Dear all,

Good to see such threads around here!

I m currently having a BIG dilemma to where i should further my studies for a degree. Having a hard time deciding between Monash Malaysia and Monash Australia and I'm sorry if my question is too much but i really do appreciate if anyone could share some thoughts :')


Malaysian/Johor Bahru / 22y.o / SPM---> Diploma in Biotechnology from Republic Polytechnic Singapore / Currently working in laboratory (Singapore) close to 1 year / Able to get 2 years of exemption from AUS degree/UK Degree and in rare cases 3 years exemption.




1. Malaysian Studies: What is the medium of language for this subject and is there an option to take it in English? My Bahasa skills has degraded and rotted after being in Singapore close to 4 years. Are there any more modules compulsory to take which is being taught in Malay?

2. How are the Life Sciences courses there? Particularly Bachelor of Science & Medical Bioscience? Real tough or still manageable with some free times for school activities? I really want to enjoy my uni life after studying hard and working hard for the past few years in Singapore, it wasnt easy

3. Do international students need to take Malaysian studies as of 2015? I found too much conflicting infos for this. i m helping my friends from Singapore and Indonesia to inquire this.

4. Lets talk about Malaysian studies again, or moral studies (not sure if its the same) , does the module score has a high impact on our grades or just merely needed to pass will be good enough? I m really concern as i didnt do very well for history in secondary school.

5. Any options to study in Malaysia first then transferred to Australia for last year (twinning) and how easy it is to apply this may i ask?



Some extra info: After spending some years in Singapore, its really tough wanting to go back to Malaysia for further studies considering the messy politics, poor safety and less convenience for transport... its a total different story here in singapore, making me wanting to go for Monash australia but would have to spend a bomb for it. But still... Malaysia is my true home and where my family and relatives resides.


Thanks for reading <3

This post has been edited by jeffreytjl: Aug 20 2015, 11:05 PM

1. Sorry i dont get what you mean . so its a compulsary but do i have a choice to learn it in english?

2. Wow i m suprised you knew about this... few years ago this field was heavily popularised but after getting into it... found out that there is way limited job oppurtunities..

5. If i exchange i would still follow the malaysian fees right?


Rejected by Singapore local U on my first try on 2014... missed application on 2015... dont ever think i get a chance..
GPA 3.5 ... my friend who is 3.9 plus in my course got both offers from NTU and NUS. he was the only one in my course that geta offered and even 3.8 plus also couldnt get in...
It is extrenely competitive and polytechnic students have a low chance of 20 percent to enter while 80 percent is for A level students
NTU biological science cohort is around 200 to 300 plus, with such competition combined with international students application... really hard to get in o..

Not PR. if PR i need serve army two years sin lol

This post has been edited by jeffreytjl: Aug 21 2015, 08:19 AM

2. if wanna get high pay with a life science degree, definitely go business route aka finance marketing and sales etc..
working in lab pays little and its all about passion and interest.


Biopolis, which you may mean where A*STAR resides, best in research in SG but EXTREMELY competitive, its way even harder to enter ASTAR than NUS.
Its also hard to maintain a job there as a researcher... its not easy to produce an impactful research, and all these needs continuous fundings.

Years ago there wasnt even this news that talks about degrees holder washing test tube there while PhD and masters doing more relevant stuff. Ask any Singaporean in the life science field and you ll get an idea how hard it is to get a job in A STAR

Thanks so much for the infos, really appreciate it and sorry i take time to reply cuz too busy working hehe

I certainly did make use of my time to learn more about this field and job prospect in sg by chatting with many different colleagues and some lecturers combine with sg forum and hardwarezone forum views... its just sad that this field is not promosing in SEA but a lot better in western countries.

edit: Biological science is the wider version which encompasses biomedical science, biotech , biochem etc. Its a life science course not engineering.

and no my parents are not PR but they are offered and was PR long time when i was young/havent born. When my dad came back to work in malaysia for many years the PR status got taken away.

This post has been edited by jeffreytjl: Aug 21 2015, 10:06 PM

sorry phone getting weird. dunno how to delete duplicated post ><

This post has been edited by jeffreytjl: Aug 21 2015, 07:53 PM

SUTD or SIT do not offer life science courses and i dont plan to change to engineering because my physics and add maths almost always fail during secondary school and i simply dont have any interest in them hehe ><

I however have a very very strong passion for bio science and i hate dealing with money and numbers so accouting banking side are not my cup of teas. I want to be a scientist that can at least help and improve the world, i understand this may sound cheesy.. but its just that i am not a money minded person but more of a 'trying to understand life better' person. I do also realize with such lower salary in this field, i would struggle to support my family and future wife and kids (if lucky ) . Lots of thinking and worries had been done... but it seems that my strong interest would not change my mind anytime soon :'(

Those job positions in Astar requires at least a very good cert ie from local uni in sg. you dont ever hear any private unis in sg get into that company ever... its that serious.. i have colleagues who have friends who previously work there and was super stress because he/she did not achieve any good results.
Job postings are also 1 year contract based instead of permanent. All the perms are all the highly educates Phd with plenty experiences in the field.


How about you? I understand that you graduate from Monash years ago from Mechanical.
How are you doing and does your salary satisfy you? what about your coursemate and do their pay differ quite a lot? Most importantly did you enjoy studying your course? any regrets etc mind sharing

This post has been edited by jeffreytjl: Aug 21 2015, 10:58 PM