Education UK Exhibition 2010, Brunei!

On Wednesday the 3rd of February 2010, KLH Society launches its first ever attempt on a media coverage of the Education UK Exhibition Fair in the 4th Floor of the Rizqun Hotel, Gadong. Hosted by the British Council and James Hon Marketing & Management, the event saw the participation of some of Britain’s top universities as well as local private and government institutes.
The KLH Crew consisted of Kelvin Soo @ Kael (yours truly, reporter and anchorman), Mahmoud Nabil Asyrafi @ GlowJR (photographer) & Wilson Chua @ clerkburton (journalist).

On our arrival at 1 pm, we were greeted by Jonathan Chong, Regional Marketing Director of StudyCare, International Education Specialist, a consultancy firm that provides aid to students in applying to overseas institutions. They represent top ranked universities & colleges in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States of America, Malaysia, New Zealand & Ireland. Applications to such institutes are made swifter and more flexible through StudyCare, thus there is no need for concern to students who wish to apply and obtain a definitive answer asap.

“Based on my experience, most students make the mistake of waiting for their real exam results before doing their college or university applications. These institutes could only select a few out of these numerous applications, so it is somewhat like a first-come, first-serve basis. The earlier you do your applications, the better.”

Myself, being an A-level graduate student (now currently awaiting results), realized the importance of the message delivered, and I thus proceeded to fill the StudyCare form before it is too late. The services provided are free-of-charge and applications are made more flexible. I thanked Mr. Chong before entering the inner depths of the exhibition hall.

Mind you, I didn’t come here to sign up for this! xD

In the early stages of the exhibition, there isn’t much for the representatives to do here. All will soon change within hours.

Questions, doubts, enquiries? Please address them to us, here!

Upon entry after skipping registration (mind you, we’re here for media coverage), we stumbled upon our old comrade, event assistant Jason Chin and photocopy boy Lim Jong Hau. Apparently, both worked temporarily for James Hon Marketing & Management. The booths were relatively empty, void of inquirers and such at this infant time. I proceeded to take a stroll around with my crew before choosing our first target, the University of East Anglia.

Photocopy boy Jong Hau VERY busy at work! Eligible for an Employee-of-the-Month Award.

Jason Chin, Event Assistant. Probably the most relaxing job around

*ooohs* there’s Jess!

Seeing that there is no crowd at that moment, I asked if my interviewees could spare some time. Situated in Norwich, about an hour and a half’s flight from London, the campus’ lush green environment dazzled me as I was shown an aerial picturesque view of the university. Spanning an area that would take 15-20 minutes to walk from one end to another, the University of East Anglia has its own facilities, a track field, student accomodations and also pockets of villages & urban settlements outside!

“The international student community accounts for nearly 15% of our campus’ student population. We do have students from Brunei as part of the international student community, but hopefully this year, we expect to see more student arrivals from Brunei.”

Surveys are for squares! xD

Wondering what’s all the hype about on surveying…

Kael tries to hit it lucky!

And he scored a 1! DRAAAWWW!!! =D

My next stop is the Centre for British Teachers (CfBT) Education Services (B) Sdn Bhd, which specializes in the supply of education resource management and consultancy services in the United Kingdom and overseas. For this occasion, applications for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examinations can be made via CfBT. IELTS is a standardized exam for testing the candidate’s proficiency of the English language, recognized in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth states such as Australia, Canada, Ireland & New Zealand. It is one of the essential admission requirements needed to study in UK, notwithstanding other English language tests like Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and International Student Admission Test (ISAT).  This is unlike any other tests/exams fellow viewers might have faced in school, so if you wish, please browse online for samples or contact CfBT for further info.

Inquiring to the CfBT representative about the IELTS and other English-language admission exams as well. ooohs and to the right, Shandy!

In an interview with the sales representative of Takaful BIBD, the company offers an insurance package (which, in a sudden twist of fate and coincidence) called the StudentCare Takaful, covering reimbursement of medical expenses to students should they require medical treatment from illness or accidents to the insurance of personal liabilities and travel-associated events with an annual fee of BND423.65.  I strongly suggest overseas students to go for this plan because in the unforeseeable future, random events could be triggered on us, be it a broken leg from falling or the theft of a laptop. This insurance plan covers all these and reimburses you with a maximum limit in BND, but these must come with claims, of course. Why spoil the beauty of  the thing with legality? (Of course, that was just a stupid if not rhetorical question) Due to its worldwide coverage, one could ring their 24-hour International SOS Centre based in Singapore for emergency assistance.

“We launched this plan as early as August 2009 last year. It was not only until this year after slowly introducing this plan have we gained more success in marketing this affordable plan to students who are about to study overseas.”

Hanah inquires the representative of the University of Warwick, probably oblivious to our presence.

The students find this relevant to their interests.

Students venturing after-school hours group en-masse to the Education UK Exhibition Fair.

And of course, a few feedback from the students who have attended this fair. Abdul Malik from Maktab Duli and Ehsan Jaafar from Laksamana College of Business~

There was a seminar at 2 pm in one of the conference halls, which our photographer, Nabil @ GlowJR, briefly attended to take a few snapshots. Apparently, it’s all about IELTS (I think) but I was unavailable to report on that one, having exhausted myself after a series of interviews.

So what can you expect in the Writing test? ESSAYS! And don’t forget your punctuations, class!

Briefing on the IELTS

By 3 pm, (the highest peak time recorded during the exhibition) it was so congested with throngs of students & parents that all university booths are entirely filled with listeners and representatives of each institution briefing on the available courses they offer in their respective colleges & universities. Our crew took the liberty of an elevated escape; stairs leading to the balcony with the best view of the entire fair! Two cameramen smiled at us as we approached their ‘camping spot‘.

If you could fit the entire population of Brunei here, it could only spell one thing. C-H-A-O-S!

The student crowds seek greater prospects in prospectus!

To the inconvenience of some, one must squeeze or tread lightly.

Students gatherin’ around the good stuff.

Parents and students inquiring on the government scholarship application to representatives of the Ministry of Education.

Students loike their free gifts!

Finding a good uni is also hard work, ya noe!

Having spent 2 hours inside there, we declare our mission accomplished as we head down to McDonald’s for cone sundaes and fries. As the exhibition was ongoing from 12-7 pm, we could not get estimates on the number of visitors to the exhibition. However, it is without doubt that the reception here was greater compared to last year’s, with 20 participating universities compared to 17 in the 2009 Education UK Exhibition.

(Y) GREAT SUCCESS!!! (Y)

Regrettably, we could have interviewed more universities and random students, but having taken our media coverage to a higher level, this has been a tremendous experience for me as well as my crew. We would like to thank all those who we have interviewed for their co-operation and fellow viewers for visiting KLH Society! This is Kelvin Soo of KLH News, signing out.

Turaa~

Tags: 2010, brunei, college, education uk, education uk exhibition 2010, KLH news, study in uk, uk exhibition, university

kael-vin posted this article under General on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 2:38 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a comment or trackback from your own site.