Assalammualaikum
Hello guys.
Congratulations for those Matriculation/Pre University leavers who had accepted to be part of the community of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. For Tourism juniors, hello, your senior here! :)
From the first day of the announcement, I can smell the excitement and the positive vibes in the air produced by these UMT babies. Not to forget the tension that spread around. Since there were ENORMOUS of questions and doubts, here I'll try to shred some light for you guys to see the overview of the first day in our beloved university.
The first thing that you will be instructed to do on that day is to head over to Dewan Sultan Mizan. You don't need to carry your luggage and stuffs. Just bring all the required documents. At the entrance, you will be given waiting no. Wait patiently on the chairs with your family until your number is called. Then, head over to the grand stage and submit your documents to the officer. After that, you will be given bag, disciplinary book, shirts, some stuffs and DORMITORY KEY. Do you remember that you have to upload a passport photo for your matric card beforehand? If you had done that, that's good. But if you had difficulties uploading the photo, no worries bcs a team of photographers will get your photo taken that day. The photo shoot will be done in the Dewan and it is for FREE! Blazers are also provided with variety of sizes.
Now, its time to move into your new apartment! haha. For juniors, usually you will be placed in a 4pax room. The room is pretty small actually. Reallyy small since it is for 4 person to live in. But trust me, you will gradually adapt to it. In the room, each student will be equipped with a steel wardrobe (with attached mirror), bunk bed, mattress, study table, chair, wall shelf and a 4 tier shoe rack. There is no iron and water heater provided so you have to bring your own. The table is pretty big and can be used as study table, vanity, iron board and dining table. Remember, pillow is also not provided! For easier reference, I will list out several important things that you might need to bring for your everyday convenience.
Things to bring.
Dormitory
Pillow & bolster
Bed sheet
Blanket
Iron
Water heater
Wire extension
Everyday attire
Shirts/blouse
OL/formal shirts
Trousers/jeans
Sports attires
Sleeping wears
Sport shoes
Slipper
Sandal/flats/crocs
Class supplies
Sling bag/bagpack
Stationaries
Files
Box
Matriculation/prauniversity books
Others
Laundry stuffs
Bath and body stuffs
Wares and cuttleries
Umbrella/raincoat
Too many things to bring? Dont worry. On that day, several student clubs will set up booths and sell the students amenities to raise the clubs funds. I even bought my pillows and wares there. After you settle down, you can have your last lunch with your family before they return home. Then, you may go back to your room and rest for awhile before the siren screammmmm.
Alright! Now your orientation begin. Its around 5.30pm if I'm not mistaken. There were lotsa people there. You will be grouped based on your course (Tourism,Marketing,Fisheries,etc). Listen to briefing, do some cheer songs and then you can have your dinner. Throughout the orientation or as we call it Minggu Jalinan Mesra (MJM), you will be given FREE meals. Believe me, orientation in UMT is indeed the best orientation I have ever experience. All we did was eat, sleep and play with our gadget. Muehehe.
DORMITORY/COLLEGE
Now lets talk about the dormitory. There are 8 blocks if I'm not mistaken. 6 for lads and 2 for gents. B1 and B2 are special block for seniors. But most of male juniors will be placed in this block because of the small number of male students. It is 2/3 person per room. There is a television room at the ground floor where you can watch TV, or play snooker. Yes, there are snooker/pool table in the TV room. However, since most of juniors will be accommodated in the 4-person-per-room dormitory, I will skip on this. As for the dormitory that you will stay in, the building is quite decent. There are two large toilets in each floor. Its the common 'asrama tandas' that you found elsewhere. There are showers for bathing, toilet for pee & poo, sinks and mirrors, sanitary dustbin, pipes for wudhu' and a place to do your laundry. Next to the toilet is pantry. It is where you clean your dish. There is surau on the 1st floor. For laundry, you can opt to wash your clothes using hand (in the bathroom) or using self service laundry machine (on ground floor). The machine cost you RM2 for each usage. There is also mineral water vending machine on the ground floor of each block.
Other than that, there are 2 futsal court, bicycle shelters and mini outdoor gym in the college. You can also found few gazebos around the college where you can do group meeting or just for chilling. Wifi is available around faculty and college but you'll have to wait for a week before you can sign in.
view from block B2
table & wall shelf
wardrobe with attached mirror
laundry hanger
There is only 1 plug per person, located under the table. If you think you're okay with it, that's cool. But if you need more plug and easier to reach out, then bring yourself a wire extension. You can place your books on the shelf, or on the table. But I suggest to bring a box and put it down under the table (plastic/cardboard) for better storage. Another one, bring a cute small box to store your undergarments. Also remember to bring some adhesive hooks for your towel and scarves.
Your luggage, laundry stuffs and toiletries can be placed under the bunk bed. To do your laundry, as I mentioned above, you can do it manually in the toilet or by using self service machine (RM2). Laundry hanger is available in each floor (in front of the room) and on the ground floor.
After awhile, you can do some collection with your room mates and buy a carpet, sweeper, trash can and other shared room stuffs.
Talking about rules. University life is wayyy different than school or matriculation. There is basically no curfew at all. You can leave the college and dormitory at 5am and come back at 2am the next day. It's up to you. However, you can not bring bikes or car. Bicycle is allowed. Fortunately, there are few car rental services around the university. The most prominent ones are
Layar Timur and Inah Travel. They charge for RM6/hour onwards for car rental. You can use their services if you wish to go to town for shopping or for your projects.
source: www.facebook.com/LayarTimurVenture
SHOPS & CAFÉS
Shops and Café is one of the most popular topic asked by juniors. In the college itself, there are two cafe lot. Cafe Abdul Rahman Limbong (Limbong) and Cafe Sheikh Abdul Malik (Sam). At each cafe lot, you can find deli cafe, iceblog cafe, nasi kukus cafe, tomyam & masakan panas, printing service shop, convenience store,roti canai stall, burger stall, self service topup machine and others. The average cost for a meal is RM6 (food & beverage). So I spent around RM12 for 2xmeal daily. The other option to cut daily expenses is by taking budget meal such as Nasi bujang & Nasi budget (RM2.50-RM3 w/o beverage). For those who want to experience the night life of college students, you can also dine in at outsiders cafes such as D'Orange Cafe.
Just outside of the main entrance of the college, there is Kompleks Pelajar. You can find a convenient store and printing service here. Believe me, you'll find yourself going to and fro printing shop like, almost everyday especially when your lecturers start giving out assignments. You can opt to purchase a used printer from the seniors, where you can sell it back to juniors in your final year at cheaper price. Or you can also get printing services from students who offer that service. In the college, you can easily find this service where you can simply knock on their door and ask for a printing service (10-20$/sheet).
Other than that, UMT have allocated some money for the construction of Kompleks Siswa for UMT community. It is a one stop centre for the students, staffs, lecturers and everyone. There is a small CIMB branch nested in here and also several shops & kiosks such as:
De Jour Pastry
Book Garden
Tshoppe
Boutique
AE Garment
Tiket Bus MBKT
World of Printing
local cosmetics shop
mobile accessories shop
men salon
kiosks in Kompleks Siswa
*sources: www.facebook.com/Kosiswa-UMT
to be continued...
