Gina (third right) holds her scholarship document with Snell (third left), Alvina (second right), Gina’s brother Gregory Goh (left), IDP staff Rock (second left) and Sabrina (right).
KUCHING: Education consultant agency IDP Education Kuching enables Gina Goh to realise her dream of being a lawyer by giving her the opportunity to do a law degree at University of Tasmania (Utas).
Gina who was among six shortlisted candidates in Malaysia won a full scholarship to study at a prestigious law school in Australia.
She is the sole recipient of the Malaysia Law Full-Fee Scholarship Award Year 2018 from Utas and it is worth RM320,000 (AU$108,000).
Met by The Borneo Post at IDP office at Jalan Song yesterday, Gina expressed her joy over the scholarship for which she had to submit a 2,500-word essay on social injustice and law reform in the Malaysian context.
“I’m so grateful to IDP and Utas for giving me the opportunity to achieve my childhood dream of becoming a lawyer.
“I would surely have second thoughts about doing the degree if I had to pay the full fees as my parents would then have to sacrifice more,” she said.
Gina who did her A-level in Singapore is the first one in her family to go to Australia, and to do a law degree as most of her family members are in accounting and business.
She hopes to do her legal practice here in Malaysia.
IDP Education Manager Student Services Alvina Lau said the scholarship is a way for more students to study overseas as education fees are steep these days.
“As an education consultant, we have done our part in giving young people in Sarawak a chance to pursue higher education overseas. We don’t want young people to be in a comfort zone all the time, solely dependent on parents for financial support.
They can emulate Goh’s example by joining a scholarship competition like what was offered by Utas to ease the financial burden of their parents,” she said.
Utas Deputy Dean and Deputy Head of School for the Faculty Of Law, Associate Professor Rick Snell said the scholarship is one way to give back to Malaysian students who deserve a place in their law programme.
“We’ve had many Malaysians graduated from Utas over the last 50 years since the 1960’s; and we want to continue providing the best and quality education for them here at Utas,” he said.
Snell explained that such scholarship will continue to give opportunity for bright Malaysian students to pursue overseas education.
UTas is an established institution of higher learning in Australia for the last 125 years and the 61st top law school worldwide.
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