Help, ‘Go fund Me’ please
Without scholarship, student’s Cambridge dream may not come true
PETALING JAYA: Student Vythilingam Siva Shanmugam believes in his dream of making it to Cambridge University, and is working extra hard to make it come true.
One half of it is already a reality – the 19-year-old is among 21 international students looking to secure a spot to study medicine at the prestigious university in England.
However, the other half of his dream looks to be in jeopardy.
With the course priced at about RM2mil and his bookkeeper father struggling to support his family of five, Vythilingam is desperate for financial aid as his government scholarship application currently hangs in the balance.
He is one of 73 students who submitted a petition to the government to review its policies on overseas scholarships awarded by the Public Services Department (PSD) and other government agencies.
There has been no firm update since the appeal was made three months ago, so Vythilingam has started a fundraising effort through the “Go Fund Me” platform.
“Going to Cambridge University will be a real unique experience for me,” he said, adding that he was attracted to the course because he could be involved in research in a specific field of interest.
In 2016, opportunities for overseas scholarships were substantially cut due to a recalibration in the previous government’s budget at that time.
The PSD currently offers overseas undergraduate scholarships for only the top 20 SPM students and engineering scholarships to Japan, South Korea, Germany and France to another 200 students.
Going to Cambridge University will be a real unique experience for me. Vythilingam Siva Shanmugam
It is a race against the clock as the anxious students seek to find out if they can indeed secure scholarships for offers that they hold from top 50 universities, based on QS University Rankings.
On top of that, the offers are expected to expire soon.
A-Level student Edmund Kong, who started the petition, said most of the students only had until the end of August to prove their finances to their universities.
He said the PSD had informed the students several weeks ago that it had already completed a paper containing their recommendations.
However, Kong said the students came to know that the PSD was waiting to present the paper to the government.
“We appreciate if a decision can be made soon, because a lot of us are not sure where to go from here,” Kong added during the interview.
The uncertainty caused 10 of the students to give up their offers and enrol at local universities instead, he added.
A government source said the matter would be taken to the Cabinet for a decision.
“This is because any changes to the scholarships being offered would require a reallocation of funds,” the source added.