Curtin students return to Perth after completing AsiaBound programme

Miri – 23 July 2013 – Seven Curtin University students recently returned to Perth from Sarawak where they studied the feasibility of introducing Internet access in Long Latei, a rural Penan community southwest of Miri. While in Miri, they were hosted by Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak), Curtin’s international campus in Malaysia.

The project, through the Curtin Leadership Centre at Curtin Bentley, Curtin’s main campus in Perth, and the AsiaBound programme, involved undergraduate students from the Schools of Science and Engineering, Humanities and Health Sciences.

The two-week inaugural project required the students to work in a team environment to design and implement a feasibility study with the Penans.

Their findings were presented to the Curtin Sarawak management and representatives of the Australian High Commission in Malaysia, showing that children in the rural community would greatly benefit from access to the Internet and computing facilities.

James Heron, a Curtin Exercise Sports and Rehabilitation Studies student and one of the participants, said the experience gained from the trip allowed the students to explore global issues of communication in remote areas.

“The experience opened our eyes to finding a balance between preserving cultures and assisting disadvantaged communities,” said Heron.

“We immersed ourselves in a completely different world whilst exploring what elements of our own technology we can integrate to enhance the tribe’s education and connection now, and into the future.”

A video compiled by the students on their experience can be viewed on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5vSELXjTTM&feature=youtube_gdata_player.

AsiaBound is an Australian and Malaysian government-sponsored programme resulting from a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries last year. The MoU strengthens a long history of engagement between Australia and Malaysia in education, and reflects an ongoing joint commitment to increasing collaboration and policy dialogue on higher education issues.

The programme also supports the Australian government’s efforts to ensure young Australians are well placed to prosper in the Asian Century, by ensuring that student mobility between the nations goes both ways. The AsiaBound programme will enable Australian students to become Asian-literate by experiencing Asia first-hand.

Curtin Sarawak hopes that more students from Curtin’s main campus will take advantage of the two to three AsiaBound programmes to be organised each year in Sarawak. They will spend two weeks here and visit the local communities to give them a global perspective and an understanding of local cultures as well as the development of the state.

ENRICHING EXPERIENCE – An AsiaBound student with villagers of Long Latei.   

EYE-OPENING The seven students with a villager during their AsiaBound programme in Long Latei.