Send-Off Ceremony of Japanese Government Scholarship Students

A send-off ceremony was held on 27th March at the Japanese Ambassador's Residence to celebrate the 37 Malaysian students who received the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship 2008. Thirty-two students left for Japan on 1st April to study at the Japanese universities and five students will be leaving this October.

Among this year's intake, six will be doing their undergraduate courses and 31 students will be doing their postgraduate courses after they completed an one year Japanese language course. They will study in various fields from medicine, engineering, environment, media communications, chemistry, mathematics, international relations, architecture and pharmaceutical.

Ambassador Masahiko Horie introduced Japanese words "sempai" which means senior and "kohai" which means junior in his congratulatory address and encouraged the students to do their best as what their "sempai" have done. The Ambassador told the students not to worry much about their new life and environment in Japan, as it is the sempai's obligation to take care of the kouhai. The Ambassador expressed his wishes for the students to utilize their abilities to the fullest while in Japan.

Warm address was also brought by their big "sempai".

Prof. Dr. Rubiyah Yusuf, Deputy Director of Business & Advanced Technology Center in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, who was a former student under the scholarship spoke about her experience in Japan where she came across a new culture which is there is no excuse for not doing your best no matter how hard the task is. She advised the students to learn more about the Japanese culture.

Mr. Yeo Eng Wah, Secretary-General of Japan Graduates' Association of Malaysia spoke about the many beautiful aspects of Japan, not only about is physical landscape, but more importantly its values such as the hard-working ethics and politeness and advised the students to absorb these various beautiful aspects of Japan.

The Japanese Government Scholarship started in 1954 and since then about 1,300 Malaysian students have studies in Japan. These graduates have played important roles in various fields in and outside Malaysia. They also contribute tremendously in organizing and supporting exchange activities between Japan and Malaysia, which formed the solid foundation of friendship and good relations between the two countries.