LimKokWing Brings Malaysian Education Around the World

LimKokWing University of Creative Technology is certainly creating waves around the educational scenes around the world. By end of 2008, it would have 10 campuses in 8 countries around 4 continents of the world (Asia, Europe, Africa and America) at :-
1. Malaysia (Cyberjaya and Kuching)
2. Indonesia (Jakarta and Bali)
3. Cambodia (Phnom Penh)
4. China (Beijing)
5. Botswana (Gaborone)
6. Lesotho (Maseru)
7. United Kingdom (London)
8. United States of America (Manhattan, New York)

This is definitely a great breakthrough for Malaysia, bringing our culture and education to the world! It is another Malaysian brand that can stand tall around the world. Who knows one day, LimKokWing would get into top 200 or top 100 in Times Higher Education Supplement Ranking.

For full article, go to NST

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Limkokwing University of Creative Technology plans four more campuses abroad, reports SUZIEANA UDA NAGU



A different kind of learning experience, says Lim

LIMKOKWING University of Creative Technology is spreading its wings to at least four more countries this year.

The university, Malaysia's first fully-fledged institution of higher learning to be established overseas, is setting up campuses in Maseru, Lesotho; Manhattan, New York; Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Bali, Indonesia in the next 12 months.

It currently has campuses in five countries including Malaysia (Cyberjaya and Kuching); China (Beijing); Indonesia (Jakarta); the United Kingdom (London) and Botswana (Gaborone).

Founder and president Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Lim Kok Wing explains that New York's vibrant environment is the reason why the university has chosen the city that never sleeps.

"If you were to set up a campus in North America, where would you go to give students a one of a kind learning experience? It has to be New York.

"New York is possibly the most aggressive in terms of the use of innovation and the arts. America produces the most knowledge and entertainment content and Americans are known to be very creative. So setting up a campus there will give students a different kind of learning experience," he says.

Although the university will only finalise the location for its North American campus mid this year, Manhattan is likely to be the location for the site, says Lim, after the university's graduation ceremony in Gaborone, Botswana recently.

Some 26 students from the class of 2006/07, who had completed their programmes at the Cyberjaya campus, received their scrolls from Lim in a ceremony filled with song and dance.

Botswana's third president Festus G Mogae also received an honorary Doctor of Humanity award at the event.

Lim says that Mogae and Batswana (the people of Botswana) have supported the university since its establishment in Gaborone a year ago.

"We have had lots of Batswana coming to Malaysia to study. When they go back (to Botswana), they say good things about us."

Just like in Botswana, the Lesotho government also has been "very encouraging", says Lim. The university in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, will open in July whereas the Phnom Penh campus will have its first intake in February.

The university is also setting up a campus in Bali as part of its expansion plan in Indonesia.

"Bali is a holiday destination for people to have fun and do nothing. No one has ever thought of setting up a university there. I thought it would be a good idea (to do so)," says Lim.

As for the New York campus, the programmes offered there will be media and design driven. Lim anticipates challenges in setting up a base in the Big Apple.

"In New York, you are competing with the best in the world. Any institution which can survive there will survive in the world," he says.

He concedes that the university would have to offer something unique to stand out in New York.

"We will bring Malaysia and Asia to New York. We will bring Indian, Malay and Chinese music there. This is not something that the American colleges can do," he says.

Despite the challenges, Lim is certain that the New York campus will attract students.

"We will get students there, for sure, for a number of reasons. Firstly, Asia is on the rise as countries like India, China and South Korea are moving ahead rapidly. Very soon, the Asian economy will be much larger than the European and American economies.

"Instead of us going to the West to study, they will come to our part of the world to be educated. When we go (abroad) and bring an Asian university there, I think they will appreciate it," he says.

As with its existing foreign campuses, those in New York, Maseru, Phnom Penh and Bali will feature local teaching staff.

"On that basis, we are on the same level as the people there. In Gaborone, the lecturers are 99 per cent Africans. Malaysians (staff) come to Gaborone only to train them. Malaysian staff helped plan the graduation ceremony but it was the locals who spoke and performed," he adds.

Close to 6,000 students attend the Gaborone campus. As many as 5,000 prospective students turned up on the first day of registration indicating a great demand for education in creative areas in the African continent.

To Lim, this suggests that Malaysian education is widely accepted globally.

"Now, foreigners are attending a Malaysian university in their own countries. They could hardly pronounce the university's name but you can see that they're happy to be studying in a Malaysian tertiary institution."

Lim takes this as a sign of international acceptance of Malaysian education and brand which defies the notion that local tertiary institutions are not ready to go global.

"In the past, Batswana worked with Westerners and now they are working with Malaysians. If that is not acceptance of Malaysian education or brand, than what is? We should be proud of that," he says.