Travel Grant Yr 5 Students, 2011 - School of Medicine and Health Science, Sunway campus

Monash University Student Association 2010

Julius Wong, MUSA President. Alexandra Kang and Thong Da Wei, MUSA School of Medicine and Health Science Representatives

Contents

E-mail to Prof Stephanie Fahey, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement. ........................3

Request for travel grant to Australia in Yr 5 (by current Yr 1 to Yr 3 students) ................................5

Request for Grant for travel to Australia in Year 5, 2011 (by current Yr 4 students) .......................8

Note: Correspondences are from oldest to latest. ............................................................................. 11

Budgeting for Year 5 Rotations to Australia ........................................................................................ 22

NOTE:

This document contains private and confidential information.

Authorised to be released for students’ viewing on 24th November 2010.

E-mail to Prof Stephanie Fahey, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement.

From the Office of MUSA President E-mail to Prof Stephanie Fahey, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement. 24th November 2010 Dear Stephanie: Good day!! Hope this e-mail finds you well. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Julius Wong, the President of Monash University Student Association of Sunway campus. In reference to the matter above, there are some matters that require your immediate attention. It’s about the grant for current School of Medicine and Health Science (SMHS) Year 4 students who are coming to Australia for clinical rotation in 2011. The details of the matter are illustrated in the attachments. From my understanding, the financial assistance over the years is from Monash Abroad. However, this year, from what I was informed, the Monash Aboard has decided not to support any more. The reason given was the rotation is part of the degree's curriculum, not student exchange. Based on this info, I agree with Monash Aboard's stance. However, the point where the decision to inform the students of withdrawal of financial assistance came rather late for students. The hassle of arranging money, accommodation and travel expenses late minute is daunting for everyone involved. Please do point teach if my information are wrong. I had also attached the correspondences between the Admin of SMHS and MUSA to give you a clearer understanding on what has happened. The Admin of the School and MUSA had brought the issue to Prof Robin Pollard, our PVC here in Sunway campus. However, with the tight budget of our campus, there wasn't much we can do. The students had come up with petitions. This shows the solidarity among the students and staff. Coming to you is our last resort. We hope that our Australian counterparts can lend the students a hand, even with half subsidy would be good. Dr Paul Fullerton of SMHS has assisted us in coming up with the Budgeting for Year 5 Rotations to Australia. He was previously with Monash Australia. The document is also attached. Looking forward to a favourable reply from you. Thank you very much for your kind attention. Have a great day ahead!

Yours Sincerely:

Julius Wong Ling Tze President Monash University Student Association 2010 Monash University Sunway Campus Jalan Lagoon Selatan Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 46150 Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia Tel: +60 3 5514 6000 ext 61786 H/P: +6016 312 3793 General E-mail: scouncil@musa.monash.edu.my URL: http://www.musa.monash.edu.my/ Monash University Student Association (MUSA): MUSA was officially launched on 25th January 2000. It is the student organsation, run and owned by students for the benefit of all Monash University Sunway Campus students. Governed by the Monash Student Council (MSC), MUSA serves as the recognized means of communication between students and the academic as well as the administrative authorities of the University. While all effort is put in to ensure that all information is correct at time of publish, MUSA and any of its committee members shall not be held liable for any form of legal issue and reserves the right to publish or amend any form of publication and correspondence for clarity and length purposes.

Request for travel grant to Australia in Yr 5 (by current Yr 1 to Yr 3 students)

From the Office of MUSA President c/o Thong Da Wei and Alexandra Kang Rui Wan, MUSA School of Medicine and Health

Science Representatives

To: Prof Stephanie Fahey, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement)

The Dean/ Head of the Clinical School

Monash University Clinical School Johor Bahru

Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Re: Request for travel grant to Australia in Yr 5 (by current Yr 1 to Yr 3 students)

___________________________________________________________________________

It has been brought to our attention that the present Year 1, 2 and 3 (2010) students will not be

receiving any grants with respect to our compulsory rotations in Australia in our respective Year

5. We are aware that the year 5 students in 2009 and 2010 obtained a grant of AUD$ 3,000

respectively for their final year rotations.

We as the student body feel that the change made was disappointing and the intent of this letter

is to outline the reasons that the grant should be reinstated or to have alternatives made

available to the students if such a grant cannot be re-established.

First and foremost, it must be brought to attention that accommodation for such a short term (12

weeks) cannot be sought anywhere else but the Monash Halls of Residence. As acquired from

the accommodation fees quoted by the Monash website, the cost of a room per day for a period

of less than 20 weeks is AUD 50.10. This would bring the total cost of staying there for the

stretch of the 12 week rotation period to AUD 4,208.40. From this calculation, it would be

obvious that even the previous grant of AUD 3,000 can barely cover the accommodation alone,

without factoring in other costs of living such as food. The withdrawal of this grant can and will

put a big financial strain on the majority of the students.

Secondly, it must be taken into account that the rotations in Australia are compulsory. This

offers no leeway for the students who are unable to afford this trip without the grant. Should the

option arise for the students to stay Johor Bahru for the 12 week rotation, those who opt for this

would be at a disadvantage as they would be hard pressed to give up the accreditation

of the Monash MBBS degree by the Australian Medical Council. Therefore, many of the

students are looking at the grant as a means to dampen the financial strain.

Last but not least, a number of students have been reassured with promises with regards to the

grant. The promises were made from the time of entry into the program and parents would have

taken the grant into consideration in financial plan of the students’ tenure. If the following

information were made available since the beginning, there would not be this pressure of

procuring additional funds for the travel so late into the course. Furthermore, when queries were

sent to Monash Abroad regarding eligibility for additional grants for the other components of the

Year 5 rotations, these requests were rebuffed on the basis that a grant was already provided

for the compulsory 12 week rotation. This is disappointing as there is a discrepancy between

the grants for the Monash Abroad scheme and the compulsory rotations of the Year 5.

It was disheartening as the students’ opinions were not taken into consideration and that there

were no other alternative solutions provided into solving this issue. It has been established that

the student opinions are of great value to Monash University and its decisions made, therefore,

this letter was written to outline an issue that is of paramount importance to the students and

our following proposal of the solution of the issue. It would be ideal that the AUD 3,000 grant

would be reinstated for our current students or that alternative accommodation be provided to

the students. We would be glad to consider any other proposals or recommendations from the

university.

We look forward to a favourable reply regarding this issue.

On behalf of MUSA School of Medicine and Health Science Representatives: Yours Sincerely:

Julius Wong Ling Tze President Monash University Student Association 2010 Monash University Sunway Campus Jalan Lagoon Selatan Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 46150 Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia Tel: +60 3 5514 6000 ext 61786 H/P: +6016 312 3793 General E-mail: scouncil@musa.monash.edu.my URL: http://www.musa.monash.edu.my/

Monash University Student Association (MUSA): MUSA was officially launched on 25th January 2000. It is the student organsation, run and owned by students for the benefit of all Monash University Sunway Campus students. Governed by the Monash Student Council (MSC), MUSA serves as the recognized means of communication between students and the academic as well as the administrative authorities of the University. While all effort is put in to ensure that all information is correct at time of publish, MUSA and any of its committee members shall not be held liable for any form of legal issue and reserves the right to publish or amend any form of publication and correspondence for clarity and length purposes.

Request for Grant for travel to Australia in Year 5, 2011 (by current Yr 4 students)

From the Office of MUSA President c/o Thong Da Wei and Alexandra Kang Rui Wan, MUSA School of Medicine and Health

Science Representatives

To: Prof Stephanie Fahey, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Global Engagement)

The Dean/ Head of the Clinical School

Monash University Clinical School Johor Bahru

Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Re: Request for Grant for travel to Australia in Year 5, 2011 (by current Yr 4 students) ____________________________________________________________________________ It has come to our attention via electronic mail sent from Mdm Thavamaney Vadiveloo, on

behalf of Dr Shah Yasin, on the 3/08/2010, that the present Year 4 students (2010) will not be

receiving any grants for our travel with regards to our compulsory rotations in Australia in 2011.

We are aware of the fact that the year 5 students in 2009 and 2010 procured grants of AUD

3,000 and AUD 1,500 respectively for their final year rotations.

As a group, we feel that such a move is disappointing and the intent of this letter is to outline the

reasons behind why we should be provided with such a grant and thereby to get it reinstated or

to explore possible alternatives that can be made available to us if such a grant cannot be

furbished.

Firstly, it has to be taken into consideration that the rotations in Australia are compulsory. If

given the option, individuals who possibly could not afford such a trip could opt to stay in Johor

Bahru. Yet, even in such cases, many would be hard pressed to decline such an offer given

other issues such as future job prospects as well as the accreditation of the Monash MBBS

degree by the Australian Medical Council. Hence, many individuals are hoping for the financial

assistance that the grant can offer to subsidize, if not cover, the entire cost of this trip.

Secondly, there are a number of individuals who have been given promises with regards to the

grant. These promises stretch from the period of them attending the entry interviews into

Monash Malaysia (as it was known as then) to recently when queries which were sent to

Monash Abroad regarding eligibility for additional grants were rebuffed on the basis that a grant

was going to be provided by the faculty via Monash Abroad for our Year 5 rotations.

It is rather disheartening that such circumstances have occurred as it has always been made

know to the students that all dealings will be transparent and the last thing we want to have

been led on by are false promises. If the following information had been made available since

the beginning of the course, such a circumstance would not have arisen. Also, it must be taken

into account that many parents would have planned their children’s university progression much

earlier in their tenure, taking into consideration such issues as the following grant. Providing

such information so late in the course will definitely cause them to feel the financial pinch and

this is an inconvenience that should not be occurring.

Lastly, we would also like to bring the fact that accommodation cannot be sought anywhere else

except in the Monash Halls. Via calculations done on the accommodation portal of the Monash

website, the cost of a room per day for a period less than 20 weeks is AUD 50.10. Hence, the

entire cost of one staying there for the entire 12 week rotation would amount to AUD 4208.40.

Once again, the students have been placed in a situation where there is no choice but to submit

to the requests of the university. It must be known that it is understandable why the university

has such a policy. However, it is also blatantly obvious that even with an AUD 3000 student

grant; the accommodation itself can hardly be covered.

It has come to our attention that a similar situation was faced by the current batch of Year 5

(2010) when they were in Year 4. They wrote in and were afforded some sort of solution to their

problems.

For long, equity amongst students has been one of the key foundations that Monash has prided

herself on. If such an arrangement could have been arranged for the batch prior to ours, it

would not be unfair to ask that the same treatment be accorded to us as well.

We would like to make it known that the following letter is not written in any form of malice but

rather to outline the very issues which are dear to our students. As Monash students, we have

always been bred with the idea that student issues are of paramount importance to the

university and this is our feedback with regards to the following proposal. It would be ideal if the

grant of AUD 3000 is reinstated and future promises with regards to it be withheld forthwith or

another option is to provide accommodation on site for the 12 week rotations for free as well.

Also, if there is some other proposal that the university would like us to hear, we would gladly

lend a listening ear to it.

We look forward to a favourable reply with regards to the following issue.

On behalf of MUSA School of Medicine and Health Science Representatives: Yours Sincerely:

Julius Wong Ling Tze President Monash University Student Association 2010 Monash University Sunway Campus Jalan Lagoon Selatan Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 46150 Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia Tel: +60 3 5514 6000 ext 61786 H/P: +6016 312 3793 General E-mail: scouncil@musa.monash.edu.my URL: http://www.musa.monash.edu.my/

Monash University Student Association (MUSA): MUSA was officially launched on 25th January 2000. It is the student organsation, run and owned by students for the benefit of all Monash University Sunway Campus students. Governed by the Monash Student Council (MSC), MUSA serves as the recognized means of communication between students and the academic as well as the administrative authorities of the University. While all effort is put in to ensure that all information is correct at time of publish, MUSA and any of its committee members shall not be held liable for any form of legal issue and reserves the right to publish or amend any form of publication and correspondence for clarity and length purposes.

Note: Correspondences are from oldest to latest.

RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives

Musa President

Sent: 20 October 2010 21:20

To: Da Wei Thong [thongdawei@gmail.com]

Dear Da Wei:

You are most welcome. Just doing my job. :)

Good luck for you and your course mates in the upcoming exams too!

Warmest Regards,

Julius Wong Ling Tze

From: Da Wei Thong [thongdawei@gmail.com]

Sent: 20 October 2010 20:54

To: Musa President

Subject: Re: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives

Dear Julius,

Really thank you so much for following up the matter in this period although i am sure u are bugged

down by exams as well.

Really appreciate your efforts, hope to hear from you soon.

BTW, Good luck for your upcoming exams !

Cheers,

Da Wei

On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 3:59 PM, Musa President <president@musa.monash.edu.my> wrote: Dear Mr Gavin: Thank you for the e-mail. Prof Anuar, the Head of Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health with his committee has approached MUSA earlier on in regards to the issue. As a result, student representatives well as MUSA are involved in the matter as well from then onwards. As the amount of money to be allocated is substantial, the committee has requested for MUSA's assistance in bringing up the issue to the Student Administration. There should be a constructive answer from the SMG members for the matter, rather than 'passing the ball around' or back to Prof Anuar again. Please do understand our circumstances. Please do assist us in conveying our message to SMG members as the students are really running out of time in preparation to go Australia. Thank you for your assistance. Warmest Regards, Julius Wong Ling Tze President Monash University Student Association 2010

From: Gavin Gomez Sent: 20 October 2010 15:43 To: Musa President Subject: RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives

Dear Julius

I have been asked to advise you to refer this matter to the Head of the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks

Gavin

From: Musa President Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 11:25 AM To: Han Chia Cc: Da Wei Thong; Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin; Vinayak Smith; arkan1@student.monash.edu; Chen Tien Chin; Yeap Lai Hoon; JB Student Committee; Prof. Dato' Dr Anuar Zaini Md Zain; Thavamaney Vadiveloo; Rusli Nordin; Gavin Gomez

Subject: RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives

Dear all:

Good day! Hope this e-mail finds you well.

An update: The matter was brought to Mr Gavin's (Acting Manager of Advancement) attention two weeks ago. He has escalated the matter to the Senior Management Group and is currently awaiting answer from SMG. Will update everyone once I received the response from him.

Thank you for your attention.

Warmest Regards, Julius Wong Ling Tze

President Monash University Student Association 201

From: Han Chia [hschi6@student.monash.edu] Sent: 06 October 2010 15:35 To: Musa President Cc: Da Wei Thong; Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin; Vinayak Smith; arkan1@student.monash.edu; Chen Tien Chin; Yeap Lai Hoon; JB Student Committee; Prof. Dato' Dr Anuar Zaini Md Zain; Thavamaney Vadiveloo; Rusli Nordin Subject: Re: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives

Just to let you know, we have collected all the signatures from Year 3s, just wondering when is the best time to forward the signatures to you guys. Han Sheng

RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin

Sent: 13 September 2010 16:27

To: vsmi2@student.monash.edu; hschi6@student.monash.edu; dwtho5@student.monash.edu; arkan1@student.monash.edu; Musa President

Cc: Prof. Dato' Dr Anuar Zaini Md Zain; JB Student Committee; Thavamaney Vadiveloo; Rusli Nordin

Attachments: Budgeting for Year 5 Rota~1.docx (114 KB )[Open as Web Page]

Dear Vin and others I am following up on our meeting last week about the withdrawal of travel allowances. I have had discussions with the school including Prof Anuar and we understand your disappointment. Among the action items at that meeting were the following:

1. Extend the deadline for students to respond about accommodation for next year I believe Sister Sargu has informed you that the deadline has been extended to 17

th September.

2. Projected cost for 12 week posting in Australia

This has been prepared by Paul Fullerton and is attached. I hope it is helpful.

3. Try to negotiate some subsidy from the school to help defray the costs of the Year 5 rotation in Australia I have had discussion with Prof Anuar about this and the school understands your concerns. Prof Anuar has agreed to a subsidy of RM3,000 per student going for their Australian posting for next year. We may be able to extend this to all current students in the program; i.e., all students who are currently enrolled in years 1 to 4. However I will confirm that after I hear from you about this.

In the meantime I believe you were going to do a couple of things.

1. Julius was going to speak with the PVC 2. MUMmeds was going on a signature drive among all medical students

I am keen to find out about item 1 about the meeting with PVC. Can I get you to discuss this with your classmates and get back to me as soon as possible. Regards Shah Yasin

From: Musa President Sent: Monday, 30 August 2010 12:42 PM To: Young Swee Poh; Devi A/P Arunasalam Cc: Prof. Dato' Dr Anuar Zaini Md Zain; Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin; Fac_Med; thongdawei@gmail.com; akrw90@hotmail.com; JB Student Committee Subject: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives Dear all: Good day! Hope this e-mail finds you well. In reference to the matter above, the Monash University Student Association would like to arrange a meeting with some senior staff of School of Medicine and Health Sciences, especially Prof. Dr Anuar and Prof. Dr. Shah. The purpose of the meeting is to gather all available information in regards to the travel incentive as well as to clarify any doubt and issues related to the matter. Should there be a valid case, MUSA will put forth a official report to our Australian counterparts. The tentative scheduled time is this coming Thursday, 2nd Sept 2010 at 4pm. Venue is will be advised accordingly. I understand that most of the staff and students' schedule are packed, I do appreciate all, if not most, can make it to the meeting. Thank you for your attention and I look forward to your reply. Warmest Regards, Julius Wong Ling Tze President Monash University Student Association Monash University Sunway Campus Jalan Lagoon Selatan Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 46150 Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia Tel: +60 3 5514 6000 ext 61786 H/P: +6016 312 3793 General E-mail: scouncil@musa.monash.edu.my URL: http://www.musa.monash.edu.my/ ps: Sms me for immediate response. If I do not do so, that means I am being a good boy, attending lecture or tutorial.

RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives vinayak_smith@hotmail.com [vinayak_smith@hotmail.com] on behalf of Vinayak Smith [vsmi2@student.monash.edu]

Sent: 14 September 2010 16:33

To: Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin; hschi6@student.monash.edu; dwtho5@student.monash.edu; arkan1@student.monash.edu; Musa President

Firstly, thanks alot Dr Shah for the help that you have extended on the above matter. Though we have moved up a notch from where we were previously, i would like to actually see what MUSA has been able to do on their side before i send and official electronic mail out to all the students from my side. As of present, I have already informed the students about the extended dateline and Paul has already sent out an email to the effect of the letter attached in the previous mail as well. Julius- Will you please email us an update on the situation with the PVC currently. This will help greatly in moving us forward from where we are. In particular, I think we are all keen to find out if Monash Abroad can chip in a share as well- such as the same amount as the school or whatever else they may deem appropriate otherwise. Thanks alot for your help in this area. Please feel free to call me if that is a better mode of communication. Yurkdes & Da Wei - Can you please update us all on the situation with the signatures ? Also, it would be good if you could liaise with Julius to help him with the PVC situation as well. Thanks alot everyone for your time and effort. Happy holidays to everyone . Cheers,

Vinayak Smith Medicine IV, Monash University Clinical School, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Ph. +60143249459

Re: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives Da Wei Thong [dwtho5@student.monash.edu]

Sent: 16 September 2010 21:12

To: Vinayak Smith [vsmi2@student.monash.edu]; Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin; hschi6@student.monash.edu; arkan1@student.monash.edu; Musa President

Dear all, Sorry for the rather late reply. Will give an update on everything. In regards to the petition and letter, me, Yurkdes and Alexandra have collected petitions from all the Year 2 already and will get the Year 1's done latest by next Tuesday (21/9/10). Letter that is to be sent out have already been draft up and i will attached a copy soon when we finalize it for viewing. In regards to the meeting with PVC by Julius, he said that PVC wasn't in campus past few days. Will keep everyone posted on this matter. That is all for now. Thank you everyone for your efforts in this matter. Cheers, Da Wei

RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin

You replied on 22/09/2010 09:55.

Sent: 18 September 2010 10:26

To: Da Wei Thong [dwtho5@student.monash.edu]; Vinayak Smith [vsmi2@student.monash.edu]; hschi6@student.monash.edu; arkan1@student.monash.edu; Musa President

Thanks Da Wei for this update. I would like to try to finalise this. As I may have said that the PVC has asked the school to deal with this and I have suggested one option. As the budget dates for next year and the year after are coming up. We are thinking of are coming up we may need to resolve this quickly. Regards shah

RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives vinayak_smith@hotmail.com [vinayak_smith@hotmail.com] on behalf of Vinayak Smith [vsmi2@student.monash.edu]

Sent: 19 September 2010 02:38

To: arkan1@student.monash.edu; dwtho5@student.monash.edu; Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin; hschi6@student.monash.edu; Musa President

Hi guys, Real good work on the Sunway side with the following petition guys . Dr Shah: Thanks alot for the help in this avenue sir. We just need to get this sorted out a little more and i think the following situation should be resolved Hans: Since school is resuming next week lets try to get all the Year 3s signed up by the next 2 weeks if possible. Pls revert if there are any issues with fulfilling this. Da Wei, Yurdes, Alexandra: Thanks again guys for the hard work placed into getting this done. Hopefully the future batches will all benefit from this move. As Dr Shah has mentioned, the current offer on the table entails RM 3000 per student for the exchange.. Can you guys work with Julius to see if we can push for Monash Abroad to act to give another RM 3000 for the current batches. Lets set the dateline at the end of the forthcoming week- 24th September. Julius: Thanks alot for the help in this matter. I have heard from Dr Shah that the PVC has told the School of Medicine to deal with this alone. Is there anyway in which MUSA can help pull strings to get Monash Abroad to help with funding as well. On the whole, thanks alot for all the help and effort placed in this. Ancora Imparo.

Cheers,

Vinayak Smith Medicine IV, Monash University Clinical School, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Ph. +60143249459< /font>

RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives

Musa President

Sent:

04 October 2010 10:01

To: Da Wei Thong [dwtho5@student.monash.edu]; Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin

Cc: Vinayak Smith [vsmi2@student.monash.edu]; hschi6@student.monash.edu; arkan1@student.monash.edu; Chen Tien Chin; Yeap Lai Hoon; JB Student Committee; Prof. Dato' Dr Anuar Zaini Md Zain; Thavamaney Vadiveloo; Rusli Nordin

Dear all:

Good day!! Allow me to apologise for the lack of update. I will be meeting up with Mr Gavin Gomez the Acting Manager for Advancement for our campus at 2pm today. His department handles Monash Aboard and other exchanges related matter.

The issue was raise in the previous Advancement meeting but was not discussed as there was a miscommunication on our part. Our sincerest apologies for that. Nevertheless it is open for discussion in the upcoming meeting.

Will update everyone after the meeting today. Thank you for your attention.

Have a great day ahead!

Warmest Regards, Julius Wong Ling Tze

President MonashUniversity Student Association 2010 MonashUniversity Sunway Campus JalanLagoon Selatan Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 46150 Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia Tel: +60 3 5514 6000 ext 61786 H/P: +6016 312 3793

General E-mail: scouncil@musa.monash.edu.my URL: http://www.musa.monash.edu.my/

RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives vinayak_smith@hotmail.com [vinayak_smith@hotmail.com] on behalf of Vinayak Smith [vsmi2@student.monash.edu]

Sent: 22 September 2010 15:35

To: Musa President; Dr. Mohamed Shajahan Yasin; dwtho5@student.monash.edu; hschi6@student.monash.edu; arkan1@student.monash.edu

Cc: Chen Tien Chin; Yeap Lai Hoon; JB Student Committee; Prof. Dato' Dr Anuar Zaini Md Zain; Thavamaney Vadiveloo; Rusli Nordin

Hi one and all, Julius: its fantastic that you have been able to get this far with your efforts Julius. On behalf of all the medical students, I have to thank you for your efforts in this matter. Otherwise, I hope that this drive that you are currently conducting for support will bear fruit and we will have a proper amount of funding for our year in Australia next year. Dr Shah: Dr Shah, do i hold back on releasing the RM 3000 offer that the school has offered us or do we wait for further news from Julius surrounding this issue? Thanks alot for your time and effort once again

Cheers,

Vinayak Smith Medicine IV, Monash University Clinical School, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Ph. +60143249459

Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 09:55:14 +0800 From: president@musa.monash.edu.my Subject: RE: Meeting for Year 5 Clinical Rotations Travel Incentives To: shah.yasin@med.monash.edu.my; dwtho5@student.monash.edu; vsmi2@student.monash.edu; hschi6@student.monash.edu; arkan1@student.monash.edu CC: chen.tien.chin@adm.monash.edu.my; yeap.lai.hoon@adm.monash.edu.my; jbstudentcommittee@musa.monash.edu.my; anuar.zaini@med.monash.edu.my; jbstudentcommittee@musa.monash.edu.my; thavamaney.vadiveloo@med.monash.edu.my; rusli.nordin@med.monash.edu.my

Dear all: Good day!! Hope this e-mail finds everyone well. To update all of you, I am swinging for support from Admin in terms of Advancement meeting since the PVC has asked Dr Shah to resolve the issue internally. Luck is on our side that Ms Dorothy Albrecht, Director for Marketing and Communications from Monash University Australia will be visiting our campus on 23-24 September 2010 and has expressed her interest in meeting the Advancement Committee. Advancement handles the Study Abroad and student exchange program in our campus, among other many portfolios. Since we have missed the dateline for submitting paper for discussion, we will put in the travel incentives matter as Any Other Business.Currently, I am preparing the paperwork with all the grievances letters, petition and other necessary documents. Hopefully the Admin can hear us this time round and a solution can be reached. However, should all fails, MUSA will proceed with the University Ombudsman Officer. The Student Ombudsman is independent and impartial and is not an advocate for students or for the university. More info:http://www.ombudsman.monash.edu.au/ An alternative solution will be meeting up with Dean or VC of the Uni on my visit to Australia on Nov 15 to 19, 2010. Thank you for your attention. Have a great day ahead! Warmest Regards, Julius Wong Ling Tze President MonashUniversity Student Association 2010 MonashUniversity Sunway Campus JalanLagoon Selatan Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 46150 Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia Tel: +60 3 5514 6000 ext 61786 H/P: +6016 312 3793 General E-mail: scouncil@musa.monash.edu.my URL: http://www.musa.monash.edu.my/

Budgeting for Year 5 Rotations to Australia

Accommodation:

Monash Halls of Residence: The following table lists the daily costs for the Halls for 2010.

HALLS OF RESIDENCE

Rate Period in residence 1 bedroom (per day)

1 bedroom with en- suite (per day)

*Concession 40 weeks $23.45 $27.55

Standard 20 weeks but less than 40 weeks $33.50 $38.30

Short Term 4 weeks but less than 20 weeks $50.10 $50.10

Guest Less than 4 weeks $72.35 $72.35

Monash Residential Services also have the following fees, in addition to the daily charges listed above:

Application fee $ 60.00 per annum Telephone and Data Point Rental Levy $365.00 per annum Building and Amenities Fee $330.00 per annum Orientation week Levy $120.00 per annum

$875.00 per annum For 2009 and 2010, the Faculty had negotiated that Med 5 students from Malaysia coming for the formal rotations were charged the standard daily rate, rather than the short term rate, and the Application fee, Telephone and Internet Levy and the Building and Amenities Fee were shared across the group, by adding it into the charge, that is an additional $3.50 / day. Assuming this will be the case next year, the estimated cost for the 12 weeks would be about $3100. If they charge the Concession rate, it would be about $2300. Other Commercial Accommodation Options I have looked up costs for places closer to Box Hill Hospital, and to the Alfred. There are serviced, one bedroom apartments costing about $100+/day (but there are possible reductions for week and month long rentals). They would require a deposit as well. Apartments for 1 – 2 bedrooms near Box Hill Hospital rent for around $350 / week, for a long term rental (usually a minimum of 1 year). Most require a security Deposit of about $1500. You would also have to pay a connection fee and deposit for electricity and gas. Probably the cheapest way of getting phone and internet would be by prepaid handphone (about $29 / month) and Prepaid wireless Internet (also $29 / month). Your electricity and gas usage would be extra. Staying with Family or Friends Potentially this will be cheaper, but depending on where they live you may need to factor in travel time, etc.

Food:

I obtained the following from the Halls website: http://www.mrs.monash.edu.au/on-campus-accommodation/clayton/residences/halls-cafe.html

Halls Cafe The Halls Café located next to the Operations Office is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. At Clayton Residential, the Halls Cafe serves as a key dining facility and aims to provide nutritious and freshly prepared meals for residents whilst every endeavour is made to keep prices as low as possible. Big-screen LCD TV, radio and daily newspapers are provided in the dining room where residents can relax and catch up with friends over a coffee or a meal. Food in the Halls Cafe is not cooked to order as in an a la carte restaurant but is served cafeteria/canteen style from bain-maries. The Lunch menu generally consists of sandwiches, salads, hot snacks and 4 varieties of hot main meals such as a variety of pasta, chicken, fish, stir-fries, etc. The Dinner menu is slightly more extensive where up to 6 varieties of main meals are offered. In addition, dessert and side dishes like fries, baked potatoes, salads, steamed

vegetables, etc. are also available. The dining room operates on cyclic menus thus menus change on a daily basis. Please click here for an example of the 4-week cyclic dinner menu or call internal Xn 57863 if you wish to listen to the menu for the evening meal. Costs of main meals range from $5.90 to $6.40. The Halls Café is connected to the Monash wireless network which enables residents to use their laptop to study, email or surf the web whilst having a coffee and/or meal. The Halls Café has a friendly and inviting atmosphere and is a great place to meet friends and socialise. Opening hours - Morning Café: 11am – 12noon Lunch: 12noon – 2pm Dinner: 6pm – 7.30pm Halal Meals Monash Residential Services recognises that residents come from a wide variety of backgrounds, cultures and religions. To service a large multicultural community, all meals served are halal. MRS has successfully engaged Monash University Mosque as our advisory body in the on-going implementation of Halal Assurance System in all aspects of our food preparations. This means any food that is prepared in our kitchen is compliant to the halal guidelines. MRS Halal Assurance System does not replace but acts as a complimentary guideline to the Food Safety Program approved by the City Council.

If you eat at hospital cafes, expect to pay at least $6 / meal.

Public Transport:

There is a single ticketing system for trains, buses and trams, and Melbourne is divided into two

zones. There is one fare for journeys fully within Zone 1, another for journeys fully within Zone

2, and another for journeys that cover Zone 1 + 2.

The system now uses the myki, which is a card like a credit card, and you can set it up as either

a myki pass or myki money. The following information comes from the myki website:

http://www.myki.com.au

myki pass myki pass gives you current weekly, monthly or yearly discounts. You can buy 7 consecutive days or between 28 and 365 days of consecutive travel. For example, if you commute to work and want a three month pass, you can buy a myki pass for 90 days of travel. myki pass features

Stores value as travel days Can store 7 consecutive days or any number of consecutive days from 28 to 365 in your

zone(s) of travel Starts when you first touch on Fares based on Weekly, Monthly, Yearly and Date-to-Date tickets Comes with a myki money balance of $0 Important Information There are a couple of important things to remember about myki pass. Firstly, it is valid for specific zone/s only. Secondly, with a myki pass your myki money balance is initially $0.00. You need a positive myki money balance ($0.00 or more) for your myki pass to work. This can be topped to pay for travel outside the zone/s in which your myki pass is valid, if it is required. If you travel outside your myki pass zone/s - even accidentally - you will first need to top up your myki money to pay for that travel. If you don't top up first, you won't be able to travel again - even in a valid zone - until your myki money balance is positive again. Also, your myki money will automatically be used to pay for travel when your myki pass expires - so it is a handy hint to keep your myki topped up with a small amount of myki money for your own convenience. NOTE: If you buy your myki pass at a myki machine using cash, it will give a maximum of $10 change. 7-day myki pass The 7-day myki pass is valid for seven consecutive days including the day it is activated on. This product is similar to a Weekly Metcard. 28 to 365 day myki pass You can select a myki pass for any number of consecutive days, from 28 to 365 days. The fares are based on the current monthly and yearly Metcards. Refer to the fares table for detailed information about myki pass fares.

myki money myki money is a dollar value you store on your myki to pay for your fare whenever you travel. myki money fares are based on Value Metcard fares, so you are always paying less than the individual ticket price. With myki money, you do not have to think about times or zones, because the correct fare for your trip is calculated after you have touched on and touched off. Fares are calculated according to where and when you travel, and the correct fare is automatically deducted from the myki money balance. In addition, daily caps apply for travel. These reflect the maximum fare charged for unlimited travel in a zone(s) within two hours or a day. See myki fares tables for more information. Note: To guarantee automatic correct fare calculation for a trip, you must touch on and touch off correctly. Otherwise, you may be charged a default fare. With myki money you need to keep a positive balance in order to travel. You can check your myki money balance any time:

Online - registered myki only On any myki machine - located

at metropolitan train stations, selected tram platform stops and bus interchanges.

On any myki check (blue machine) - located at selected metropolitan train stations, tram platform stops and bus interchanges .

If your plans or travel habits change, you can use the myki money on your myki to buy a myki pass. myki money features

Value stored as a dollar amount (e.g. $20) Provides the freedom to travel through any zone, (metropolitan & regional), any time Automatically calculates the lowest fare for the way you travel Fares based on Value Metcard pricing (e.g. 10 x 2 Hour Metcard, 5 x Daily Metcard and 5 x

Weekend Daily Metcard) Includes Early Bird discounts and $3 cap for travel on weekends and public holidays Option to set auto top up, so that you don’t need to remember to top up when your myki

money balance is low — it happens automatically via credit card or bank direct debit If you are travelling between the Halls and Box Hill Hospital, Dandenong Hospital, or Monash Medical Centre it is all in Zone 2. The fares would be: If you are travelling between the Halls and Alfred Hospital, the trip is in Zone 1 + 2. The fares would be:

myki money (based on a 28 day month): $ 80.80

myki pass (based on a 28 day month): $ 67.20

Recommendation: myki pass

myki money (based on a 28 day month): $ 198.40

myki pass (based on a 28 day month): $ 155.68

Recommendation: myki pass

Have a look at the myki website: http://www.myki.com.au

You can get an idea of travel time by using the MetLink Journey planner: http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/ For some of the rotations, especially the Surgical rotations, you are required to be present for Ward rounds which may start at 7AM, or perhaps 7:30AM. If you are planning to stay with friends or relatives consider the travel time. Many of you have complained about the travel time from the Halls to the Hospitals, but do not seem to have taken that into account when planning to stay elsewhere. I suggest you discuss this with your friends or relatives, and also look on the Google maps to see where they live relative to public transport. http://maps.google.com.au/

This report is prepared by Julius Wong, with assistance from Dr Paul Fullerton, Alexandra Kang and Thong Da Wei. MUSA would like to thank all parties that are involved in contributing towards this report. Yours Sincerely:

Julius Wong Ling Tze MUSA President 2010 c/o on behalf of Yinny and Fahad Monash University Student Association Monash University Sunway Campus Jalan Lagoon Selatan Bandar Sunway 46150 Petaling Jaya Selangor Darul Ehsan Malaysia Tel: 603-55146000 ext 61796 Fax: 603-55146356 E-mail: president@musa.monash.edu.my URL: http://www.musa.monash.edu.my Monash University Student Association (MUSA): MUSA was officially launched on 25th January 2000. It is the student organsation, run and owned by students for the benefit of all Monash University Sunway Campus students. Governed by the Monash Student Council (MSC), MUSA serves as the recognized means of communication between students and the academic as well as the administrative authorities of the University. While all effort is put in to ensure that all information is correct at time of publish, MUSA and any of its committee members shall not be held liable for any form of legal issue and reserves the right to publish or amend any form of publication and correspondence for clarity and length purposes.