending up to six months at UOW Australia.

“I met so many East Asians, Southeast Asians, Africans, Hispanics, Latin-Americans and people from the Middle East.

“Not just students but also lecturers, professors and even shopkeepers and food sellers. I am amazed by the multicultural fabric of the society,” he said.

Speaking of food, Hikaru said he was stunned by the international variety of eateries in Wollongong.

“There are so many Chinese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Indian and of course Japanese food restaurants and cafes.

“I have lived in Malaysia for a year and tried all sorts of Chinese and Indian food, and I can say that such offerings in Wollongong taste like the real thing,” Hikaru laughed.

He said he chose to study at UOW Malaysia because he wanted to become exposed to many languages, knowing that Malaysia was a land of diverse cultures.

After opting for the campus’ SAP, he said he found an even better bargain by spending six months at UOW Australia and exposing himself to an even greater degree of the cosmopolitan lifestyle.

And he said he was beginning to fall in love with a cultural uniqueness in Wollongong that was utterly different from his homeland of Japan.

“In Japan, we respect privacy. People don’t talk to each other on the trains or streets.

“But in Wollongong, it is the opposite. Unknown people on the streets want to talk to you. How are you? How was your weekend? They really want to know and listen to your replies,” he laughed.

Even in classes, he said lecturers and professors took the time to converse with him at a personal level. How has he been living? Has he had any issues adjusting? Is there any way they could help?

Another UOW Malaysia student who took up the SAP and is now in UOW Australia pointed out that since he arrived in July, he has not had a local Australian professor yet.

Wayne Liu Zhi Xuen said he had so far come under the tutelage of professors who were Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese and even Hong Kongers.

Liu, a Malaysian, is pursuing the Bachelor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Hons).

“As a Malaysian, I am proud to come from a multicultural country, and I am amazed that the UOW Australia’s campus is even more multicultural than Malaysia,” he said.

As for studying facilities, Liu said he loved the laboratories at UOW Australia.

Engineering is a field of study that often requires the use of machines to fabricate material, and Liu said he had a lab with seven of the same type of machines.

This, he said, allowed him and his course mates to continuously work on their projects from start to end, instead of taking turns.

Liu said he was heartened to have met many Malaysians at UOW Australia who opted to study the full year there.

Liu encouraged students to study abroad even for a semester because it is a rare opportunity to immerse oneself in utterly new cultures and societies for an extended time.

UOW Malaysia’s SAP allows its students to spend a semester abroad while paying the same amount in tuition fees as if they were doing that semester in UOW Malaysia.

UOW Malaysia bachelor’s degree students pursuing any of about 30 courses at its Penang or Selangor campuses have this option.

To fully understand the benefits and ways to obtain UOW Malaysia’s SAP, visit www.uow.edu.my to set an appointment with academic advisers at the UOW Malaysia campuses near you.