Hi guys, I hope to consolidate all discussion on UTeM in this one thread for the benefit of incoming students who need more info on this university. The older thread is not maintained by anybody, which I feel is a shame as I have posted a lot of information there. So hopefully I can migrate all the info here so that this thread can be a one-stop solution for people who will no doubt get assigned to this university in the near future and wonder, "What the heck is this uni?". Well you can find out more here, now. Some info still needs editing so please bear with me. Oh and this is probably going to be a Wall Of Text Attack x 1000 damage.
Recent Events @ UTeM:
Lightning Talk
Introduction
This is a PUBLIC university, so expect the number of chinese people to be lower than other private institutions. Also, as this is an ENGINEERING university, all five faculties are engineering related and so expect to see less girls than a fully-fledged universities with law or business faculties (also known as Leng Lui Nest, haha). There are a lot of politeknik and diploma students here, mostly Malay and some Indian, so it's multicultural same like the rest of Malaysia-lah.
That said, IMO UTeM has it's share of girls, mostly in FTMK or the IT faculty. So it depends la..year by year diff one but generally, FTMK has the most girls while if not mistaken FKM or FKE (mechanical or electrical) has the least, sometimes none. It also depends on your major. My major is Manufacturing Design, and it's a cursed department where for 2 years running now, no cute chinese girls, only got 1 come in during the 2nd year via direct intake. So...haha try to avoid my faculty if leng lui is important to you.
Ok, that should satisfy any questions about girls for now. Now for the more important issues. How is studying here like? From 2009 onwards, we only have 1 campus, which is the main campus located at Durian Tunggal. It is quite far, in the middle of nowhere, but with highway access, getting around is easy provided you have your own transport. The environment is quite nice and the size of the campus is large, although construction is still underway with the targeted completion date of 2010. So far only FKP and FKM buildings have yet to be completed. The accommodation hostel is also under construction.
The quality of students here are...as usual la...not the best cos the best obviously all went to those UM USM etc. But there are a few 'lost' people as well. I think there was a guy who got 3.75 for his STPM and got here, but he stayed anyway. First Year intake usually very small...around 20-30 students PER MAJOR. But your class will swell up to about 60 students after 2nd year due to direct intake. Now these people are not the best academically, but quite a lot of them are VERY good at practical things. I know one guy who whizzed through the whole Mechatronics labwork easy as pie cos he did it before, didn't even need to refer the notes, while I stand there like an idiot trying to figure out how to read the hydraulic diagrams. So yeah, don't look down on these people, they are actually very good, just that most of them have a problem with English.
And that brings us to the second problem...english. It's hard to find people who speak good english here. Most of the malays have poor english (no offense) and mostly it's the indians and chinese who converse in english (or in their own mother tongue). I hope this situation will change someday la, because the language barrier is sometimes the problem between why malays and other races dun mix. My malay sucks, so I dun have a lot of malay friends, and that's just how it is. I'm not trying to bring up any racial issues here, just my own observations.
As for the grading system...it's not really the best. Repeat questions and tips or soalan bocor are common, but that's due to again the problem of english language. However, in recent times, UTeM has tried to improve their system to give it more quality. This is a complicated subject so I don't wish to discuss first, but you will understand when you get in. But dun worry...60% of the marks goes to practical work, so exams are not very important in the first place. It is bad though because it means you have to work hard 100% percent of the time and not just glide thru and then score in the finals to get your grade. You NEED to give every small project, every small assignment your attention.
And yes....i'll be honest, please don't compare with UM and USM and all the other established universities. It's a different class alltogether. First of all the system is diff, second their budgets are WAY higher and all their buildings and administrative issues have been sorted out, while here sometimes will kelam kabut a bit due to system down or whatnot. UTeM only started operating in 2001, so it's about 8 years old only, but relatively speaking, it has done pretty well. It's up to you to put in the effort to learn and graduate with a good grade. In the end of the day, the degree you earn is just a chance for you to get the interview, after that it's about how you perform already so dun worry too much. You're in charge of your own future. Students from UTeM are readily accepted by the industry because our course is developed based on feedback from industry, so that our skills remain relevant. A lot of them have gone on to work with MNCs, GLCs, etc.
OK enough of the heavy stuff...what about the social stuff? OK first of all I hate the fact that first year and second year students have to stay in hostel. It SUCKS and the hostel guards are one of the most annoying things ever. There are quite a few hostels depending on which faculty or gender you are so without going into too much detail, expect to travel from 10 to 20 minutes to your class because the permanent hostel building is not completed yet. As with all local uni, hostel conditions are cramped but it's not dire and you'll learn to cope with it. Girls have more hostel issues than guys, cos generally all the guys in a hostel will become brothers after spending so much time together. I still keep in touch with some seniors whom I spend time with during my first year in hostel. So yeah...it's cramped, but you get to know a lot more people, and it's easy to organize a DOTA-fest (trust me, it'll ruin your results and result in many sleepless nights, haha).
Travelling around sucks if you don't have a car, because town is about 30 minutes away by car, but if you take the bus....good luck....can take anywhere from 1 hour to 2.5 hours to get there. The bus system here is LOUSY like hell, but only because 2 years ago, busses dun even serve Bukit Beruang. The situation is improving, but it's best to have a car, or know someone who has one so that you can carpool.
The Uni bus also another big headache. But from what I heard, all public uni suffer from this problem, especially in UMS, where the drivers think they are F1 drivers. Basically it all boils down to you sticking to their schedule, which is not very friendly if you have staggered classes so you have to stay in the boring campus. And they are notoriously rude/inefficient/not on time most of the time. But got season one...sometimes their mood good, their service is good. But sometimes it's not. It all depends on drivers la. There's a few drivers that are consistently assholes, so after awhile, most of the students either learn to adopt a system to deal with it, or carpool with a friend. From what I know, your first semester here will use the bus...after that in the second semester you'll most probably find a car or find a friend who has one. If not...be prepared for lots of cursing at the (@*#&*$ drivers.
Oh ya...if you are coming into UTeM this coming July...a tip for you....BRING YOUR OWN FOOD. STOCKPILE IT! Why? Haha, you'll know why. Some people cannot tahan but for me...I find it's not such a big problem. You have been warned. Oh and bring your PSP/NDS/MP3 or whatever over for orientation...again trust me on this one, you'll thank me later. Finally, PROTECT YOUR BELONGINGS! During your first week, you will be randomly assigned hostels with strangers who know that they won't be seeing you after a week, so they won't hesitate to take your stuff. Don't need to be paranoid la, but there have been a few cases of theft before, usually handphone. So keep your handphones and wallets with you at all times, better safe that sorry right? With so many students (about 2K per intake) mixed up like that, theft is bound to happen. I'm surprised that there's not more, actually. But stay one the safe side and take care of your belongings (obviously!).
Oh yeah, hostel-entertainment wise, the university now allows streamyx to be installed in hostels, so you can have your own personal broadband connection. I hear that many universities, like UKM for example, suffer from the problem of spotty broadband. UTeM last time also had problems with internet because their service sucks, but ever since they allow Streamyx, life has been MUCH MUCH better.
If you come to study in Melaka, don't expect to enjoy KL entertainment to be honest. This town sleeps at 10.30pm at night, haha. Very strange. But now they have new malls like Pahlawan Square and Mahkota Parade in town. A new place called Melaka Mall is also just opened right behind Bunga Raya Hostel, and there's a cinema (MBO) there so students don have to go all the way down to town just to catch a movie, now it's just 20 minutes walk away or you can take the bus. There are also many constructions going on around Ayer Keroh like Bowling place, and others.
OK here are some overview of the malls near UTeM
Melaka Mall is a pretty good place, I give it 8/10. It has MBO for cinema, a new arcade center with House of the Dead 4 (damn CHUN) and some sort of racing game like Initial D, but with surround sound and also a handbrake you can pull for drifting. There's a Parkson there but I dun go there and also Cold Storage for upscale snacks that you want to buy. Some interesting places to eat her include Laksa Shack (from penang! haha), Mary Browns, 1901, McD, and a few others that I can't remember. The Sushi at cold storage also not bad...RM10 for any 10 sushi. To get here, just hop on any bus headed to Melaka Sentral and it will most definitely pass by here. It's about 15 minutes walk from Bunga Raya Hostel, if you are willing. Faster than waiting for the bus too, sometimes.
Jusco is a nice place if you want to go grocery shopping. I give it a score of 6/10, mostly because there's nothing much to do here except buy grocery and window shop. There's a Popular book store here, some funky japanese restaurant, McD, Johnny's Steamboat, Secret Recipe, Sushi King, Shakeys Pizza, KFC, Peri Peri Chicken (forgot that shop name lol), Coffee Bean, Windmill (western food like chicken chop, meat chop, leg chop, hand chop etc) and that's about it. One thing good about Jusco is if you go to their sushi corner after 9.30pm, they will sell their sushi for 30% off. Their bakery also frequently have 30-50% off for egg tarts, emerald cake, etc etc. They also have good deals on juices. But generally the prices of items here are expensive unless you can get discounts. It's located just opposite Melaka Mall. There will be a new Jusco opening soon next to Tesco. It's fricking HUGE!
Tesco. I love Tesco! 9/10! Best place to go if you have lots of stuff to buy because I think it's the cheapest in Melaka and it's pretty huge too. It's located next to Melaka Sentral so to get here, just go to Melaka Sentral and walk to Tesco using the elevated skyway. Nothing much to say here except it's cheap and big.
Carrefour gets a 6/10. This just opened in town, which is far, and is comparable to Tesco in terms of style and pricing. I go here when I get bored of Tesco Melaka and they do sell some stuff that you can't find in Tesco. To get here, just alight at Pahlawan Square and you can see the giant sign.
Mahkota Parade 9/10. A pretty nice place for shopping in Melaka. I think it's the only big mall here before Pahlawan Square opened. There's a GSC on the top floor and a lot of places to eat. Some notable spots are Sibaraku, which serves western/japanese buffet or ala-carte food. There's also Seoul Garden for buffet, which is one of the best places for buffet if you're a student because if you come in the afternoon, it's only about Rm17 per head, which is cheap for the stuff you get. Come here a 10am and makan till 3pm la, haha. There's also a good food court called Newton just next to Mahkota Parade offering traditional food from all over Malaysia, but pricey.
Pahlawan Square 8/10. Expensive place. Lots of designer stuff and I dun come here often because I dun have money to buy, or tak rela buy the stuff here, haha. There's an arcade here (lousy compared to MM) and you can get group pictures taken here through those machines.
A huge Jusco is undergoing construction next to Tesco =)
HOSTEL INFO
Bunga Raya: Guys and Girls mixed hostel (like heaven, haha) and is perhaps one of the best places you can stay in UTeM. Last semester it's for FTMK girls and FKM+FKP guys. Next sem I heard FKP girls and FKP+FKM guys will stay pulak. Anyway it's hard to guess who will be staying because every semester they will shift faculties around. But Bunga Raya remains the only unisex hostel in UTeM. So faster thank god if you get this place. There is a huge chinese food court called MMU Corner just down the street (where you can oogle at pretty girls from MMU from here) and the bus service is rather better than the rest because it's nearest to town, and just beside MMU Melaka so you can go there and play basketball and/or watch girls.
Murni: A more secluded spot deeper inside from the main road. Roughly 15 minutes walk from iRelax cyber cafe next to the road. This place is pretty nice, because there's a forest outside so the air very fresh and when it rains, it's very peaceful here. Rooms are the largest among all the guys hostel but you will need to walk 15 minutes to get to MMU Corner for decent chinese food. Otherwise, you can purchase cheap malay food from the canteen. They also have roadside stalls nowadays offering a variety of goreng goreng and kueh if you get sick of eating curry and chilly all the time. I liked this place better than Bunga Raya because of the more spacious room and peaceful learning environment. Last sem FKE and FKEKK guys stayed here and this sem probably the same. Guys only hostel.
Pangsapuri Perempuan: Erm...not much experience here. It's located closest to UTeM Industrial Campus and from what I heard, very very cramped living environment. I don't really have experience here cos I rarely go, but food might be a problem.
There are some others now, like Emerald Park, D'Apartment, etc. I have no experience with them hopefully some forumers can give their input and I will update this post.
That's the three main hostels for UTeM. They like to switch students around from time to time but it's not a big deal. Or if you want to, you can always ask seniors who are in LI whether they want to rent out their houses for cheap. Usually many will be thankful because they often have to pay rent even if they're not staying there during LI. If you want to move out then get to know some seniors then during Sem 2 when they LI, you can move out =). But unfortunately, you are required to pay for your hostel rent regardless of if you stay in it or move out illegally, so you might complain complain but at the end of the day, continue to stay inside the hostel.
Information in this section might be outdated, because I haven't been staying in hostel for a year now.
ORIENTATION
As for orientation week, all NEW students will be placed in Murni during orientation week. You will move to your respective permanent hostels after your orientation is over, so if possible, bring less stuff so that you don't have to be like me...bring everything over, climb up 4 levels, then one week later have to pack up and move to another place. Just bring the bare minimum that you need and ask your parents to bring the rest over once you finish orientation (usually you will have sundays off for moving to your permanent hostel). Save you time and sweat, unless you are FKE or FKEKK, then you just have to switch rooms, but can be a hassle also. Imagine going from 4th floor Block A move to 4th Floor Block B. Move stuff until I half dead, haha.
Finally...as for night activities...trust me when I say UTeM you won't get much social activities. The workload here is a lot compared to other universities. Their emphasis on 60% practical means almost every week you will have new assignments and stuff that needs to be passed up. First Year students might have more free time but once you enter 2nd Year, you can kiss your sleep time at night goodbye. I never had a problem of being too bored at UTeM, mainly because me and my hostel friends always will have something to do, either homework or gaming and during weekends we will sometimes go out to Melaka Mall to catch a movie or go to the famous Jongker Street of Melaka. The only time when I was bored out of my mind was when my hostel mates go back to their hometown during study week and I'm stuck there alone. =) Hope the info will be useful for those who seek a more thorough clarification on UTeM hostel life.
What you need to prepare will be listed in the offer letter, but you can call the office for further information. Fashion for orientation week is white button collar shirt + black pants + black shoes. Just bring a change of clothes enough for a week, cos after that you no need to wear the white shirts anymore, unless you wanna do presentation and have to wear formal (even then, wear la something cun sikit, lol). You also need to bring one or two sports tracksuit for sport activities.
After orientation week, dress code is typical public uni, which means short hair, collar-t shirts (roundneck haram), long pants and shoes. After you get your lab coats (give them half to one year to get your lab coat done) you can wear that to uni and wear anything underneath it.
Girls are prohibited from wearing skirts. Even those sarong kind of skirt also cannot. On the face of it they allow la, but the *@#$*&$ guards like to tegur you one, so most of the girls there wear jeans or long pants. Paham paham la...as the majority of students are malay, they would like the girls to dress conservatively, regardless of whether you subscribe to their beliefs or not. Just another fact of public U life which is lousy, but you'll get used to it. Most of my female friends prefer to wear their jeans anyways, save the sexy outfit for when they go clubbing in Purebar on weekends =)
Important Links:
Official UTeM Website
Bloggers United UTeM:
Chang Gee Guan - Currently studying Masters in FTMK
Odin 88
Reign226 Blog
If you need me to post up your links, please PM me, or post in this thread. I'm thinking of doing a Wiki also, so that you guys can go and directly edit there, and I just take the changes and upload it back to here. Will let you know how it goes.
I also maintain a personal blog with my gf accessible here. Haven't updated it recently as I am busy with work commitments, but I am starting to get a little disgusted at the way management runs things in my faculty so I am planning to write daily on my experiences with the lectures and lecturers as a final year student of Bacherlor of Manufacturing Engineering (Design). Hopefully it won't be just criticisms and I will include any positive experiences. After I grad and get my cert, will submit them to the dean in hopes that he will get a students-eye-view of the practical day-to-day results of management competency (or lack thereof) in transforming ideals to reality.
Follow me on Twitter:
@reign226
This post has been edited by reign226: May 25 2009, 07:11 PM
Engineering Official UTeM Thread, for all the info in this uni, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka