ID :
172806
Mon, 04/04/2011 - 07:31
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/172806
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FORMER SLEEPY HOLLOW NOW EDUCATION HUB
BY HASLIN GAFFOR
KOTA SAMARAHAN (Sarawak, Malaysia), April 4 (Bernama) -- Kota Samarahan, formerly a small trading village known as Muara Tuang, now is a bustling education hub.
Located about 30 kilometres from Kuching, capital of East Malaysia state of Sarawak, rapid development based on education and as a research and development centre has brought about a massive transformation in area.
This resulted in the opening of housing estates and numerous job
opportunities for the locals.
Among the higher education insitutions based here are Universiti Teknologi Mara's (UiTM) Samarahan campus, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Tun Abdul Razak Teacher´s Training College's Samarahan campus), Industrial Training Institute Samarahan, the Dato Traoh International School and the Sarawak International Medical Centre (SIMC), which specialises in heart and cancer research.
Among the beneficiaries in the change in status of the area is Hapsah Suut, 32, from Kampung Pinang who told Bernama that the UiTM's branch campus, which was the first to set up home in the hub, enabled her to get a job eight years ago.
"The education hub has been a boon to locals as there are plentiful job opportunities," she said.
Her colleague, Norashikin Sabri,35, from Kampung Pangkalan Kuap and who has worked at the campus the last 10 years, said now the children of the locals did not need to go far to continue their studies.
Prior to this, they had to go to Peninsular Malaysia or countries like Australia and New Zealand to pursue higher studies.
Meanwhile, UiTM Samarahan campus rector Prof Jamil Hamali said the setting up of the UiTM Samarahan campus acted as a catalyst in making Kota Samarahan an education hub.
"The spillover effects have been a boon for the locals who are now able to get jobs and earn income through businesses," he said, adding that UiTM was futher expanding in Kota Samarahan with phase two of its campus now underway.
Presently, 4,000 students are enrolled at it with 80 per cent staying in-campus while 800 students are pursuing courses on a part-time basis.
Unimas which began operations in 1993 has an enrolment of 5,976 students curently and is served by 1,456 staff. Kota Samarahan is also the administrative centre of the Samarahan divsion in Sarawak (the state of Sarawak is divided into eight divisions). This division was created in 1987 with Rodziah Morshidi appointed its resident, which made her the first woman resident in Sarawak (equivalent to governor of a state).
Besides Kota Samarahan, the division has three other districts - Serian, Simunjan and Asajaya. Serian and Simunjan have a sub-district each, namely Tebedu and Simunjan.
The division covers an area of 4,967.45 square kilometres with a population of 219,300 in 2006.
Kota Samarahan's population then was 48,000, Serian (82,000), Simunjan (38,000 ) and Asajaya (29,000 ). The parliamentary constituency of Samarahan has two state seats, Asajaya and Muara Tuang.
Rodziah told Bernama that her focus now was eradicating poverty completely in the area through sustained development.
She said transformation of the area into an education hub had changed the lives of the people and expected pockets of poverty still existing to be overcome in the near future
KOTA SAMARAHAN (Sarawak, Malaysia), April 4 (Bernama) -- Kota Samarahan, formerly a small trading village known as Muara Tuang, now is a bustling education hub.
Located about 30 kilometres from Kuching, capital of East Malaysia state of Sarawak, rapid development based on education and as a research and development centre has brought about a massive transformation in area.
This resulted in the opening of housing estates and numerous job
opportunities for the locals.
Among the higher education insitutions based here are Universiti Teknologi Mara's (UiTM) Samarahan campus, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Tun Abdul Razak Teacher´s Training College's Samarahan campus), Industrial Training Institute Samarahan, the Dato Traoh International School and the Sarawak International Medical Centre (SIMC), which specialises in heart and cancer research.
Among the beneficiaries in the change in status of the area is Hapsah Suut, 32, from Kampung Pinang who told Bernama that the UiTM's branch campus, which was the first to set up home in the hub, enabled her to get a job eight years ago.
"The education hub has been a boon to locals as there are plentiful job opportunities," she said.
Her colleague, Norashikin Sabri,35, from Kampung Pangkalan Kuap and who has worked at the campus the last 10 years, said now the children of the locals did not need to go far to continue their studies.
Prior to this, they had to go to Peninsular Malaysia or countries like Australia and New Zealand to pursue higher studies.
Meanwhile, UiTM Samarahan campus rector Prof Jamil Hamali said the setting up of the UiTM Samarahan campus acted as a catalyst in making Kota Samarahan an education hub.
"The spillover effects have been a boon for the locals who are now able to get jobs and earn income through businesses," he said, adding that UiTM was futher expanding in Kota Samarahan with phase two of its campus now underway.
Presently, 4,000 students are enrolled at it with 80 per cent staying in-campus while 800 students are pursuing courses on a part-time basis.
Unimas which began operations in 1993 has an enrolment of 5,976 students curently and is served by 1,456 staff. Kota Samarahan is also the administrative centre of the Samarahan divsion in Sarawak (the state of Sarawak is divided into eight divisions). This division was created in 1987 with Rodziah Morshidi appointed its resident, which made her the first woman resident in Sarawak (equivalent to governor of a state).
Besides Kota Samarahan, the division has three other districts - Serian, Simunjan and Asajaya. Serian and Simunjan have a sub-district each, namely Tebedu and Simunjan.
The division covers an area of 4,967.45 square kilometres with a population of 219,300 in 2006.
Kota Samarahan's population then was 48,000, Serian (82,000), Simunjan (38,000 ) and Asajaya (29,000 ). The parliamentary constituency of Samarahan has two state seats, Asajaya and Muara Tuang.
Rodziah told Bernama that her focus now was eradicating poverty completely in the area through sustained development.
She said transformation of the area into an education hub had changed the lives of the people and expected pockets of poverty still existing to be overcome in the near future
