The University of Malaya (UM) or Universiti Malaya, which is Malaysia’s oldest university, is considered as one of the country’s top universities and is part of the 200 top universities in the world. It is situated in the southwestern part of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur.
University of Malaya – History of UM
The school was a collaboration of two prominent schools in the 1900s. These were Raffles College and King Edward VII College of Medicine. It was in 1949 that the two schools merged to be known as the University of Malaya, which was to provide for the educational needs in Malaysia and Singapore at that time. Because of its fast growth, two divisions were set up. One was in Singapore and the other in Malaysia. Then in 1961, they decided to upgrade the status of the two divisions into universities. Thus, the one in Singapore came to be known as the University of Singapore and the division in Malaysia retained the name. Now, UM has a total of three campuses with two of these in Kuala Lumpur and the other one in Kelantan.
University of Malaya – Courses offered
Currently, the university has 12 faculties for undergraduates. These include: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Science. It also offers postgraduate courses in which students are coordinated through the Institute of Graduate Courses.
University of Malaya – Facilities available
Aside from the excellent training that the university provides, it is also house to world-class facilities. The botanical gardens, which was put up to provide a venue for the study and conservation of tropical rainforest plant life; the experimental farm and the field studies center for ecological and biological studies are just some of these.
University of Malaya – Noteworthy alumni
The school has produced a number of successful, popular and very notable alumni. The most distinguished of these is Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Malaysia’s fifth Prime Minister. Other famous alumni are: Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s former Deputy Prime Minister; Sim Kee Boon, Singapore’s former Head of Civil Service; and Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the present governor of Bank Negara Malaysia which is the country’s central bank.