Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui
KUCHING: The setting up of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Sarawak campus will enable students from Chinese middle schools to pursue tertiary education locally instead of flying to countries such as Taiwan, Singapore or China.
SUPP president Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui on Saturday said the setting up of the campus was something the state had to do as there were many middle schools in the state and they had to go abroad to pursue higher education all this while.
“Education is very important and it is necessary for us to set up the campus of a university from China here,” he said at the handing over of a certificate and Letter of Invitation to Shanghai Jiao Tong to set up its campus here on Saturday.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Minister of Education, witnessed the handing over of the documents by Ministry of Higher Education director-general Dato Prof Dr Rujhan Mustafa to local joint project proponent SJT-UNI (M) Sdn Bhd, which was represented by its chairman Datuk David Teng Lung Chi.
Chin, who is also Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, said he viewed the government’s nod as a clear sign that the Education and Higher Education Ministries were very supportive of SUPP’s efforts to bring in a Chinese university into the state.
The Shanghai Jiao Tong University Sarawak campus initiative began in April 2012 when a SUPP delegation led by Chin visited the university’s main campus in China to discuss on the possibility of setting up a branch campus here.
About a month later, the university and SJT-UNI inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU). On March 29 this year, the Ministry of Higher Education issued a letter of invitation to set up the university’s branch campus here.
SJT-UNI (M) Sdn Bhd is finalising details with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to begin its operation by the end of 2014.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University was established in 1896 with ‘first class talent cultivation’ as its principle mission.
The university is also known as the ‘Eastern MIT’ (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for being the top engineering university in China, producing over 200,000 graduates and top engineers thus far.
During the first five-year operation (at a temporary campus here), the university plans to set up degree courses in Bachelor of Medicine (Dentistry), Bachelor of Economic (Finance), Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and Automation (power), Bachelor of Media and Design and Bachelor of Art (Chinese Language).
It will also introduce Master of Business Administration and Master of Science courses.
In the second five-year plan, following the projected completion of the university’s Sarawak campus, it planned to introduce a foundation, degree, Master degree and PhD courses in Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Life Science and Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering; Aerospace Engineering, Underwater Technology (research), Oil and Gas Technology (research) and Signal and Information Processing (research).