Bloody money sucking & inefficient UTM

Forgive me if you feel offended by this article. This was just my way to express my uneasiness and my dissatisfy towards our tertiary education system.

This is how my story went and ended up in a havoc...

I made up my mind to do my postgraduate in February....initially i have UTM's Master in Engineering (Microelectronics & Computer) and MMU's Master in Engineering (Telecommunication) and its Master in Engineering (Microelectronics) in consideration. However I chose UTM looking at my interest and the relevance to my current position in Intel.

So on February 23, I sent my application form to UTM on a registered express post for I have been mislead by the date mentioned in their website....which I was later told by the officers who came to Intel to do the introductory sharing that the date was meant for their current final year students who wish to continue on....this was the 1st wrong do of them.

In early April, my friends told me that they have received letter from the university saying that their applications have been received and in the mid of processing them. I did not receive any news about my application but I was sure that my application must have arrived after checking with Pos Malaysia....my friends application forms arrived in UTM in the end of Feb but only heard from them in early April...this was the 2nd wrong do of them...why would it take a month plus just to send out a simple computer generated letter to confirm that our applications have been received....worse when I heard nothing at all from them.

I grew more and more anxious as the days, weeks and months past.

By mid of May, my friends started to receive their confirmation letter and documents...yet there was no news about my application.

Finally on May 20, the uni authority rang me, telling me that they did not received my application payment. So I quickly fax over my receipt. One week later, I finally received the 1st letter my friends received...a little relieves after such a long tense up period.

Time flies...as the reporting date was drawing closer, I could no longer wait patiently. I called the SPS office...after being diverted few times, I was finally in touch with Cik H***m. I was told that I have been accepted and they are now in the process of sending out the acceptance letter.

Then on 25 June, I called Cik H***m again. This time I was told that the letter has already been delivered and I should be expecting it next week. The delay was due to the tuition fee review.

I waited impatiently till the following Monday, 29 June.I called Cik H***m to confirm the status of my application and again I was assured that I have been accepted and the letter was sent out on 26 June...this was their 3rd wrong do.

During this call, she claimed that the letter has been delivered but this time, she said it was only delivered out a day after our last call.So I asked for a hard copy to be delivered to me via fax. Surely I would not make the RM2k payment without any hard copy confirmation...

In the noon of 30 June, the mentioned letter has not arrived in my house yet. So I thought I may be more efficient if I made a request via an email.So here goes my email.

Dear Sir,

I am Lim Sze Wan (ARN: M091014069). I have called previously and have been informed that I have been accepted and official letter has been sent out. As of today, I have not received any related document from your university. Kindly verify and get back to me on my application status.

I have learned that the course registration has been scheduled in Vistana Hotel this weekend. If my application is successful, can you send the document again on pos express for I will need to submit those documents to my company’s HR and need to get the medical check up done?

Thanks.

Another 2 days of waiting. They got on my nerves. It was Thursday, 2 July and I was expected to register on Saturday morning. In my mid of headache, I wrote an email to their Deputy Dean, Dr O****n, and CCed it to a whole long list of people involved...Sadly still no news from them by the end of the day.

Dear Sir,

I wish to get your attention into the subject mentioned above.

I have called Cik H***m for numerous times and have been informed that I am accepted for the Sarjana Kejuruteraan (Elektrik – Komputer & Sistem Mikroelektrik). I was told that the official letter and documents have been sent out last week, 24 June 2009 and expected to register myself this weekend. However up till this moment, I have yet to receive such documents from your university. I have also requested for a copy to be sent to me via fax and I did not receive any as well. Without any proper document from your university, I can neither proceed to get the medical check up nor made arrangement for fees payment.

Kindly get back to me at my email XXX@intel.com on the steps for registration for the course above.

Thanks.

3 July, a day before the registration, I received a call from Cik H***M. Never expected a call from her as early as 8.30am. This time her intonation wasn't that pleasing.

H***m : Lim Sze Wan
Me : Ya.
H***m : Kamu datang sahaja hari Sabtu ini. Surat itu boleh kamu dapatkan di kaunter nanti.
Me : Tapi boleh faxkan surat tawaran kepada saya, baru saya boleh proceed dengan payment. H***m : Saya sekarang ini sudah nak pergi Penang. Tak sempat nak send. Untuk pendaftaran esok, kamu bayar dua ribu sahaja.
Me : Jumlah yuran berapa?
H***m : Semua yuran adalah tiga puluh ribu ringgit.
Me : Ok.
(bump...heard her hang off so quickly)

Minutes later, I received an email from Dr O****n. This is his email.

Dear Sze Wan,
The registration will begin at 12noon tomorrow, vistana hotel. You can collect the second copy of the offer letter there. We are on the way to Penang now. Call my number 019XXXXXXX after 2pm today for clarification.

Regards

No wonder Cik H***m called that early morning in that rude intonation.

Anyway I just rang Dr O****n, wanting to see what he has got to say. By the end of our conversation, I felt so upset. He gave me no explanation for all the delay nor any explanation for the fee increment. I could only recalled a remark from him on the increment "What an unfortunate." Huh? Deputy Dean saying it's an unfortunate...guess not for the case of the university.

So with all this havoc, could one still continue in this university? Not sure about others, for me surely not in this bloody money sucking university and such an inefficient one.

Btw...the letter finally arrived in my house on that very last day, 3 July. The stamp on the envelope dated July 1, 2009.