special report Students from mainland China are dropping Malaysia from their list of destinations for tertiary education, raising questions about the country's quest to be a regional hub of educational excellence.

Between 2001 and 2003, the number of mainland Chinese students had peaked at some 30,000, but the number has since dropped to about 10,000 for several reasons.

Malaysia Alumni of Chinese Students (MACS) president Huang Bin ( left ) said that when he began his business administration course in 2003, his campus seemed to be filled with mainland Chinese students.

"Now, I find the number has decreased dramatically and there seem to be more African students coming in," he said when contacted.

"The primary reason is that parents and students are more sensible when deciding whether to study abroad or not. The Sars pandemic in 2003 also played a role because issuance of visas became more restrictive."

Judy Deng Shuyu ( right ), who has just obtained a master's degree in Application Linguistics at Universiti Putra Malaysia, said she too has noticed fewer mainland Chinese students in colleges.

"This has had a big impact on some colleges. It is said that certain colleges are facing bankruptcy," she claimed.

MACS was set up in 2002, the year with the highest number of student arrivals from mainland China into Malaysian colleges and universities.

The main attractions were the twinning programmes with foreign institutions, relatively lower cost of education and living, and convenience in obtaining a student visa.

Only private colleges or institutions of higher learning endorsed by the Chinese government are allowed to recruit students. Public universities recruit foreign students, including those from China, only for postgraduate programmes taught in English.

Heyday over

Deputy Higher Education Minister Ong Tee Keat ( left ) conceded that the heyday of the influx from mainland China is over, "but it is incorrect to claim that the enrolment has been steadily declining".

"The reduction has had some impact on certain private colleges, particularly those which rely heavily on them (mainland Chinese), but this is unrelated to the closure of colleges or (impact on their) reputation. Other factors were involved," he said.

He suggested that policies in mainland China play a large part in the students' choice of destination.

"In the next few years, enrolment will largely depend on the policy orientation of the Chinese government in handling students studying abroad," said Ong.

"While stepping up our efforts in recruiting these students, we need to acknowledge that the twinning programmes we once promoted are now available in certain cities of China, thus constituting a certain degree of competition to ours.

"In addition, certain renowned foreign universities are now allowed to set up branch campuses in China."

Safety concerns

Students here, however, raised another reason - that of concerns over the safety of mainland Chinese in Malaysia.

"Almost every Chinese student has had at least one experience of being robbed or having their belongings stolen," Deng claimed.

Some have allegedly been victims of serious crimes. For example, a student from China was raped and murdered when travelling alone last February, while a businesswoman said she was raped by four bogus policemen in Selangor.

In other cases, two students said they were beaten up by a taxi driver in July, and a staff member of the Chinese embassy claimed to have been assaulted on New Year's Day.

There was also the high-profile case of four Chinese women held at a police station for five days in Sungai Buloh, during which time they were allegedly forced to undergo strip-searches.

"Now, I dare not go out alone when it is dark or take a taxi alone. I usually call my roommate to pick me up at the train station," said Deng.

MCA public services and complaints department head Michael Chong ( right ), who is advisor to MACS, said he believed that such cases have had a negative impact on Chinese student arrivals.

"But these are only isolated incidents that can occur anywhere in the world," he pointed out.

He urged the students to understand Malaysia better, and called on the Malaysian government to restore the country's image as a secure place for all.

Conflicting responses

Interpretations of these concerns and suggestions to overcome the problems varied between the ministry, private colleges and the police.

Ong said it would be necessary to review the programmes offered by the private colleges in Malaysia vis-a-vis the needs of the Chinese students.

"There is still a lot of room for us to recruit Chinese students. In the past, we had focused on major cities in the coastal provinces, thus leaving large portions of the Chinese market still untapped," he said.

A private college officer responsible for recruitment of Chinese students disagreed.

"The problem can't be solved by depending on the so-called untapped markets because students in rural areas may not meet our criteria either in terms of financial sustainability or academic qualifications," said the officer who declined to be named.

Malaysiakini contacted the police to find out if special measures would be taken to protect mainland Chinese students.

Said a spokesman from police headquarters in Bukit Aman: "We do not have different treatment for local or foreign students, whether from China or any other country."

This contrasted sharply with the apology offered by the government at the end of last year when the humiliation of the strip-searched Chinese women was extensively reported by the press in China.

Deputy Home Minister Azmi Khalid had flown to Beijing to offer an official apology and had guaranteed the protection of Chinese nationals in Malaysia.

If that promise is not kept, the thousands of mainland Chinese students may not feel secure enough in their new environment. And if education facilities and programmes are not improved, they may feel that their long journey is far from worth it.