BSc Physics in Malaysia: Meron's Journey to University

[Meron]

Hello everyone!
I'm Meron, and I'm a high school senior. As you've already guessed, this is the time for me to think of which university I should be attending. I'm currently residing in Saudi Arabia, and studying at a school which follows the Indian system. I'm thinking of being a physicist when I grow up, more specifically an astrophysicist. My love for physics is unquestionable, but I'm not very rich so I won't be able to afford a school in the US or EU. For this reason I'm considering to go to Malaysia to complete my Bachelor's. What's worrying me is if the standards for physics university education in Malaysia is good or not? If anyone has any experience or knowledge of this, please do reply.
With Regards,
Meron

 

[Meron]

Also, it'd be helpful if you provide me with an overview of their research development.

 

[Kulazo]

Physics in Malaysia is absolutely horrible. It is done to waste time, and not to marvel at the laws on which the cosmos have been laid upon. Personally, I would suggest that you reject physics altogether in terms of profession and seek a different field. 98% of people like you, when they are in high school and college, are fascinated by astrophysics and physics in general. It makes them wonder, it fills them with excitement to become a physicist. They think it'd be absolutely wonderful, but the truth is...that it really isn't. 98% of these people, after getting a degree in physics, regret it very very much. You'll see many people like that here and there. This is because it is VERY difficult to get a job with a PhD in physics, and impossible to get one with MS. And since you come from a poor family and since you're from a Muslim family, you will be tasked with the responsibility to support your family financially in the future and physics will not let you do that. There's a guy I know in India who committed suicide after getting a PhD in physics and went jobless for years, forcing his mother to beg on the streets.

If you're as intelligent as Einstein, then ofcourse, what are you waiting for? Ignore all what I said and pursue a physics degree! But if you're not which is quite likely, then well...don't ignore my advice. Everybody thinks they're the next Newton and will completely revolutionize physics, but this never happens.

Putting this aside, keep physics as a hobby. Pursue a degree in computer science and then you can easily get a high-paying job. Ponder physics as a hobby and learn it rigorously from books. That's my advice.

 

[Kulazo]

Regarding education in Malaysia, it is not perfect but it is not bad either. However, I wouldn't say that it is "exciting" to be a physicist/astrophysicist in Malaysia. and I know this might sound strange but...the sky isn't clear in Kuala Lumpur and you can't see the stars. This is very very bad for somebody like you and me.

 

[blue_leaf77]

Physics in Malaysia is absolutely horrible. It is done to waste time, and not to marvel at the laws on which the cosmos have been laid upon. Personally, I would suggest that you reject physics altogether in terms of profession and seek a different field. 98% of people like you, when they are in high school and college, are fascinated by astrophysics and physics in general. It makes them wonder, it fills them with excitement to become a physicist. They think it'd be absolutely wonderful, but the truth is...that it really isn't. 98% of these people, after getting a degree in physics, regret it very very much. You'll see many people like that here and there. This is because it is VERY difficult to get a job with a PhD in physics, and impossible to get one with MS. And since you come from a poor family and since you're from a Muslim family, you will be tasked with the responsibility to support your family financially in the future and physics will not let you do that. There's a guy I know in India who committed suicide after getting a PhD in physics and went jobless for years, forcing his mother to beg on the streets.

Are you basing this story of yours on your own experience in your homecountry? I seem to be able to understand what you have seen there, I'm also a native to a country in which the education and research state of physics are relatively in the lower tier. But I don't completely agree with the statement that

They think it'd be absolutely wonderful, but the truth is...that it really isn't. 98% of these people, after getting a degree in physics, regret it very very much.

.
It's true that it's hard to make a good living both for you and your parents, especially in less developed countries in phyiscs (even in countries in the front row in physics research, staying in academia won't make your life as luxurious it would have been if you work in industry), but there exist people who enjoy teaching in universities (in my country and the likes) and they are paid relatively well. My point is, in lower-tier-in-physics countries the most promising sector for a physics degree holder is teaching in the academia. But as a consquence of the low state of phyiscs research, doing cutting edge-research in such countries is almost impossible.
So, in the end it comes down to the question what is the aim of the OP after finishing, let's say his BSc. If he merely aims for a financial-safe position, teaching in universities (upon getting further degrees such as MSc or PhD) in those lower-tier-in-physics countries is sufficient. But if otherwise he wants to be be able to do world class researches, then he should embark on either Europe, US, or some far east Asian countries (Japan and its neigborhood).

There's a guy I know in India who committed suicide after getting a PhD in physics and went jobless for years, forcing his mother to beg on the streets.

I can only imagine his circumstance, he did his PhD in a mostly theoretical field and he pursues a job outside academia, am I wrong? Had he applied for a teaching position, different story may have occured.

What's worrying me is if the standards for physics university education in Malaysia is good or not? If anyone has any experience or knowledge of this, please do reply.

I don't have the exact same experience as living as a physics student there but I know the situation must pertain up to certain level with that in my homecountry. If you insisted going to Malaysia for some reason, you can pursue both BSc and MSc there and then, if you want to get a good PhD position, try applying the vast choices of international Scholarhsip such as Fulbright in US, DAAD in Germany, MEXT in Japan and many others. Some universities worldwide also recently offer MSc scholarship, so you may want to terminate your study in Malaysia until BSc only and go abroad afterwards.

 

[ZapperZ]

Physics in Malaysia is absolutely horrible. It is done to waste time, and not to marvel at the laws on which the cosmos have been laid upon. Personally, I would suggest that you reject physics altogether in terms of profession and seek a different field. 98% of people like you, when they are in high school and college, are fascinated by astrophysics and physics in general. It makes them wonder, it fills them with excitement to become a physicist. They think it'd be absolutely wonderful, but the truth is...that it really isn't. 98% of these people, after getting a degree in physics, regret it very very much. You'll see many people like that here and there. This is because it is VERY difficult to get a job with a PhD in physics, and impossible to get one with MS. And since you come from a poor family and since you're from a Muslim family, you will be tasked with the responsibility to support your family financially in the future and physics will not let you do that. There's a guy I know in India who committed suicide after getting a PhD in physics and went jobless for years, forcing his mother to beg on the streets.

If you're as intelligent as Einstein, then ofcourse, what are you waiting for? Ignore all what I said and pursue a physics degree! But if you're not which is quite likely, then well...don't ignore my advice. Everybody thinks they're the next Newton and will completely revolutionize physics, but this never happens.

Putting this aside, keep physics as a hobby. Pursue a degree in computer science and then you can easily get a high-paying job. Ponder physics as a hobby and learn it rigorously from books. That's my advice.

Regarding education in Malaysia, it is not perfect but it is not bad either. However, I wouldn't say that it is "exciting" to be a physicist/astrophysicist in Malaysia. and I know this might sound strange but...the sky isn't clear in Kuala Lumpur and you can't see the stars. This is very very bad for somebody like you and me.

There are two major problems with your replies here:

1. In your first post, you spent a long time ranting about an OFF TOPIC issue, which was the job prospect in Malaysia for someone with a degree in physics. This is NOT what the OP was asking for! He/she was asking about getting an undergraduate degree in physics in Malaysia. There was no mention about seeking a job there! And I too would like to know where you got your statistics from, or did you just made them up?

2. What does having a "clear sky" have anything to do with being a physicist or an astrophysicist? The University of Chicago here has one of the BEST astrophysics program in the world. Do you think they have an observatory on site where they do their research work? People from all over the world go to various facilities to do their work. They normally do not have these facilities available at either their home institutions or home country. You do not need an LHC-size collider in your backyard to do research work in experimental high energy physics! So having a "clear sky" where you live is irrelevant in being able to do astrophysics!

Zz.

 

[Almeisan]

Saw this tomorrow and wanted to say what Zzapper has already said.

I kind of understand that people from underdeveloped countries, donno how malaysia qualifies here, may need to go into engineering more often, but that reply seems kind of stupid.

No wonder a few months ago we had a guy bumping all physics vs engineering threads to encourage people who were here last 3 years ago to study physics over engineering. What a reactionary conflict.

 

[Intraverno]

Physics in Malaysia is absolutely horrible. It is done to waste time, and not to marvel at the laws on which the cosmos have been laid upon. Personally, I would suggest that you reject physics altogether in terms of profession and seek a different field. 98% of people like you, when they are in high school and college, are fascinated by astrophysics and physics in general. It makes them wonder, it fills them with excitement to become a physicist. They think it'd be absolutely wonderful, but the truth is...that it really isn't. 98% of these people, after getting a degree in physics, regret it very very much. You'll see many people like that here and there. This is because it is VERY difficult to get a job with a PhD in physics, and impossible to get one with MS. And since you come from a poor family and since you're from a Muslim family, you will be tasked with the responsibility to support your family financially in the future and physics will not let you do that. There's a guy I know in India who committed suicide after getting a PhD in physics and went jobless for years, forcing his mother to beg on the streets.

If you're as intelligent as Einstein, then ofcourse, what are you waiting for? Ignore all what I said and pursue a physics degree! But if you're not which is quite likely, then well...don't ignore my advice. Everybody thinks they're the next Newton and will completely revolutionize physics, but this never happens.

Putting this aside, keep physics as a hobby. Pursue a degree in computer science and then you can easily get a high-paying job. Ponder physics as a hobby and learn it rigorously from books. That's my advice.

That was really rude and for the most part very inaccurate.

 

[Meron]

I don't have the exact same experience as living as a physics student there but I know the situation must pertain up to certain level with that in my homecountry. If you insisted going to Malaysia for some reason, you can pursue both BSc and MSc there and then, if you want to get a good PhD position, try applying the vast choices of international Scholarhsip such as Fulbright in US, DAAD in Germany, MEXT in Japan and many others. Some universities worldwide also recently offer MSc scholarship, so you may want to terminate your study in Malaysia until BSc only and go abroad afterwards.

Do you know of any other countries which provide cheap education?

 

[blue_leaf77]

I think you may want to add "cheap but good education"? To say cheap depends on your position. For example, to Germans, German colleges can be considered cheap as most of them do not obligate tuition to their students, however the living cost there can make it expensive for you. The most promising way of obtaining quality education abroad for people with financial deficit is through a scholarship, but as far as I know I have never seen colleges providing scholarship in the field of fundamental science such as physics and astrophysics at the bachelor level, at least that's the case in my homeland. So, I suggest that you first inform yourself about the available scholarships from universities abroad that are known to your country. By the way I'm wondering why do you want to go to Malaysia, I'm not very well familiar with economics but looking at the exchange rate between Saudi's Riyal and Malaysia's Ringgit, it's almost unity. Are colleges in Saudi more expensive than those in Malaysia? May be Indonesia can be another option if religious reason still belongs to one of your preference criteria and moreover Riyal sells more to Indonesian's Rupiah than the other way around. However one point you should probably keep in mind that in those countries, most faculties at bachelor level will not have international program, hence you may also worry about your language.

 

[Meron]

I think you may want to add "cheap but good education"? To say cheap depends on your position. For example, to Germans, German colleges can be considered cheap as most of them do not obligate tuition to their students, however the living cost there can make it expensive for you. The most promising way of obtaining quality education abroad for people with financial deficit is through a scholarship, but as far as I know I have never seen colleges providing scholarship in the field of fundamental science such as physics and astrophysics at the bachelor level, at least that's the case in my homeland. So, I suggest that you first inform yourself about the available scholarships from universities abroad that are known to your country. By the way I'm wondering why do you want to go to Malaysia, I'm not very well familiar with economics but looking at the exchange rate between Saudi's Riyal and Malaysia's Ringgit, it's almost unity. Are colleges in Saudi more expensive than those in Malaysia? May be Indonesia can be another option if religious reason still belongs to one of your preference criteria and moreover Riyal sells more to Indonesian's Rupiah than the other way around. However one point you should probably keep in mind that in those countries, most faculties at bachelor level will not have international program, hence you may also worry about your language.

First of all, I'm a Christian and an expatriate living in Saudi Arabia. Yes, the universities here are much more expensive than the ones in Malaysia, while the quality of education is relatively lower. I have considered Germany, but the living costs were too much for me. Do you know of any other alternatives?

 

[blue_leaf77]

First of all the following advice of mine may not be very accurately applicable since I don't have background in economics, but I know that Japanese Yen sells lower than Riyal, assuming the highest living cost in Tokyo which amounts to 150.000 Yen per month as the upper bound. Now try to compare this value with the one you can afford per month converted to yen. Yet, I'm still insisting you on checking available scholarships either national or international which your government accommodates.

 

[Almeisan]

Do you know of any other countries which provide cheap education?

Education in Norway probably has the best value, but there is also living expenses and those may be in the upper region even for western people.

If you are already in Asia, isn't your best bet to go to a top school in Asia itself? Each year the top education there improves, I hear.

Very hard for others to judge your situation fairly. There's so many factors.