Indonesia, we are coming to you!

  

Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education office at Jakarta

After our fruitful trip to Myanmar, we decided to visit our close neighbour, Indonesia. We contacted the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia representative office at Jakarta right after we spoke to Puan Yahurin, MOHE officer at Jakarta. We truly agreed with Puan Yahurin that in order for us to know Indonesia market, we have to be there to see and experience it ourselves.

           We headed to Jakarta in less than a week after the first phone call with Yahurin. When I arrived, I headed to the MOHE Jakarta office with the anticipation of meeting Yahurin. The MOHE office is located at Wisma Kodel, Kuningan, Central Jakarta. I reached the office in an hour, which I was later told that it would take usually 2 hours during peak hours.

Me and Pn Yahurin Mohd Yassin 

After waiting for a while, I met Yahurin, storming in after a meeting with the Malaysian embassy. She was a gracious host and we had a great brainstorming session. We mapped out a proposal on how we can approach the Indonesian market where she advised that we make plans to visit the various parts of Indonesia - Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan and Kalimantan to start and perhaps, heading to further places such as Makasar in our future plan. It really feels like we are in a global environment where we have now become an ambassador and explorer for our organisation.

Yahurin was a very influential lady. I was supposed to meet another agent named Audy. She called him to come to the MOHE. Audy politely accepted and was at the MOHE office momentarily. I was fortunate with this arrangement as this would mean that I did not need to brave the traffic jams, which are notorious in Jakarta.

After a fruitful discussion, Audy sent me to Tamrin City, a shopping centre, which neighbours Plaza Indonesia and Grand Indonesia - all gigantic developments, which makes our shopping centres in Malaysia, pale in comparison. I took some pictures of the shopping bazaar, had a burger for dinner and then, had a cake for dessert.

I then headed to the hotel - Manhattan Hotel, which is ranked 5 star but the price was quite reasonable. I had a room on the 28th floor, which offers a picturesque view of the Jakarta skyline. The evening was swift as I started early and wanted to retire early. I watched the movie Black Swan, headed to bed and slept snugly.

  

   

View from my room

a wide variety of food for breakfast at Manhattan Hotel

The following day, I visited another partner - Cosmo Education. It is an organisation run by ladies which I was impressed by their professionalism and also, their diligence. After the meeting, I headed to the Jakarta Airport, to head back home. We are hopeful that this visit is the first of many to come as we start to discover more about Indonesia.

The professional ladies at work - Cosmo Education

By Lee Wee Loong, Director of Vision College
Study Ultrasonography in Malaysia

Vision is moving towards Virtual Learning

Moodle Expert, Teo Chuin Hau

Moodle: A Virtual Learning Environment, No Relation to Noodles (Except in Culinary Colleges)

Getting your teaching and learning stuff done over the internet has become a pretty popular concept over the past five years or so. Nowadays, you'd be hard-pressed to find any college or university worth their salt that doesn't implement any virtual learning environment (VLE) for their faculty and students.

A virtual learning environment, in its most basic concept, takes the form of a webpage where teachers upload information and students download that information. Most, if not all, VLEs nowadays definitely offer chat or discussion facilities where students can interact with their teachers online. In terms of form and function, it is pretty similar to any of your garden variety forums that you find mushrooming all over the internet.

Of course, this is if we're talking basic concepts. It is entirely possible for VLEs to incorporate online quizzes, assessments, grade tracking, messaging, e-mail notifications, games, and so on and so forth, till we can conceivably plan out a VLE that is similar, but not identical to, say, Facebook – except academics-based.

Yes, it can be that cool.

In any case, VLEs are a great way to modernize teaching-learning and to get the modern-day tech-addicted youths interested in their studies. Of course, Vision College might be small but we certainly don't plan on getting left behind – so we've went ahead and begun implementation of a VLE of our own. At Vision College, we're using the free source Moodle as our VLE. Free source means that we don't pay for it (much), so we can pass the savings on to the consumer.

Now, when you tell someone about the word 'free source' they also think of its alleged accomplices, such as 'instability', 'user-hostile', or 'bug-ridden piece of ****', but truthfully most of the widely-used free source software nowadays do match their more expensive and enterprising cousins in usability. Moodle is no exception, having been selected by many universities as part of their VLE effort; Open University and the University of York in the United Kingdom, as well as Australian National University, Melbourne University and Monash University in Australia are just some of the multiple institutions of higher learning utilizing the software.

So, what are we doing with Moodle nowadays?

As of now, we are in the phase where lecture information is being uploaded to form a cohesive database. This database will serve as a repository for both teachers and students to view and download lecture slides, lesson plans and study notes. By giving easier access to the information, we make it possible for teachers and students to be less tied down to college premises when it comes to the teaching-learning process.

So, that's probably what we call Phase Two.

By the way, Phase One was where we set everything up and went for a trial run or two.

Phase Three, slated to commence in January 2012, will see all courses being run with the aid of Moodle. This means that teachers will have to direct their students to the website and let them know that yes, they can get their slides from the internet now. In this phase, the teachers will also be able to open discussion forums where students can ask all the questions they never got to ask in class because they were too shy. (Note: look into auto-censor filters for Moodle forums)

And in the Final Phase, Phase Four, the use of online assessments, quizzes and grading will come into play. It is a markedly more complicated affair because the one-shoe-fits-all approach does not work here, due to the varied assessment methods employed by the different programmes. This phase will also see the introduction of a unified gradebook spanning all subjects so that we can track grade points, averages of those grade points, and the cumulative sum of the averages of those grade points for each student throughout their fun-filled academic life, which will involve a lot of mathematics and be pretty cool.

If we're really, really brave, we'll slap Phase Four together with Phase Three and run it concurrently. Here at Vision College we think optimistically.

Well, that's really about all there is to say about the Moodle VLE at the moment. No pictures are around because all the really, really cool stuff isn't up yet and unfortunately, no one I know wants to look at rows upon rows of lecture slides.

Oh well.

Western Job Opportunity in Medical Ultrasonography - Myanmar

Yangon City, Myanmar is our first target country for foreign student recruitment. I am glad to be chosen as Vision College’s representative for this very first international recruitment trip.

When I touched down at Myanmar International Airport at 8pm, I was thrilled and excited at the same time as this is my first time landing at a foreign land by myself! Immediately my heart was comforted when I saw Uncle Donald and Aunty Jenny waving at me at the arrival hall with a big smile. Uncle Donald and Aunty Jenny are the representatives from Jenko-Rexpo, Vision College’s official partner representatives in Myanmar. They brought me to a local restaurant for my late dinner before sending me to hotel.

Beautiful lobby in Park Royal Hotel @ Yangon City

Billboard: Western Job Opportunity in Medical Ultrasonography are found at prominent spots

In the next morning, when I was about to take my breakfast in the Hotel Café, Uncle Donald came and brought me to a local hotspot for breakfast. It was a very simple coffee shop name Morning Star. They serve mainly local traditional food.

Morning Star coffee shop was already packed at 7.30am

I have tasted many types of local cuisines here and my favourite was the “Salad Mee”. It was a cold noodle with some fired bean curd mixed with sweet and sour sauce. It’s really an appetizing breakfast worth trying.

My favourite “Salad Mee”. Yummz~

After breakfast, I went back to hotel and prepare for my seminar in the afternoon.

The attendance and response from local doctors and students was overwhelming. The hall was 90% filled-up before the seminar began.

This presentation will not be successful without Aunty Jenny’s help in translating my presentation into Burmese throughout my whole presentation due to language barrier.

Jenko-Rexpo even manages to get a Leading Radiologist in Myanmar, Dr. Sanda Tin (currently the director in south East Asia of Euro-Continent) as guest to this seminar. She gave a influential and powerful speech during my presentation; she told the audience that the Pg.DMU (Asia) is a very good programme and it is very beneficiary for the student.

Jenko-Rexpo also invited various journalists and even the only local English TV channel, Myanmar International TV reporter to this seminar.

overwhelming responses from the local students and doctors for the seminar

Thanks to Uncle Donald and Aunty Jenny who have been a great help to me

My first TV interview :)

Fantastic Jenko-Rexpo team 

I would like to extend my appreciation to Jenko-Rexpo who has done a good job in marketing this seminar. They have sent out invitation card to Doctors and students, 2 big billboards advertisement (1 in-front of the general hospital and the other 1 is near Jenko-Rexpo office), 1 big banner in-front of Park Royal Hotel and the advertisements in the local newspaper and the IT newsletter.

During my presentation

I am glad that I managed to go for some sightseeing after the seminars. How can I miss visiting the oldest Buddhist Pagoda in the world? Just like people says, if you haven't been to this pagoda, you have not been to Myanmar!

Me @ Shwedagon Pagoda

Can you believe it, this pagoda is over 2,500 years!

This is an excellent experience for me and I would love to travel to others countries to broaden my horizons and helps me understand other people and their cultures better.

College with a medical vision

An assistant medical officer plays an essential role in the medical team by providing preventive, curative and rehabilitative services at appropriate levels under the supervision of medical officers.

         

        Vision College has launched a new programme, the Diploma of Medical Assistant, which has been approved by the Malaysia Qualification Academy (MQA) and is also recognized by the Ministry of Health and the Malaysian Medical Assistant Board. 

           The newly launched programme will commence its first intake on 24th October 2011. This programme is designed to meet the need for Assistant Medical Officer (AMO).

        The 3-year programme consists of theoretical and practical training that will prepare students for working life as an AMO. An AMO plays an essential role in the medical team in providing preventive, curative and rehabilitative services at appropriate levels under the supervision of Medical Officers.

          An AMO is the person who acts as a frontliner in the Accident and Emergency department (A&E),  providing immediate prompt supportive care for all emergencies and refer them accordingly for further management. This includes performing first aid and resuscitative procedures to revive patient, maintain their vital functions and to prevent further deterioration of the condition until medical officer takes over the role. They are also lead ambulance team to provide emergency treatment accordingly to established protocol. Among other things, AMO obtain medical histories, perform examinations and procedures, order treatments, diagnose illnesses, prescribe medication, order and interpret diagnostic tests, refer patients to specialists as required and first-assist in surgery.

           The school of Diploma of Medical Assistant is spearheaded by Syafiq Teoh who has more than 30 years experience in the field of healthcare. Most of his career was spent serving the Ministry of Health and its affiliated colleges and training centres. His teaching career began in 1988 with one of the AMO training centres of the Ministry of Health before making his way up as a Headmaster in 1999. He then served as the Exam Coordinator for Ministry of Health. With his vast knowledge and expertise in the healthcare field we can assure that students are able to compete competitively as an AMO.

          “An Assistant Medical Officer has to be someone that is able to work under pressure. Being the frontline person in A & E (Accident & Emergency) Department requires a person that is able to think on his feet and work independently,” commented Syafiq. 

            “It can be the most rewarding career for those who love to give back to the community. Part of the job of an AMO is to go out to treat indigenous people who do not have access to medical care.”

(Source: StarSpecial, 5 October 2011)