Despite serious disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to the international education exchange, the Ministry of Education, Taiwan strives to foster a safe and excellent study environment for the local and international students. This year, the Ministry increases the scholarship slots to encourage more Malaysian students to study in Taiwan. As a result, a total of 45 Malaysian students, 8 of them non-Chinese are awarded the Taiwan Scholarship and Huayu (Mandarin) Enrichment Scholarship to pursue academic degrees and short term Mandarin courses starting from September 2020. The number of MOE Taiwan Scholarship recipients, 38, sets a new high this year. Taiwan has always been a preferred choice for international students for its high-quality education, affordable tuition and democratic society. For 16 years, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has offered the Taiwan Scholarship and Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES) to hundreds of outstanding Malaysian students to pursue academic degrees in various fields or undertake Huayu courses in Taiwan. The students returned to Malaysia and served the community with the useful knowledge and fruitful experience they gained during their study in Taiwan. Taiwan has so far successfully kept the COVID-19 pandemic under control, which not only won international acclaim, but also provided a safe study environment for the students, therefore attracting more applicants this year than ever. Among the 38 MOE Taiwan Scholarship awardees, three are undertaking Doctoral degree programs, fourteen Master, and twenty one Undergraduate. Furthermore, there are seven HES scholarship recipients, who will study Mandarin for 6 months in Taiwan. Anne Hung, the Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Malaysia pointed out that Taiwan is doing best in the latest Bloomberg Economics’ ranking of 75 economies reviewed for their performance in battling the coronavirus. Taiwan also ranked third among the Asian countries in the 2020 International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook. Safe environment and business competitiveness together with rich culture and first-class education, Taiwan is absolutely the best choice for younger generation to further their study. She also wished the students to make good use of the opportunity while in Taiwan to expand their knowledge and broaden experience so they could contribute to Malaysian society and help enhance the bilateral relationship between Taiwan and Malaysia in the future. Charlin Chang, the Education Director of TECO also congratulated the awardees on behalf of MOE and wished them a fruitful and fun learning journey in Taiwan. She encouraged more non-Chinese students to apply for the programs and scholarships in Taiwan’s universities as the higher education institutions in Taiwan are now offering more English-taught Programs in various fields, and the bilateral academic recognition between Taiwan and Malaysia has been signed since 2012.
Afiqah Hanis Binti Hanifah, one of the awardees of the MOE Taiwan Scholarship
Afiqah Hanis Binti Hanifah, one of the recipients of the MOE Taiwan Scholarship felt elated and honored for receiving the award to undertake the Bachelor Program in Department of Theatrical Design and Technology, Taipei National University of Arts (國立臺北藝術大學) in this coming September. She mentioned that according to her understanding, cultivating talents with knowledge, experience, attitude, and soft skills are the main goal of Taiwan’s education. Since she has been very active in participating in extracurricular activities, arts and cultural events during high school, she is looking forward to studying in Taiwan to immerse herself in the environment of quality education and arts, cultural industry to strengthen her professional career for the future.
Chinnampat Martin Gatijin, one of the awardees of the HES Scholarship
Chinnampat Martin Gatijin, one of the awardees of the HES Scholarship conveyed his gratitude to the TECO for awarding him with the scholarship. After research, he found out that Taiwan has the most standardized Mandarin language learning system which is very suitable for all kind of Mandarin learners. He believed that the scholarship is a door for his study at National Cheng Kung University (國立成功大學) which will be full of possibilities and eventually enrich his life. He expects a life-changing study journey in Taiwan as he will also engage himself in intercultural exchange activities with both the locals and foreign classmates, and ultimately develop long-lasting friendships with them. He is looking forward to studying in such a high-quality learning environment to build a strong foundation of Mandarin language and thus pursue a more advanced program once he returns to Malaysia.
Apart from the MOE Taiwan Scholarship and HES Scholarship, there are also various scholarships and bursaries offered by the universities and colleges in Taiwan. The prime focus of higher education institutions in Taiwan is to prepare the students with broad international views, professional knowledge, and a handful of experience in the industry. TECO encourages more Malaysian students to pursue their studies in Taiwan.