Category: Education

Education

Now everyone can study

Sabah Insights

ATI College and Curtin Malaysia cash in as Australia tightens student visa rules

Wong Khen Thau, ATI’s executive chairman

Although they didn’t plan it that way, Australia’s tightening of student’s visa rules to weed out job seekers and migrants is a blessing to ATI College and Curtin University Malaysia. Last month, both signed a collaboration agreement to launch a one-year master degree course in international business. The first intake of 40 students mostly from China is expected in July. The next in February. This collaboration has brought Malaysia into focus as a centre of good and relatively cheap higher education. And this has prompted ATI College to change its tagline to “Now everyone can study”.

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Education

The road less travelled

Sabah Insights

Three girls beat the odds in their tourism studies to come up on top

ATI College’s top students: from left to right: Iman Maryam, Melissa Wong and Nurul Syahanah.

School leavers are at a crossroad when it comes to choosing their careers. Many would take the traditional path: study law, accountancy, medicine, dentistry, engineering or architecture. Some would be happy just to grab the first job that comes along after obtaining their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (school leaving certificate). But ATI College’s top students Iman Maryam, Melissa Mercedes Wong Thien Eng and Nurul Syahanah binti Annuar have taken the road less travelled and proven themselves right in choosing tourism. It is Sabah’s fourth most important industry contributing about 10 per cent to its gross domestic product (GDP). Tourism earned the state RM13b last year and employs 430,000 people, about a fifth of Sabah’s 1.9m workforce. The hotel and food and beverage industry employs 193,000 people, about half of all tourism employees.

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Education

A friend indeed

Sabah Insights

Founder says ATI College owes its success to former tourism minister Bernard Dompok

Wong Khen Thau (left) and Bernard Dompok

It was a poignant moment for Wong Khen Thau, the founder of ATI College at its 26th convocation on February 29 at the Magellan Sutera Resort in Kota Kinabalu. Twenty-eight years ago, the hotel industry didn’t think much of his tourism school founded in 1996 which was offering short courses in food and beverage, housekeeping and front office operations. But one man had faith in him: Bernard Dompok, then Sabah tourism minister. His instinct as a trained property valuer told him Mr Wong would succeed. He despatched the first batch of 40 government sponsored students to the Asian Tourism Institute as it was then known. From that small start, the ATI College has produced more than 12,000 skilled workers for the hotel industry.

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