“The establishment of the branch campus would turn Malaysia into an educational hub in this region,” he said adding that English language would be the medium of instruction.

He said that the University of Xiamen, which is a non-profit making university would utilise all the income gained from the branch campus here for reinvestment.

Meanwhile, Zhu thanked the Malaysian government, the prime minister and the Higher Education Ministry for the effort in setting up the university’s first branch campus here.

“This represents another meaningful cooperation between Malaysia and China in the field of education besides economic, trade, science and technology, and cultural cooperation to boost bilateral relations,” he said.

Zhu said the cost of setting up the branch campus was estimated to be about RM600 million, of which RM400 million would be spent during the first stage of its establishment.

“With a ratio of 15 students to one lecturer, about 700 teaching staff would be required for the branch campus that would be set up. The university has begun the process of recruiting the teaching staff from all over the world,” he said, adding that lecturers from the Xiamen University in China were also keen to work here.

Zhu said the tuition fees would follow the standard in this country and the University Xiamen-Malaysia scholarship would be provided to assist poor students who had achieved outstanding academic performance.

The University of Xiamen, which is listed among the top 20 universities in China, was founded by Chinese businessman, community leader and philanthropist Tan Kah Kee in 1921. – Bernama

The staffs in any kind of stations are the rudest and most disgusting ever. With few questions asked, you will receive a public verbal bashing. If they have got something that you want, they will make you pay with your dignity.

    Coming across the police officials might be unlucky since these corrupted people are infamous for foreigners rip-off. They could seize your passport with any reason and demand money for your passport return.

    The foreign students in Russia could be the minority in this world who are aware of Adolf Hitler's birthday. It's 21st century but there are celebrations of his birthday by neo-Nazi at this corner, where cases of foreigners beaten up by skinheads are so frequent in mid April each year.

    There are too many problems in this country yet to be mentioned.

    Recently, there’s an article written by a student from Nizhny Novgorod Uni who listed out the achievements of russian scientists from different fields, and saying that 5=excellent in Russian grading system is equivalent to 99% or 100%. Trying to find excuses for something bad is unwise while the truth itself will be disclosed eventually.

    My words towards him/her: please stop misleading the readers. With usually 3-4 simple questions in an exam paper+ tolerable cheating+ simple answers+ examiners impressed by student's fluent english could easily earn a 5 from the examiners. Their grading method is based on the examiner's impression and 5 does not=so called 99/100% as claimed by that student! Please do not make the grading system here sounds so complicated and high standard as every student knows most examiners are lenient towards foreign students. Anyway, listing out the scientists and musicians achievements has no association with the medical STUDY here. Discovery of America by Columbus doesn’t mean that Portugal has the most advanced ship-building industry in the world nowadays! Please be more sensible.

    The ranking of the two universities in Moscow as 2nd and 3rd best in the world is the biggest lie i have ever heard! My reply email from WHO years back informed that they do not rank the universities but only list the universities recognized. This is just how the agents promote Russian universities: the digusting uni campus, facilities and hostels are totally a crap (although much improvement has been done in recent years), who on earth in this world would betray their conscience and shameless enough to attract foreign students with these false statements? The other 3 universities could even call themselves medical universities with just a small campus building.

    Many hospitals here are even worse than you could imagine. Apart from the broken and lousy conditions, the apparatuses used even in the operating theatre (where moment of live and death is determined) are so 60’s. Some old operation gowns with unwashable stain are still worn. I was so impressed once I saw the breathing machine was controlled manually by the staff by pressing the bladder during the whole operation. Try to ask yourself: could these hospitals be qualified in Malaysia?

    I have to admit that indeed the Russian professors and lecturers are very experienced and knowledgeable with some of them committed in international affiliates as those professors in Western countries. However, this should be kept for the sake of Russian medium students.

    By establishing the English medium department, the universities fail to provide a satisfying quality of teaching in english as the first requirement since most of our lecturers do not speak good english. Some lectures could be as bad as conducted by lecturers reading the printed materials from the paperwork during the whole lesson.

    Bribery is common among Russian universities. Students from certain countries are coming here for fun for the entire 6 years while assuring a medical degree. Most of these students who are active in clubbing, sex, smoking, booze with poor attendance in class could be promoted to the following semester every year. I, myself as a Muslim would advise my Malaysian compatriots not to be influenced by them and fortunately I see that our students are mentally firm. Generally, Malaysian students are hardworking and self-motivated with many exceptions too.

    On the other hand, where on earth in this world could you find a university that accept almost 100 foreigners in medical faculty each year? Medical course enrolment is supposed to be competitive but it’s not surprising to find out some students whose entry qualifications are below average. The poor russian universities consider about the money income in the first place. Moreover, Russia might be the first country that accepts SPM students directly into medical course.

    As an advice to the students who wish to study medicine, Russia should be your last choice. This place has lots of mutts (I am referring to some students but not to most) who are not qualified as medical students. Each year, there are new comers who left Russia for local medical colleges or elsewhere which is rarely seen in Malaysian or overseas uni.

    Some of us will tell you about the bad situation here while some of us will try to cover it up by telling you how good the qualities are compared to those in Western countries. It does not mean that the medicine here is not a worth. Indeed there are many professional and honourable staffs in the universities, but the system for foreign students has to be improved in order to depict a qualified doctor. If the situation persists, Russian universities could be the next after the derecognition of Crimea state university.

He claimed that the situation escalated since Tabung Haji withdrew as its strategic partner on July 3, 2012.

"Some were forced to borrow from loan sharks as their applications for personal loans were rejected by the banks because of the employer’s reputation as a bad paymaster.

"Some employees, who are married to each other, have it worst. They cannot depend on each other financially," he said.

"Some have had to use their savings to survive, with some even selling their belongings," he added.

He also said the employer had failed to contribute to their Employees Provident Fund (EPF), income tax and Social Security Organisation (Socso) since Nov 2012.

He added reminders to the college administration had been given repeatedly, with "temporary" solutions such as allowances given.

"Many people, including myself, have stopped coming to work because of this. The Education Ministry and Human Resources Ministry should come forward and help us," he said.

He said the college now is now on the brink of ceasing operations if the lecturers decided to stop teaching altogether.

In an immediate reaction, AUCMS president Datuk Dr Zainuddin Md Wazir told The Star Online said that the situation was under control and the academic programmes are working as usual.

However, he admitted that they were going through some "financial hiccups" and would only reveal the college’s financial situation to the press once outstanding payments are made.

"We have found a solution and would make the payments, together with compensation, as early as next month.

"We truly understand the staff’s anxiety but I can assure you that business is running as usual over here," he said when contacted.

AUCMS is a private learning institution located at Kepala Batas, Penang that runs specialised courses of study in medicine, hospitality, tourism, sports science and allied health sciences