Chris’s Domain

You’d think that I’d have suffered my (un)fair share of discrimination in Malaysia when it comes to scholarship access and entry into universities. Well, Australia’s much better in the sense that because I’m paying for university, they didn’t discriminate my admission. However, when it comes to scholarship opportunities, the same story unfolds. Looks like being a 2nd class citizen is never good anywhere in the world.

I recently received an invitation to apply for postgraduate research scholarships. I felt honoured that the Faculty sent this to its top performing students, but much to my dismay, I discovered that there is a difference between being “top performing student” and “top performing Australian student” as I was clearly not the 2nd because I don’t hold an Australian passport! In essence, I’m only welcomed to apply for scholarships if I’m Australian. Fair enough, but why the exclusionist principle for one of the most prestigious international postgraduate scholarship programs in the world. Do my qualifications suddenly become irrelevant because I’m not a permanent resident or citizen of Australia?

While I understand that scholarship programs offered by local institutions for higher learning are primarily meant for local students, but if Australian universities willingly accept international students (and charge 4 times more in fees), they should do everything to ensure that international students obtain the equivalent experience as a local student. Being excluded by an overwhelming majority of scholarships, awards and prizes means international students will NEVER be able to gain the same academic experience as a local student. This means they are being shortchanged as we were promised a truly Australian university experience, which is impossible given the principles of excluding international students in any major academic award of significance.

Here’s an excerpt of the mail (there were others too):
“You have been specifically identified by your Faculty as one of their most academically outstanding students in the latter stages of your undergraduate degree, or currently undertaking honours.

At this event, you will learn about some of the world’s most renowned programs that are designed to foster and reward scholastic excellence. These programs include the Rhodes Scholarship, Monash Awards, and Fulbright Scholarships, as well as other opportunities in Canada and the United States.

(i) Almost all of the programs being presented as this session require applicants to be Australian Citizens. However, if you are a Permanent Resident of Australia who is considering becoming an Australian Citizen in the near future, you are also encouraged to attend. If you are a Permanent Resident of Australia but you are not considering becoming an Australian Citizen, or you are an international student, there would be no benefit in you attending this event;”

“The Jacobs Australia Engineering Leadership Prize will be awarded to recognise
outstanding engineering leadership or management exhibited by a UNSW student
undertaking one of the following Engineering undergraduate programs
……..
To be eligible, undergraduates must:
* Be Australian citizens or permanent residents only.”

Disappointed? You bet I am.