Jointly reported by:
Lee Ai Lin 16642 Sr2ScC
Sophia Ng Szu Fei 17685 Sr1ScA
In just a few months, most Senior 2 and 3 students will face the tough choice of choosing the right pathways leading to the tertiary education. Many of them had started planning out their future but are facing a dilemma on which universities to go. As such, our school’s Counselling Department invited Mr Vincent Chew Kuang Hui, an alumnus of Kuen Cheng High School to share his experience studying Environmental System Engineering at National Taiwan University (NTU) so that graduating students can have a better view of the university and its program. The sharing session was held on Monday, 10 February 2020 at AV1 Hall. The participants included Senior 2 and 3 students from Science, Commerce and Arts streams. It began as soon as the roll call is completed. Vincent gave us an overview of NTU, the national university in Taipei City, Taiwan, which is close to the Gongguan metro station. NTU is the most prestigious comprehensive university in Taiwan and one of the top ranked universities in the world.
There are different kinds of benefits studying at NTU, wide age range of students is one of the features and they are between 19 to 30+ years old. Studying in an environment as such helps to improve students’ social skills and expand their social circle. Students of NTU are receptive; different cultural backgrounds have brought forward formation of myriads of clubs and societies in the campus. Medium of instruction is mostly in English to make it easier for international students and benefit local students who are planning to further their studies in western countries. In examinations, students are encouraged to provide answers in traditional Chinese writing. NTU also offers several exchange programs nationwide and a double degree program. There are a total of eleven faculties and the tuition fees vary according to the course chosen.
All things said, the university compound of NTU is considered small compared to other prestigious universities. Students are required to do more self-studying than just attending lectures alone. According to Vincent, the subjects are not tough as long as you are interested in it, though he did mention that Advance Math II is exceptionally difficult for him. Besides, Dong Zong and the Taiwan Education Department have given out scholarships to outstanding students; Vincent himself is the recipient of a scholarship.
In Taipei, the cost of living is remarkably high; a lunch box would cost 75 to 100 yuan (RM10-15), which is why Vincent advised us to prepare our own meals. The main transportation for students to go around Taipei is by bicycle. For those who do not own a bicycle, there is a public bicycle sharing service called YouBike where anyone can rent a bicycle. It could be inconvenient to use YouBike as the users have to return the bicycles to a YouBike station in which there aren’t many around the university. For students who enjoy culture, there are a plethora of shops and cultural exhibitions around the university. A public health care centre is located near the school but requires online booking because it is very often packed with the retirees. The temperature in summer is nearly the same as our country but the temperature could drop to 13°C in winter. A warning will be sent to everyone via smartphones when a typhoon is expected.
Our guest speaker then explained about his course which is related to environmental engineering. The focus of his studies is more on water and land development that is much polluted these days. Job opportunities for environmental engineering graduates include Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) advisor, environmental engineer.
NTU offers, comparatively, more opportunities for students applying the healthcare faculty. Therefore, it is highly recommended for students who are interested in healthcare courses. There is concern regarding the overpopulated universities in Taipei which lower the standard of education. Besides, certain qualifications from Taiwan have not been recognised in Malaysia as the educational system varies. Before ending his sharing session, Vincent gave the participants his e-mail address: chewkuanghui@live.com and his Facebook account: Hui Kuang to contact him for more. The sharing ended at 12.50 p.m. and all students returned to their respective classrooms loaded with new ideas for further studies in overseas.
