Hi there, I'm just wondering.. What are the chances of obtaining a part-time job in Melbourne? CBD area I suppose, is it really that hard? @_@

Monash MBBS conditional offers for MUFY students are out, fyi.

what do you want to know?

Hi apsidewatch, welcome to Australia. Though I'm from UWA but I used to apply and received offers from UQ and Adelaide. First of all, what majors are you taking? What would you like to ask? I may be able to answer a few questions since I've done some research about Bachelor of Commerce course structures in both UQ and Adelaide.

note that now im only looking for 2 places, University of Queensland and University of Melbourne.

im thinking of majoring in accounting. study-wise i've informed that University of Melbourne will be the best choice, but im looking more than that. to inform u, i'll be studying under scholarship and provided with 1200AUD/month for Melbourne,sydney and brisbane and a lower allowance for other cities.

so the cost of living in brisbane is lower than in Melbourne, which is good. but some said it is kinda kampung, well is it? so comparatively KL as to Melbourne, than what is brisbane? and can some1 tell me on average how much AUD it differs living in Melbourne and Brisbane?

and im really concern about the weather, afraid that i couldnt get used to melbourne's, since im kinda thin and i have history of asthma attack when i was a kid. havent used my inhaler for a long time, but yeah who knows it will come? but brisbane are said to be hot,wet summers and dry,cold winters from here, which is similar to malaysia. i want to exp the most for all 4 seasons, which is available at melbourne i guess..

last but not least, Melbourne has too many malays population is it? how often do u see one if u walk around? im afraid that if im in melbourne it will be like " huh, not so overseas am I?" .

any other points that i should look at? hope all of u can guide me to make the best choice.

depends what kind of job you looking for

malay? chinese and indian nearly covered the whole melbourne(my opinion)...so what makes you think there is too many malays in melbourne?

idk, sorry for that mistakes. thats what i've heard.. so there's not much of malays there?

guys, this is only what i've been told. some may be true n some may not.. so i need ur help to tell me which is which.

it really depends which area you gonna stay..i believe there will be more malay students in university of melbourne but i don't see much in the city. i might be wrong though...

but 1 thing for sure is that no matter who you are (chinese,indian,malay,etc) from malaysia, australian local still think that you are malay from malaysia...

I live in the Melbourne CBD, and I can't say I have seen more malays. The thing is when we come over, all asians are kinda like similar. After a while, you're just one of the asians living here. I outgrew my asthma, but have allergies. Strangely my allergies are quite minimal here, but they acted up when I went home in July! Melbourne is waaay nicer than Brisbane...

oh really? *jot some notes* . how's their prespective towards malaysians? arent they being racist towards foreigners?


what kind of allergies? care to tell me more?

my heart is shouting for melbourne but i dont know if it is because that i only hear a 1 sided story by those who live there, havent heard much on brisbane..

i'm not saying they racist(by the way,racist is anywhere). just most of them don't know about our culture/race.
if you are chinese that came from malaysia then they will assume you are malay with chinese background. i worked with australian chinese before and they assumed me as malay with chinese background rather than chinese with chinese background from malaysia..

but not really a big matter...

Part time work such as at Subway, Hungry Jack's, Coles, Woolworths. Something for side income lol

Glad to know that I'm not the only person. There must be something in the air in Australia. I went back to Malaysia and didn't stop sneezing for days. And I'm not even from the Klang valley.

Funnily enough, I do know people who have moved up to Brisbane from Melbourne due to their allergies. Hay fever is extremely common here, especially amongst Caucasians.

If you are ethnically Chinese or Indian, never identify yourself as "Chinese" or "Indian". They assume you come from China and the Indian subcontinent respectively. Malaysian's overall have a better reputation from nationals of these 2 nations. For now. At the rate we're going we're going to end up worst off: some Malaysians do themselves no favours not trying to integrate to this place, while the China Chinese and India Indians see you as 2nd rate samaritans.

Malaysia does not have dry and cold winters. Neither do we have hot and dry summers. That said, it can get hotter in Brisbane and Melbourne during summer than what we're used to in Malaysia.



It all depends on where you live. Stay in certain suburbs and you'd think you are in China/India/Africa/Vietnam rather than Australia. I'm not aware of any Malaysian clusters in Brisbane (through the QUT student apartments come close).


What is it with people and going to "kampung" places? If you want the bright shiny lights go north. The southern hemisphere can be rather dull for those who live to be overly stimulated by external forces.

To put things into the Malaysian context, if Melbourne was KL, Brisbane would be Penang I suppose. Perth would be more towards Kuching/Kota Kinabalu. Adelaide would be Kuantan or Malacca. I don't think anyone would dispute Canberra is like Putrajaya, minus the shiny lights of the big city an hour's drive away.

Member apsidewatch, JPA scholarship student?

This post has been edited by haya: Aug 13 2011, 08:29 PM

Can't agree more about ethnic identity. Member apsidewatch, it all depends till what extent of cold can you bear with or you generally like "the colder, the better" weather. But you know, Melbourne is well known with 4 seasons in a day, pretty much unpredictable and unsure what to wear. Initially, I have definitely not seen more Malays or even Malaysians to be real honest although people back in hometown claimed that Perth's the second home for Malaysians [mainly Sabahans and Sarawakians]. I've wondered where are these people since it's quite difficult to find a Malaysian and it seems like most of them are all in Curtin University. In international students wise, my university is mainly dominated by Singaporeans [and you probably know why they are here today].

I guess you'll get the feeling of "not being abroad" if you're living in suburbs or universities that are dominated by Asians [mainly South East Asians] or if you have a family friend/relative/PR friend that stays in the same city as you and invites you over for dinner and other activities during the weekend. That's what I partially dislike about. I would rather go to a place as me, myself and later build up my identity, experiences and circle of friends. But unfortunately that's not going to happen because my dad would try his best to put me the same city with his connections [well also for safety reasons]. Not going to blame that either.

I have a personal feeling that QUT has more Malaysians in Queensland. No doubt in Melbourne you'll have a higher chance meeting up with Malaysians. And guess what... better Malaysian delicacies in Melbourne too. It's not something silly if you miss Malaysian food, that's normal. Talking about Malaysian food, or generally some Asian foods in Perth... pfftttt.

It's good that you would like to know more about the courses. Actually, have you read through the university's handbook? It helps a lot to me in that aspect because I wouldn't want to spend half of my university life studying certain core units that I definitely do not have interest in or not even relevant to what am I pursuing. What are you looking for in your degree. Do you like flexibility of a degree or just being as specific as possible?

This post has been edited by immabee: Aug 13 2011, 10:01 PM

thx to both of you, a really great help. fyi im under mara, its a long journey to get where i am now.. a-levels in 2 years instead of 1.5 years for most scholars, having to wait for like 7 months from the final paper till February intake, really hope it will be worth it.

i just went through the handbook, and said there will be breath n depth subject which really took me by interest. im not aware regarding the flexibility of subject that ill be taken.. more that im dont know what is that pardon my ignorance on such an important matter. can u tell me more about it?t

Yeah. I guess your hard work paid off. No worries, everyone's indecisive at the first place. You deserve to go to a university that suits you. Ordinary commencing commerce students would just pick up that degree, and maybe along with a major and picks the university by preference. Initially I applied for UQ & Adelaide and I was offered a spot for B.Commerce. Alright, I should cut off the bull crap and jump start into what I need to explain.

People would have thought the structure of a commerce degree is practically almost the same. That's some what true, but I'm going to put two different universities as examples, same course and study duration.

University of Queensland [B.Commerce] 3 years
Course Requirements:

Alternatively you can read the course rules here: http://www.uq.edu.au/study/program.html?acad_prog=2024

Now move on to UWA, note: it's applicable only to this year's intake. Am showing this is an example in decision making. From 2012, UWA's following a similar path as Melbourne's model.
University of Western Australia [B.Commerce] 3 years
Course Requirements:


Alright, now I've a headache typing this. But I would like to point out that UWA is one of the examples that offers a flexibility of a degree. You can take other units beyond your current major and make it to an additional specialisation/skill that is recognised provided if you follow the course rules. I like the fact it overlaps. Besides that, I can take a minor beyond my commerce degree, currently thinking of a minor in Quantitative Economics from the Economics degree. Let's just wait and see.

UQ is great & way prestigious than UWA anyway. Who wouldn't want go to UQ? [I would, still!!] However, it didn't fit with what I really want in my degree. If you haven't noticed, as far as I know, a few units such as MGTS1301 Introduction to Management, MKTG1501 Foundations of Marketing are yet compulsory but it's not exempted in CA/CPA. Too bad these 2 units are totally not my cup of tea though they're useful in future. In UWA, cutting that 2 units off allows me to possibly get a minor/major or other electives that I have passion in. In that way, I can utilise the 3 years in learning what I like, getting full accreditation for the license through those compulsory units and yet able to gain various specialised disciplines. UWA has seriously plenty of majors within it's commerce degree [still not as many as Curtin]. It's very common among us if you undertake another major from the economics degree.

In UWA courses 2012, you'll still get to undertake another major from another faculty under any bachelor degree title. E.g. Bachelor of Commerce [Accounting & Chemistry] However, the maximum majors are still 2 majors = same as Uni of Melbourne as far as I know, yet still giving you room to include other electives. I think UWA may no longer offer minors as well in the new model. However if you're going for Accounting in Uni of Melbourne while getting full professional accreditation, do take note that you can only undertake the following breath tracks:
Education subjects and sequences
Historical studies sequences
Information systems and informatics sequences
Music subjects
Psychology sequence

and other breadth units.

Another downside in UQ is none of the units overlap when it comes to majors and again, it all comes down to either Accounting, Finance or Business Info Systems. You can undertake up to 2 majors only after completing the core units. That means if I am primarily majoring in Accounting, it's either I can take Finance or Business Info Sys within B.Commerce, leaving me no room to undertake other interesting units unless you're willing to have only 1 major and add-on with 6 random units/electives, everything in 3 years. However I am not sure whether you can undertake another major from another degree/faculty. But one good thing is UQ brings you real deep insights in those majors.

Well, that's just my personal opinion. Decision wise, it all depends what kind of degree, course structure, types of majors you're looking forward to. I almost fall into the pit due to my stubbornness and thank goodness Lord arranged me to somewhere I haven't even research properly and in which it turns out best for me, so far. Not sure whether is this good or bad, but most UQ commerce accounting units assess you in mid-sem & final-sem exams only, which sounds less tedious than what I've been through now, in a way.

I hope this does bring an insight to all of you out there and enjoy the read. . Have to go now. I have to help out my uni for open day early tomorrow morning. Damn! I'm long-winded.

Cheers

This post has been edited by immabee: Aug 14 2011, 02:07 AM

hey guys,

im have a little question here hope you guys could help me.

is it normal that my TFN that i applied for isnt here yet after nearly 1 and a half month?

thanks in advance!

This post has been edited by angelsien: Aug 14 2011, 10:43 AM

I'm not sure about "normal", but it does take a while. The standard processing time is 1 month. Be patient. Even if you're starting work now, you can give your TFN to your employer at a later date.

thanks!
cause from what i read online, they're saying that the normal time is around 28 days, but i was guessing all these info might just be slightly wrong.
and also i've gotta apply for a superannuation account with my TFN so im kinda in a rush to get all of the things done before assignments and other workload start kickin in!

really appreciate your help

Numerically, there are more Malaysians in Melbourne. QUT only has its fair number of Malaysians because of the MARA and MOE students doing education in QUT (The MOE has a special arrangement with QUT to train the future teachers of Malaysia).

Perth is like a second East Malaysia, partially because for a very long time there was a direct Kuching-Perth flight. The close distance also helped.

As for food, I don't come to Australia for Malaysian food. This is not to say I do not have moments where I do think of the familiar tastes of home (having Chef Wan on Masterchef didn't help, and I don't even watch Masterchef!), but I don't actively go out and seek Malaysian food. This is not to say that I would turn down an invitation for a meal with Malaysians (can't wait for raya), but seriously, what is wrong with the local palate?


As I said, it all depends on where you live. If you want to "feel like in another country", don't cluster around the suburbs where your kind are.

I will let other members discuss on the finer points of B.Com, but generally, students in Australia in single degree's have a lot of flexibility in the subjects they can choose, unlike the straight jacket of Malaysian academia. They can be called by different names like "electives" or "breadth subjects", but essentially you can pick any subjects you want to do from other faculties. Depending on your course, one can take up to 8 subjects from other faculties.

Generally a degree has 3 main components: core, major and electives. Core subjects are needed by all students in that course: for example all IT students need to do the fundamentals of programming, databases, networks and system architecture.

Once you have a (somewhat) grasp of what your qualification has to offer, one can choose your major. For instance, in a B.IT, should one decide to focus on software development, one can take subjects that focus on software development, application/network programming, even software development methodologies.

The point of electives is to give students the opportunity to broaden their views. Some will stick with their field. I know B.IT students who have never taken any subject outside those offered by the IT faculty/school. On the other end are students who want something different. I've seen people take accounting, language, math, law, creative industries, etc subjects as their B.IT electives.

Of course, most of the time people will just take the 1st year subjects as their electives. Many of the higher level units have prerequisites, which assume a fair bit of existing knowledge. I mean, there is not point enrolling in a algorithm data structure subject when you don't know the Big O notation.

All subjects have a course outline, which set out the assumed knowledge, prerequisites and assessment types. All are publicly available on the websites of all Australian universities.