Scholarship Presentation Ceremony

The Endeavour Awards and the Malaysia Australia Colombo Plan Commemoration (MACC) Scholarships awards presentation ceremony is always a heart warming event. It was extra special this year for The MAAC as it was an avenue to meet the new Australian High Commissioner Designate to Malaysia, His Excellency Mr Rod Smith PSM, who presented the awards to the scholars. The event was held on Wednesday, 29 January 2014 at the Australian High Commission, Kuala Lumpur.

In his speech, His Excellency Mr Smith said ‘education is the defining element of the Australia-Malaysia relationship.’ He hoped that Australia’s New Colombo Plan (NCP) initiative by the Abbott Government will continue to build an education legacy and quoted the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms Julie Bishop who said “over time the NCP initiative will provide a rite of passage for Australian students in South East Asia.” A$100 million will be allocated over 5 years commencing in 2015 for Australian undergraduate students to study and have internship opportunities in selected South East Asian countries. Malaysia, however, is not one of the selected countries in the pilot program.

The High Commissioner presented the Endeavour Awards to nine recipients. The MACC Scholarship recipient, Ms Julie Mok Ee Teng, was unable to attend the event. Ms Mok has received a full tuition waiver from University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). She will be pursuing a Master of Arts in Communication Management beginning July 2014 and expects to complete it in year 2015.

To date, the Malaysia Australia Colombo Plan Commemoration (MACC) Scholarships had benefited more than 250 students from Malaysia and Australia. In the 2013/2014 Round of MACC Scholarships, there were five participating Australian universities offering a total of 90 scholarships. The MACC 2013/2014 Round is still open for application for the 2014 mid-year intake. For more information, click here.