Eric Kimathi Buantai, Director International Officer at the Universiti Selangor swears that opting to study in Malaysia remains his best decision yet.
“I enrolled as an undergraduate student at Universiti Selangor (Selangor University), known to most as Unisel, for a degree in biotechnology and life sciences focusing on pharmaceuticals. I graduated in 2010,” 36-year-old Buantai told Hashtag during the Malaysia Education Fair held in Nairobi on Monday.
For his master’s degree, he joined Universiti Putra Malaysia, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, to do research on stem cells and their effect on type two diabetes that is common in human beings. Research involves isolating stem cells from the blood in human umbilical cord upon which the cells are differentiated for the production of insulin.
“The education system in Malaysia is very efficient. It is an added advantage that life there, compared to most countries, is affordable and is of high quality,” Kimathi, who speaks fluent Bahasa Melayu (the local Malaysian dialect) explained.
Having come from a humble background, Kimathi knows the importance of going for quality education at pocket friendly prices.
“My ambition was to pursue further education in the health sector preferably in the United States of America, but costs and logistics proved prohibitive for my single mother. I imagined that my dream was dead until I learnt that I could acquire the desired quality of training in this Southeast Asian nation. I do not regret my decision,” the father of three underlined.
Tasked with marketing, promoting and creating awareness of the state-owned institution, Kimathi says his target is to grow the number of Kenyan students at the university to 50 from the current 15 by the end of the year.
His remarks were echoed by Cynthia Kahiro, a second-year student at the United States International University, who explained that the decision to exempt her from certain courses when she decided to transfer to a Malaysian university was the tiebreaker.
“I wanted to go to the United Kingdom but was informed that I had to start my hotel management understudy course afresh. That and also factoring in relatively high cost of living put me off,” Cynthia, who is looking forward to moving abroad, offered.
Speaking at the fair, Malaysia ambassador to Kenya Loh Seck Tiong called for more educational ties between the two nations if the Vision 2030 is to be realised. The ambassador reiterated the need to have the youth focus more on technical studies to speed up the improvement of the country’s economy.
Amb Tiong says his target is to see over 1,000 Kenyan students moving to Malaysia from the current 600 who are studying there.
“Mr Kimathi has told me he is in talks with county governments who want to sponsor students to go to our country especially for engineering and other technical courses. I want to assure them total support from my office,” Tiong lauded.
Kimathi, who hails from Meru County, and is married to a Malaysian - Haryati Buantai - says his happiness is to see foreigners settling well away from home.
“I consider Malaysia home away from home. I am happy to have had people help me settle in life and in my studies. I can give that convenience to other students, and then I will be happier,” he adds.
Kimathi is currently a PhD student at Universiti Putra Malaysia Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, where he is specialising in stem cells and diabetes has been in the Asian country for the last 15 years.
