Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus

Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus

Education

The Swinburne University of Technology Campus Sarawak (SUTS) is surrounded by residential areas and malls and is a little away from the city center and the “waterfront” and is in principle only accessible by motorized vehicle if you do not find accommodation on campus, as there is little walking – and there are no bike paths, only sparse public transport in Kuching. The university has a fairly large and modernly designed campus which offers accommodation as well as a large selection of dining options. In addition, the SUTS offers a very wide range of subjects: design, engineering, business, IT and biotechnology. The orientation week at the beginning of the semester helped to find one’s way around the university and to establish initial contacts with other “internationals”. I have only chosen courses from the business faculty and have found that the courses are much more academic than at my home university, which is expressed by the compulsory attendance and the strict teaching of books and the slide sets based on them. In addition, there was also a tutorial for each lecture, which was also subject to compulsory attendance and was usually held by the lecturers themselves. Only half of the final grade was made up of the written exam at the end of the semester, the rest of the performance assessment was assessed through term papers, presentations and “mid-semester” tests. My lecturers all spoke English that was easy to understand, were mostly very committed to their work and well trained in didactics. However, at one time or another the impression arose with more detailed questions that not all lecturers have in-depth specialist knowledge of the relevant lecture. In total, I have taken the following courses:

  • Finance: In- depth introduction to corporate finance and investment
  • Financial Planning and Investment: Interesting and wide-ranging fundamentals on the subject of investments
  • Introduction to Business Law: Introduction to the Australian legal system and in-depth study of business law
  • Management Decision Making: Deepening the basics of decision making (controlling) with financial and non-financial aspects

In contrast to Germany, the workload was much higher during the semester, but less towards the end of the exams. All in all, I was able to improve my general knowledge and, in some cases, further deepen my specialist knowledge, especially on the subject of decision-making.

Life

Life in Kuching is, above all, much more relaxed than everyday life in Germany. People leave more time for everyday things like eating, shopping, and talking to acquaintances and friends. The people are very friendly, helpful and open-minded, especially towards “internationals” and you get involved in conversations very often and almost everywhere (even at the traffic lights with the neighboring car or moped). As a rule, you don’t cook yourself at home but meet up with friends, as it is not only cheaper to eat out, but you can also find “food courts” and restaurants on almost every corner that offer very good local and western cuisine at very affordable prices Offer prices. Overall the cost of living in Malaysia is very cheap compared to Germany. The Malaysian cuisine, like the population, consists primarily of traditional Chinese and Indian dishes and is very versatile and easy to digest, even if it is often spicy. In addition to the many shopping opportunities in malls and markets, Kuching also has many excursion options in the area, from the orangutan rehabilitation center to a small mountain by the sea, to national parks and caves. A special feature is the left-hand traffic, which is usually manageable and not too chaotic, as well as the streets on site, which are well developed in the city center itself, but not everywhere in Borneo and thus sometimes brought a bit of an “off-road feeling”. The climate is continuously hot over the summer semester,The university offers a lot of different clubs where everyone should find something. There is also a futsal and tennis field and its own spartan fitness studio on campus. The nightlife in Kuching is not particularly pronounced, as Malaysia is an Islamic country, nonetheless there are many bars, even if only a few clubs, where you will meet many locals as well as students. In addition, there were some house parties with many locals and internationals that took place more often, especially at the beginning of the semester. The cultural offer is also very varied from the “Sarawak Cultural Village” – about the life of the original tribes in Malaysia – to various museums to the “homestay” in a traditional “longhouse” on the river, there are many opportunities to discover new things.

Travel

Since the low-cost airline AirAsia has its headquarters in Malaysia, the country is particularly well suited as a starting point for longer trips. In addition to the Malaysian part of Borneo, I was able to explore large parts of West Malaysia and Southeast Asia quite easily and cheaply. In the vicinity of Kuching we were able to visit impressive caves, climb the almost 1000m high Mount Santubong on the beach and explore the jungle on our own, where we have experienced many animal encounters. The east of Borneo offers beautiful small islands and beautiful coral reefs that invite you to go diving in addition to the beach life. In addition, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, Mount Kinabalu, is on Borneo and is surrounded by miles of jungle.

Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus

Comments are closed.