I feel that all universities have made enough support structures for these matters regarding accommodation. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. All universities will have a International Student Department and a Accommodation Service which assists in accommodation issues, both on and off campus.

Also, this is the Studying in Australia thread, not "Promoting Australia as a education destination" thread. It is not the intent of members in this thread to tell you where to pursue your study. Nor are we promoters. Make your decision, then start asking.

Ask vague questions, and you'll get vague answers.

From the main rules and regulations: From the Education Essentials sub-forum rules:
Ignorance of any law is never an excuse or a defense. Nothing we are doing here has never been done. If you do your homework, you will realise that much of the information you seek has been documented in the past.

I am very reluctant to put up ANY links to commercial entities which relate to education. Have you forgotten the stupid charade when members [="@k£LwIN@"=] and oceanblue123 came in with their "introduction support services".

Today it is IDP. Tomorrow its someone running a service between the airport and the CBD. Next thing you know people are offering their services for "assignment proof-reading". So where do you stop? Or do you want the front page nothing more but a collection of links?

I have made my stance clear on education agents, and experiences shared in the multiple versions of the Studying in Australia threads only serve to reinforce my low opinion of them.


Proposal rejected. Copyright is far more complicated than a line of text with the © logo. At most I would use a Creative Commons license, but I personally prefer it to be a something akin to the GPL, where people can modify and improve it, rather than it being static.

Claiming copyright (which I do not, as much of the information comes from many members, both past and present) of any of the material in the Studying in Australia threads is one thing. Being able to enforce the "Copyright" (note upper case) is completely another matter. There is no point "Impos[ing] Copyright" when there is no way of enforcing it when "companies [..] try to hijack information & duplicate it for their business services purpose."
I cannot understand this proposal. Reword it if you are serious in having it considered.

1) Read the front page first. Ask vague questions, and you'll get vague answers.

2) What do you intent to study in these places (if any) to use as an entrance qualification to enter university?

Which one? Year 12 and foundation are 2 separate things. Don't mix them up now.

If you can't make the cut in Australia with Year 12 to the course of your choice, what makes you think that A-levels will be any different? These 2 qualifications are not that dissimilar.

Secondly, I think we have to distinguish between Taylors College Malaysia and Taylors College Australia. They are not the same thing. Other than some intersection in the qualifications they offer (primarily on the Malaysian one) they are only same in name. So no, no place in Australia offers A-levels officially. (That said, there is nothing stopping you taking it as a private candidate in Australia, but as a Malaysian why would you want to do that?)

The thing is Malaysians have been brainwashed to thinking that multiple university entrance qualifications are normal. They are not. It is a disturbing abomination that is contrary to most good practices around the world. In Australia you have to do the appropriate Year 12 in the different states/territories for university entrance. No rubbish of a TER 99 score is the somehow the same as AAA in A-levels which is supposedly the linear equivalent of a CGPA of 3.92 in STPM.

Finally Australian Year 12 is accepted as an entrance qualification in most UK universities, so no, there is another path.

This post has been edited by haya: Oct 6 2010, 01:10 PM

Media coverage: http://www.malaysianmirror.com/lifestylede...australia-urged



A Bernama report quotes MSD acting director Zahari Long urging Malaysians in Australia to register with the MSD and the Ministry of Higher Education.

http://www.mohe.gov.my/stdinfo/laman.php
http://www.msda.org.au/index.php?p=2_3

Its all online now, so there should be no excuse not to.

This matter has been well discussed in the Studying in Australia threads, and more importantly Immigration has very clear information on this matter on their website.

Better start being more observant.

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/health-requirements/
http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/overseas/m/malaysia/panel-doctors.htm

This post has been edited by haya: Oct 12 2010, 10:11 AM

If you are caught with drugs at the border, consider your student visa canceled on the spot.

If you are a non-resident and are caught with drugs, be prepared to be charged in court, and be sent back to Malaysia at the end of the sentence.

If you can't satisfy a medical test, do NOT come to Australia.

And if any Australian visa you hold is canceled for whatever reason, don't expect to get a Australian visa for a very long time. There are no immigration officers to bribe.

Entrance to Australia is a privilege, not a right.

I always advice first timers to try for university accommodation on first arrival. One has enough on their plate when arriving in a new place without trying to find a place in a classified ad with no public transport and at the whim of the person renting it.

21 weeks is roughly half a year. I would go for it. Once you're more settled and more familiar with the place and the suburbs, and know the $130 per week place is a decent deal rather than a dump with the landlord from hell, then one can consider moving out to cheaper accommodation if one wishes. (I know people who are so happy with university accommodation, they're been there for 2 years!)

That said, there is nothing stopping you from seeking outside accommodation from the outset. Many do.

A decent bike starts about $150. The key word here is decent.

This post has been edited by haya: Oct 30 2010, 04:38 PM

Costs are determined by the individual medical practitioners where you have your checkup. As member Tony C said, shouldn't be more than RM200. A list of where you can have your checkup can be found on Immigration's website.

The Malaysian High Commission website is a start: http://www.malaysia.org.au/info2.html

Remember, this is the Studying in Australia thread, not how-to-bring-stuff-from-Australia-to-Malaysia thread. I will demure on the practicality of bringing a car from Australia to Malaysia (is it really any cheaper?)

Maybe it would be prudent to read before you post, and instead of showing your ignorance and inablilty to read. Unless you enjoy being a trigger happy poster and bask in being illiterate.

There are a few major web forums around the Australian netizen community, through some like Whirlpool have very strong enforcement policies and people who blindly post without searching usually have their threads closed/deleted. Like most things Malaysian, enforcement is not a Malaysian trait.

Not necessarily. I have seen houses/units for rent that don't come with fridge and/or washing machine. And more often than not the microwave is BYO.

Re Blackberries: I have no idea how much Blackberries cost in M'sia. However, a cursory glance at the Blackberry plans across the telco's seem to suggest that Blackberry contract plans seem to be around the $49/month mark. Also keep in mind they are 24 month contracts. And to unlock them may incur a extra fee (Optus is most guilty of this).

The websites of major telco's are on the front page.

I know fellow M'sians who bring along their desktop's with checkin. Some tips:

1) Take out the hard drive, the optical drive and the CPU + fan. Essentially anything that has movable parts. If you are confident, put these in the check-in luggage with padding. Else carry with you in your cabin luggage.

2) Pad the inside of the casing. Even old newspaper would do. The point is to not have things flying around inside the casing while in transit.

3) Ask for a fragile sticker at check-in. Even at KLIA they tend to obey that. If arriving in Brisbane, your desktop computer should come out of the "fragile items" conveyor belt. The same one that serves the surf boards of Aussie's who come to SEA to surf (the waves).

Whether it is cost effective to bring a desktop computer to Australia vs buying/assembling one here, I will leave it to the individual.

This post has been edited by haya: Dec 13 2010, 06:08 PM

It has to be noted that some textbooks which are used in Australia are not available in Malaysia. Secondly, at times it is far more cost effective to order from amazon.com than bring from Malaysia. Unless you know for sure what books you will need, I would advice against trying to bring books from M'sia on the initial journey.

Your luggage allowance can be used for far more interesting things.

Edit: typo's.

This post has been edited by haya: Dec 28 2010, 06:26 PM

For the love of your sanity and all tech support staff, please DO NOT use dodo as a ISP. Cheap, yes. Reliable? Even Streamyx is more consistent than them at times. And one can never call Dodo's network fast.

Seriously, even Telstra's plans are better than them once you read the fine print and add up all them hidden charges.

I presume you mean downloading at 200-300 kilobytes per second. (Not that most people know the difference) With ADSL 2+, that is below average. I routinely hit 500-600 KB/s while in quota (which is actually quite generous these days).

And I'm the far end of the exchange coverage area.

Oh you poor poor Malaysians, thinking 200-300KB/s is fast. (admittedly, it is kinda decent) Malaysia Boleh indeed.

Guys, this is the Studying in Australia thread, not "I want to use an Australian qualification to migrate" thread.

I will openly admit that it is a common event, but there is no need to add to the problem. It is bad enough that Chinese and Indian nationals are not well regarded in Australia. It is even worst when Malaysia consists of, amongst other things, ethnic Chinese and Indians. Let's keep M'sia on the favorable terms list shall we?

Ask yourself: are you coming to Australia for an education, or to migrate? If its the latter, don't whine why the rules get tighter every year. For it is percisely such people they're trying to keep out.
Schedule 3 will apply to most people, an in particular for a 885. Do note that Australian immigration changes their rules like people change their shirts. The migration rules that were in place when I went in 4 years ago no longer exist.

While I acknowledge some advance planning is always welcome, it has to be noted that when you're about to graduate, the rules will have changed, and may be to your disadvantage. Its a bit premature deciding on majors when you're only starting.

I wouldn't say "on the planet", but it is one of the most expensive in the Australia/New Zealand region.

Me in Brisbane, fees A$19k a year, cost of living A$15,000/year. At the current rates, its close to RM102,032 a year. So yes, it is not unusual to hit RM100k/year for a education in Australia.

There are always cheaper destinations. Once upon a time (approx 2.5 years back) Australia was actually pretty affordable.

Gardens Point campus is all but closed. Its a lake everywhere. Those who live in the CBD are trapped in their own place. Kelvin Grove is still dry, but if Kelvin Grove Campus floods I don't think Brisbane will be quite livable.

In any case QUT is all closed, and the road to UQ is a river.