I don't understand this last sentence.

Remember, it is very hard to help someone whom you cannot understand due to the other party's inability to express what they're trying to convey.

UQ Semester 1 of 2012 is 27 Feb 2011. I'm not sure however if your earlier start date is because you need to attend remedial classes as a credit transfer student, or it being this way because being in the health sciences you guys have a unusual academic calendar.

28 Jan isn't too bad. Assuming you're landing in the earlier part of that day you have almost 2 days to get things sorted (just pray we don't get another flood!). I personally would prefer something a little earlier, if only to allow some extra leeway.

1) Have you opted for airport reception by UQ?
2) What are your initial accommodation options?

Bus route 29 does the Woolloongabba busway to UQ lakes run. If you're going to be going between PA Hospital and St Lucia the optimum to stay place would be Dutton Park. But get here first.

1) Call up MSDA and ask them. None of us here can reply with any authoritativeness on this matter.

2) At the current exchange rate, most computer peripherals are largely cheaper in Malaysia than in Australia. If can bring it over when you come, you might come out better. Most of the time any savings in Malaysia is all negated once you add shipping to this part of the world.

More information on bringing a desktop computer over from Malaysia here: https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?act=ST&f...post&p=38492398

3) Can you live with A$1200/month in Melbourne, after taking into consideration rent, food, transport, communication?

This post has been edited by haya: Oct 24 2011, 09:05 AM

http://www.immi.gov.au/students/students/573-1/applying.htm

124 days (4 months) if you're not in Australia, 93 days (3 months) if you're in Australia before your course starts.

At the current exchange rate vis-a-vis the MYR/AUD, yeah, if you can bring the parts over, its much cheaper purchasing them in Malaysia than in Australia. Just be quick with HDD's: the Thai floods are pushing up prices for mechanical hard drives.

I don't understand the rationale for removing the parts from the original boxes.

Very bad idea limeuu. The fact that you are unpaid does not mean you are not "working". "Work" is defined by immigration as "any form of activity that normally attracts renumeration". Even if you are not being paid for the task(s) that you are doing, it can be still counted as "work", and if immigration gets wind of this, you will be barred from entering Australia for a while.

Some real examples I've seen come through the doors of RAILS(http://www.rails.org.au/)/legal aid:

-Attached to a law firm for a experience, not getting paid, going 8am-6pm everyday: it is work
-Distributing fliers on the street, as help for someone: work
-Helping a friend fill in for a shift at a car wash for a one-off: work

I don't know what zstan wants to do while in Australia, but if it is related to his course of studies in the medical field, I would strongly advice getting a visa that gives some kind of working rights.

Of course, unless you're the typical selfish Malaysian who wants to circumvent the system for your own interests, and mess things up for the rest of us.......

Australia is a relatively civilised place. Generally the fees and all will be stated in full, and one small consolation for international students is that our fee structure is a lit simpler than domestic students with the different levels.

(Say) $2500/subject, the average student does 4 subjects a semester, thats $10,000/semester. Simple as that. None of the rubbish of exam fees, printing fees, material charge etc that plague Malaysia.

http://www.optus.com.au/dafiles/OCA/AboutO...rePdPricing.doc

When a Optus perpaid is recharged with a set amount of credit, the "call credit validity period" is valid from anything between 7 days and 60 days, depending on your plan. After the "call credit validity period" has lapsed (ie your prepaid recharge is exhausted or expired), the "additional period", where you can receive but not make calls, kicks in.

Currently the "additional period" is 186 days (ie 6.2 months).

I highly doubt you'll be going back to Malaysia for that long with the intention to return in the short term.

This post has been edited by haya: Nov 10 2011, 03:14 PM

Even by Sydney standards, $880/month for accommodation is a bit on the high side. You might like to reconsider your accommodation options.

Sometimes, it does pay to live a little further from the university. Its all a balance. Live too far away and the time + transportation costs diminish any cost savings.

Member Hikari0307 is in Brisbane. Member hihihehe is in Melbourne. Can't quite extrapolate their experiences to Sydney.<

I think, member angelsien, is that you don't cook.$15-20 bucks a day for food AND transportation is a bit too much.

Remember kids, the fact that NSW and Victoria do not offer concession fares for international students means it is a real hit when it comes to costs. (Also part of the reason why India Indian students have so much problems in Victoria)

This post has been edited by haya: Nov 21 2011, 11:57 AM

Oh come on, surely you're aware of the so-called "curry bashings" and alleged attacks targeting students from the Indian Subcontinent?

When are you flying exactly?

RM1500 one way KUL-SYD for the late Jan/early Feb sounds right for MH. Personally I wouldn't worry too much about price if you want to start your journey in Malaysia.

The default baggage allowance is 20KG for international flights on legacy carriers. If you want more luggage allowance call up MAS and ask if they can do something for student. Read the front page for further information.

North Terrace. Seriously. Not on the street itself, but the myrad of options between it and Pirie St.

Can someone explain to me the purpose of such posts? What is the aim of finding out if someone is headed to a particular place at a defined time?

There is a reason why we have the front page.

Re scyap: Just hope we don't get another flood!

I don't see what the issue is bringing around a translated version of your licence. If you're a Malaysian student the High Comm will do it for free, and the return postage is still cheaper than getting a NAATI translator to do it.

If one is thinking of migration, you might like to be aware that almost all your documentation needed from Malaysia is not in English.......

For Brisbane at least, the thing about Vodafone is to have a device that can to 850Mhz for UMTS (3G).

From experience, most of the issues that Vodafone Brisbane users face is when they have a device that only does 2100Mhz. Vodafone have done a lot of work into their 850Mhz, at least in Brisbane, and the difference in performance and signal strength between a device that can and can't do 850Mhz can be quite amazing.

Vodafone's 2G network isn't that great. Unlike Telstra and to a lesser extent Optus, Vodafone very early on invested in their 3G network. It was fine when the iphone was a pipe dream and there wasn't that much data that was taking up spectrum, so they could see the excess capacity of Savvytel (motto then: credits never expire!).

So Vodafone customers don't really have a luxury of falling back to the 2G network.

For Viber, the Vodafone network generally is okay, but I would be wary using it as the main communication means.

Being in West End may make little influence. Its a relatively flat place and semi-densely populated. Being in inner city Brisbane doesn't mean you don't have black spots. Just ask those who live in Spring Hill.

This post has been edited by haya: Jan 12 2012, 10:31 AM

Australia does not have a "electronic tax". Everything that is imported in by individuals valued at under A$1000 is "imported free of duty, taxes and Customs and Border Protection charges, unless they are alcohol products or tobacco products."

Anything bought overseas and worth over $1000 will be charged duty and/or GST when shipped to an Australian address.

http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5653.as...dvalueoverA1000

A 4 minute 360p clip on Youtube would take up around 40MB. Skype with video calling will be around 53MB/hr downstream. If your ISP counts uploads that will chew into your quota.

I'm a relatively moderately heavy user, and downloads + uploads will see me chew through 50GB of data a month. And if you're sharing with other people, they have their own habits which need to be taken into account.

20GB for a start as in individual is not bad a starting point, and usually it isn't too hard upgrading your plan (downgrades are a different kettle of fish)

Re onelove89: which ISP do you use in Tassie?

This post has been edited by haya: Jan 30 2012, 11:18 AM

Would you recommend Dodo (unlimited or otherwise) to someone in Tassie?

Do you bundle your phone also with iiinet?

This post has been edited by haya: Jan 30 2012, 09:13 PM

http://www.immi.gov.au/students/students/changing_courses/

Spoon feeding is a habit not easily changed, I see.

Some definitions need to be clarified here:

1) "Shipping" is defined as using one of them courier companies to send stuff from another nation to Australia. If it is commercial in nature (eg Amazon) then the value of the item has to be declared.

2) Bringing your laptop/notebook/desktop to Australia in your luggage is not considered "shipping" by Customs' definition. So no, if you bring your own laptop/notebook/desktop to Australia with you as you arrive in Australia, you will not be charged tax.

I have brought 2 laptops into Australia, where are purchase were worth about RM6000. Of course, don't bring in a bag full of computer parts: that's how you get pulled aside.

Another example: fellow friend brought a desktop from M'sia, which at time of purchase was valued around RM5000. Really, your more pressing concerns will be weight and how to make sure your desktop survives the journey.

Some discussion on bringing desktop's to Australia here: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1286048/+1300

3) If you ship a full desktop/notebook/laptop over as a private individual, (ie asking your parents to send one over via DHL), generally you don't get taxed, even if it is a Alienware worth RM4000, as long as you declare it as a "gift".