Saudi Arabia Offers Full Scholarships For 100 Malaysian Students

By Azzah Mohamad Som KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Bernama) -- Saudi Arabia Tuesday announced that it is offering full scholarships for 100 Malaysian male students to pursue their studies at the Imam Mohamed Bin Saud University, Riyadh. Saudi Arabia Cultural Attache in Malaysia, Dr Zayed O Al-Harethi (left), said the level of studies offered for these scholarships are the Diploma, Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees, and for all programmes except for medicine. "Many Saudi Arabian students who study here find a great deal of facility and cooperation with the leaders of the university and therefore we want to reciprocate this," he said in a press conference here Tuesday. He added that this initiative is also part of a continuous effort in strengthening relationship between the two countries. Al-Harethi said he looked forward to more cooperation between Saudi and Malaysian universities in terms of exchange of students, fellowship, as well as research collaboration. To be eligible to apply, applicants must be between 17-24 years old for the Diploma or Bachelor Degree level; and for the Masters or PhD level, they must be between 24-30 years old. The deadline for application submission to the Saudi embassy in Kuala Lumpur is Aug 7, and shortlisted applicants will undergo an interview on Aug 8. Benefits of the scholarship, Al-Harethi said, include, monthly allowance, free housing and full board, medical insurance at the university medical centre as well as a possibility of obtaining visa for high achievers' dependent. Meanwhile, University of Malaya's Academy of Islamic Studies Director Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohd Yusoff (right), who was present at the event, thanked the Saudi government for its efforts in giving opportunities for Malaysian students to pursue such programmes. "Malaysians must take this advantage. Normally for other disciplines other than Islamic Studies, they (students) cannot speak Arabic, so this is value-added for them, because they can study in computer science for example but at the meantime they can also understand Arabic the Quran," said Zulkifli. Previously, the Saudi government only offered scholarships for Islamic Studies. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA