James Kon
A number of international students are part of this year’s Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) intake and they shared their excitement over studying in the Sultanate during an interview on the sidelines of the Freshers’ Week at UBD Chancellor Hall yesterday.
Haruka Shimojo from Japan’s Rikkyo University will be studying for one semester under a student exchange programme.
“I want to learn about Southeast Asia and work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the future so I am interested in learning the Malay language, tourism and culture,” she said.
Haruka Shimojo initially did not know much about Brunei and did her best to learn about the country prior to the programme.
“I bought a book about Brunei and did some research on the Internet and found that the Sultanate is a Muslim country.”
She also shared, “UBD has a great learning concept. I am interested in eco-tourism and media therefore I choose the Faculty of Arts and Social Science.”
On the pandemic, she said, “I am not worried about the COVID-19 situation in the country because people always carry out antigen rapid testing and wear face masks.”
Meanwhile, Ryosuke Kusama, also from Rikkyo University, said, “I am curious and interested in Brunei and countries in the region. I chose to come here to learn more about the country, people and culture.
“As for the COVID-19 situation, I am not worried as I have three doses of the vaccine and the situation here is under control,” he added.
Upeksha Dilrukshi from Sri Lanka is enrolled in the ICT engineering course under a scholarship.
“UBD is one of the highest ranking universities in the world and I wanted to improve my English, so I chose to study here. I don’t know much about Brunei but I know that the people are very friendly. Sri Lanka are facing a tough economic crisis. I hope that I can serve my country after I finish my studies here,” she said.
