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The Naresuan University (NU) in Phitsanulok had extended an invitation to the Embassy of Malaysia in Bangkok to give a special briefing to a group of 30 students who are scheduled to undergo a 6-week Student Exchange Programme at Universiti Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur from 19 March - 29 April 2011. NU is located approximately 400km northern of Bangkok. The Embassy was represented by Nazarudin Jaafar, First Secretary.

 

2.         As part of its internationalisation programme, NU had embarked on various students exchange programmes with many universities around the world. For the next exercise, it has chosen UM following the latter’s strong reputation as the oldest university in Malaysia and the high quality of the courses offered at UM. Needless to say, NU which is striving to achieve research university status by 2015 would also like to cement stronger foundation in education cooperation with UM which has achieved that status a couple of years ago.

 

3.            During the briefing, much emphasis was given on the do’s and don’t’s that foreign students must observe while they are in Malaysia. Respect to local customs and culture is a must to ensure that their short stint in Malaysia would be memorable. The explanation was illustrated with some pictures in order to enhance their understanding. Some words of advice were also conveyed to the students who appeared enthusiastic to begin their new experience in Malaysia. Other than the formal classes, the students would also have the opportunity to experience local lifestyle by participating in the homestay programme and would be taken to visit interesting places in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

 

4.            Prior to the briefing, an hour long special meeting was held with Prof. Dr. Sujin Jinahyon, President of NU and few other senior lecturers who were involved in this programme. Many new initiatives were floated by Prof. Sujin who appeared kin to enhance the bilateral cooperation in education between Malaysia and Thailand. Certainly some of them, if not all, could be taken up at appropriate forums.

 

5.               The Embassy certainly welcomes the above initiative which clearly augurs well with its public diplomacy initiatives. It is hoped that more opportunities will be made available in the future for the Embassy to explain various other issues on Malaysia to interested audiences in Thailand.