Chapter 3

The Colombo Plan

Our formal education relationship began under Australia's Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic Development in South and South East Asia. The Colombo Plan, as it became known, was established in 1951 as a cooperative venture for the economic and social advancement of people in the South and Southeast Asian regions. The venture included a program to sponsor students from the Commonwealth nations—later expanded to include 27 countries—to study in Australia. The newly-independent Federation of Malaya became a member in 1957 at a time of structural reorganisation of its own education system.

Local education authorities were being established, boards and management frameworks put in place, and teacher training programs were being developed across the country. Malaya was also making the transition from a British curriculum to one that instilled the Malay language and literacy and fostered 'a common Malayan outlook'.3 The tertiary sector was modest. The University of Malaya, incorporating the former Raffles College and King Edward VII College of Medicine, had been established in 1949. At independence this institution, together with the Technical College in Kuala Lumpur and the Serdang Agricultural College, made up Malaya's tertiary sector.

While Malaya's membership of the Colombo Plan marked the beginning of our formal education relationship in 1957, Australia was by then already an educational destination of choice for Malayan students. Like Australia, postwar Malaya was hungry for higher education and the Federation of Malaya's first Annual Report acknowledges that it 'is interesting to note the increasing tendency of students from Malaya to seek both university and the equivalent of VI Form education in Australia'.4 The 1957 report records that 1669 Malayan students were studying at overseas universities and colleges, half of whom had chosen Australia. Of these, 699 were privately funded and only 160 were Colombo Plan students.5 There were also 673 privately funded Malayan students at Australian technical colleges at this time. Recent research, however, highlights that the assistance of Colombo Plan scholarships in fact confirmed Australia's educational credentials, as recognition of the benefits of a Colombo Plan education in Australia to its recipients spread and 'opened the 6 and to a vibrant education industry.

Today, Malaysians no longer study in Australia under the Colombo Plan but many undertake postgraduate study and research with the assistance of the Australian Government's prestigious Endeavour Scholarships. In 2015, 17 high-achieving Malaysian graduates won Endeavour Awards, including the Endeavour Vocational Education and Training Scholarship, Endeavour Research Fellowship, Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarship (Masters), Endeavour Executive Fellowships, and the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Research Fellowship. Also available are the Australia–Malaysia 'Towards 2020' Executive Awards for civil servants to undertake professional development in Australia, plus a Research Fellowship in Australia.

Fair Dinkum Malaysians

In Australia, the postwar educational revolution saw the demand for tertiary education soar. In 1946, adding to the six established 'sandstone universities',7 the Australian National University (ANU) was opened, followed by the New South Wales University of Technology in 1949 and University of New England in 1954. By 1967, six more Australian universities had been established8 and, by then, Malaysian and Australian tertiary education was firmly intertwined.

Students from Malaysia were part of life across Australia's mushrooming university campuses. In 1953, Samuel (Sam) Abraham, a Colombo Plan scholar from Kuala Lumpur studying medicine at the University of Adelaide, became the first Asian student to be elected President of the Student Representative Council at an Australian university.9 Malaysian students lodged with Australian families and worked during term holidays in post offices and department stores, or picked fruit in the country to earn 'that extra pocket money', The Straits Times reported.10

The cultural transition was not always easy, but as a Malaysian medical student wrote in one of the first editions of Monash University's student newspaper, Lot's Wife, in 1964, the 'Fair Dinkum Asian'

… not only gain[s] the benefits of an education, but also acquire[s] a clearer insight into the Australian way of life, and cultivate[s] friendship and good will which they can cherish and propagate for the rest of their lives.11

Many not only cultivated friendships, they found their life partners as a result of their Australian education. Professor Jamilah Ariffin, now Adjunct Professor in Global Health at Monash University, met her husband as a Colombo Plan student in Australia. And among Malaya's first Colombo Plan cohort was Hijjas Kasturi, now one of Malaysia's most celebrated architects. In 1971, Hijjas met his future wife, a young Australian in Kuala Lumpur with the Australian Volunteers Abroad program and, as we see later in Chapter 4, they have since built an inspiring artist's exchange program between their two countries.

Others such as Malaysia's Trade Minister Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed, who graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1974 with a first class Honours degree in Economics, have gone on to successful political careers. Australian universities in turn have recognised the contribution of Malaysian leaders. Dato' Sri Mustapa was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Commerce in 1997, with former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi accepting an Honorary Doctorate from Curtin University in 2006 and Prime Minister Najib Razak receiving an Honorary Doctorate from Monash University in 2011. In celebrating the success of postwar Malaysian students, however, we should not forget the success of earlier students who sought further education in Australia. For example, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman—Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister (1970–73)—who, in 1945, was the first Malaysian to graduate with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Melbourne.

Charting the way for Malaysians 'down under'

In 1976, 3139 private Malaysian students were in post-secondary and higher education in Australia and this more than doubled, to over 7000, in the next decade.12 In 1975, the Malaysian Government recognised the growth in demand for an Australian education and purchased a motel in Sydney for student accommodation. The following year, in May 1976, Malaysia Hall was opened by then High Commissioner Tun Dr Awang Hassan. This was followed by Malaysia Halls in Melbourne and Perth. Far from the sometimes apprehensive students of the 1950s and 1960s, Malaysians are today one of the most organised groups of international students in Australia, with student associations across 23 Australian university campuses, all of which are affiliated with a national body, the Malaysian Students' Council of Australia (MASCA).13 MASCA's motto 'Charting the way for Malaysians Down Under' manifests in a highly organised program of activities, including the Malaysian Summit of Australia, the Australian Network Leaders Summit, the Down Under Camp, and the Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar Luar Negara (MPPLN) Public Policy event which, with the support of the Malaysian Government, encourages debate on public policy in Malaysia.14

The Australia–Malaysia Institute (AMI) and MASCA also developed a strong interactive relationship which has centred around ensuring that Malaysian students not only enjoy their education while in Australia, but have opportunities to interact socially with Australians and to participate in the cultural and sporting activities that feature in Australian life. The Malaysian Student Council of Sydney also holds an annual Malaysian Festival—known as MFest—and 2015 marks its twenty-ninth year. In 2014, 28 000 Sydneysiders participated in MFest activities, which include music, dance, theatre and, of course, food. MFest organisers noted that 47 per cent of these visitors were Malaysians. That the remaining 53 per cent came from beyond the Malaysian community highlights the extent to which the Australia–Malaysia education relationship represents so much more than a mere transaction for education services.15