M’sians off to pursue postgraduate degrees under Chevening scholarship
KUALA LUMPUR: Forty-four Malaysians are getting ready to fly off to Britain soon to pursue postgraduate degrees under the prestigious Chevening scholarship programme.
They were selected from a total 830 applicants, said British High Commissioner to Malaysia Vicki Treadell.
“You should be proud of yourselves. The process to get to where you are was highly competitive. Last year 50,000 persons (worldwide) applied for the scholarships, with just 1,800 selected. So congratulations!” she said at a pre-departure briefing and reception for the scholars at her residence here yesterday.
She said Malaysia continued to receive one of the highest number of Chevening scholarships on a per capita basis in the world.
The number of scholars studying humanities-related subjects has double compared to last year, she said.
Treadell said the Malaysian scholars would pursue a wide range of programmes includ- ing public policy, human rights, law, media, economics, science and engineering.
The recipients include The Star journalists Dina Murad, 28, Akil Yunus, 28 and Nicholas Cheng, 26.
Dina will be studying Terrorism, Security and Society at King’s College London, Akil will pursue International Relations (Terrorism and Political Violence) at the University of Birmingham while Cheng will take on Conflict Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science respectively.
Other journalists who received the scholarship included former The Star reporter Tashny Sukumaran, Malaysiakini journalists Lee Long Hui and Aidila Razak, and The New Straits Times editor Faridul Anwar Farinordin.
The High Commission is presently receiving applications for those wanting to study in Britain for the 2018/19 academic year under the Chevening programme. Visit www. chevening.org/malaysia for details.