Malang - ten Singaporean students began their first day studying at UMM Postgraduate, for Islamic Studies program last one week. “Their first semester lectures will be in Malang, then they will continue it in Singapore. The UMM lecturers will come there," said the Chief of the program, Prof. Dr. Tobroni.
During their lectures, they met the Rector, Dr. Muhadjir Effendy, MAP, Tuesday (4/26). They were also welcome at Rector's Meeting Room, accompanied by Prof. Dr. Tobroni, and the Assistant Rector of Academic Development Bureau Prof. Dr. Jabal Tarik Ibrahim.
Muhadjir thanked those ten students for thrusting UMM. He hoped, the Singaporean would be interested in joining not only the postgraduate, but also the undergraduate and the doctor program. “The UMM certificate has already been approved in Singapore, that of course we will keep that reputation. If there will be any requisition, we are ready to complete that," said the Rector.
The Rector hoped that the relationship between UMM and Al-Hira Educational and Social Services, which sent the students, would last long . So was the UMM dakwah. Hopefully, it would be delivered by not only the Indonesian, but also the Singaporean students through this program.
The postgraduate of Islamic Studies program, nowadays, got accreditation A. So, it was the right choice for the Singaporean to choose UMM as their university. “We also find that there are many universities in Malaysia and Brunei, but we choose UMM which is approved in Singapore," said Rasman bin Saridin, one of the Singaporean students.
Amien bin Kadir, another student said that he was satisfied studying at UMM. The lecturers were friendly. He wanted to tell about UMM to others in Singapore. In his opinion, it was kind of doing dakwah. “We are ready to be the UMM representatives there," said Amien.
As it was reported before that those ten Singaporean students were Abdurahman bin Mohd Don, M. Amin bin Kadir, Jenab Nurlela, Mohd Ghazali bin Mohd Said, Muhd Syanim bin Mohd Sidek, Muji bin Mochri, Nekmah binti Batri, Rasman bin Saridin, Syaifudin Amien and Mohd Yusuf bin Saad. And Rasman bin Saridin was the alumni of UMM Islamic Studies for undergraduate program. He was the Director of Al-Hira Educational and Social Services who promoted UMM to the Singaporean.
Tobroni was optimistic that there would be many Singaporean or Brunei students who would study at UMM. It was because those countries gave more attention to Indonesian universities. “I am quite sure because I had been confirmed by my friends about that. We just need to wait and see," said Tobroni.
Tobroni was also sure that the department was really serious in terms of the academic services and thesis guidances. It was because the department did want the best for its students. “We guarantee if the students do it well, they will graduate soon. They could finish their thesis on their third semester," said he.