Australian Prime Minister The Honorary Mr Tony Abbott’s Visit to Malaysia

On 6 September 2014, The MAAC Executive Committee had the privilege to meet and have afternoon tea with The Honorary Mr Tony Abbott MP, Prime Minister of Australia, on his maiden trip to Kuala Lumpur. The event saw the participation of key people in the education community, including representatives from the Malaysian Ministry of Education.

During the event, Prime Minister Abbott announced that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has accepted the invitation to participate in the New Colombo Plan, an Australian Government education initiative. With the participation, Malaysia will begin to host New Colombo Plan students from Australia, beginning 2015. Prime Minister Abbott further asserted that Australian students would have much to learn from Malaysia – a tolerant, peaceful, prosperous and multicultural Islamic society- and the Southeast Asian region as a whole.

Upon presenting a copy of The Malaysia Australia Colombo Plan (MACC) Commemoration Coffee Table Book to The Honorary Mr Tony Abbott, our President Ms Pat PW Yeoh had the opportunity to brief Mr Abbott on the role which The MAAC plays in Malaysia and our long running MACC Scholarship Programme. While the Australian Prime Minister listen attentively to the details, he also showed his humour by commenting that the New Colombo Plan might just look like a copy of our MACC scholarship, which also encourages Australian tertiary students to take up their studies in Malaysia. The MAAC Executive Committee was overwhelmed to have an exclusive photo session with Mr Tony Abbott thereafter.