THE STAR, TUESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2018
COURSE FOCUS
FOREIGN DEGREES & BRANCH CAMPUSES
FIRST City University College is
your one-stop quality education
pathway to obtaining a bachelor’s
degree. The institution provides
holistic, enriching learning
experiences and a wide range
of programmes to choose from.
First City UC programmes are
taught by a team of highly
qualified and experienced
lecturers. Combined with the
institution’s state-of-the-art
facilities, students will be guided
into enhancing their skills
and talents to reach their full
potential.
Each faculty works closely
with relevant industry partners
to ensure that the programmes
and modules offered are
customised according to industry
standards. Students will be
exposed to theoretical and practical
experiences during their study at
the institution.
Besides practical internships
with multinational industry
partners, students will have the
opportunity to showcase their
work at public exhibitions.
In their final year, students
display their final-year projects
at public exhibitions such as
Innovation Day and Sequence.
Public exhibitions such as these
not only provide a platform for
graduating students to display their
masterpieces to the public, but also
expose them to industry partners
and potential employers.
Organised by First City UC
annually, these exhibitions help
graduating students kick-start their
professional careers.
“First City UC provided me with
the opportunity to present my
work to potential employers and
secure a job before graduation,”
says Rouise Tan Yu Shuang, a BA
(Hons) Software Engineering
alumna of First City UC who
completed her final-year project
Preparing for Industry 4.0
IN as early as 2020, 22% of
Malaysia’s 3D (dirty, dangerous,
and difficult) jobs could be
automated. The Fourth Industrial
Revolution or Industry 4.0 will see
the rise of intelligent systems and
robotics that can work longer
hours than the humans they
replace.
What makes Industry 4.0
distinct from the Third Industrial
Revolution are cyber-physical
systems (CPS) and integrated
networks.
CPS are controlled
by algorithms and networked
with the Internet to control
physical operations.
During the new revolution,
thriving economies will be driven
by information, ideas and
innovation. Most innovative
endeavours will be enabled by
CPS.
In contrast, traditional
economies that depend on land,
labour and capital will suffer loss
of jobs and competitiveness if they
do not adapt to the changing global
economic landscape.
Prof Mahendhiran Nair,
vice-president of research and
development at Monash University
Pathway to a brighter future
with first-class honours.
Tan, who is a software
developer, felt fortunate that
her project was selected to be
displayed at Innovation Day
alongside those of final-year
students during her second year at
First City UC.
Sequence is an annual public
exhibition dedicated to showcasing
projects from final-year students of
First City UC’s Faculty of Design
and Built Environment.
Some programmes offered by
this faculty are the BA (Hons)
Malaysia and chief executive
officer of Monash Malaysia
Research & Development Sdn Bhd,
shared his insights on the changing
industry in his keynote
presentation at the Finance
Accreditation Agency’s Institute of
Higher Learning Forum.
According to him, countries
that wish to stay afloat should
develop a dynamic national
innovation ecosystem with
the 7i elements, which are:
l Infrastructure and
infostructure to
connect with the
global economy
l Intellectual
capital
development for
continuous
knowledge
creation and
transfer
l Interactions
(partnerships)
that create value
to organisations
and others in the
ecosystem
l Incentives,
both fiscal and Prof Mahendhiran Nair.
non-fiscal, that
Graphic Design, BA (Hons) Interior
Architecture and Design, and BA
(Hons) Furniture and Product
Design.
Leong Kit Yee, who graduated
with first-class honours from the
BA (Hons) Graphic Design
programme, says, “I am excited
and proud to present my final-year
project to the public.
It is a great opportunity to
expand my portfolio awareness
and introduce myself to the
public.”
First City UC offers bachelor’s
foster innovation
l Institutions that promote a
knowledge culture and adherence
to global best practices
l Integrity in managing
resources for the benefit of all
stakeholders in the economy
Where it all starts
“Universities are not only
suppliers of talent. They are
at the forefront of solving
problems for the
industry and
community.
“Give students
context and
expose them to
the tools of
enquiry that
will enable
them to solve
problems and
create new
systems to
improve the
socioeconomic
well-being of
people around
the globe,”
says Prof
Mahendhiran.
degree programmes in
accounting and finance, business
management, international
business, marketing, business
psychology, entrepreneurship,
mass communication, graphic
design, fashion marketing, interior
architecture and design, furniture
and product design, hospitality
management, human resource
management, computer science,
business management, information
systems, networking and
security, electronic engineering,
mechanical engineering and
What can universities do to
prepare graduates for the new
economy? Prof Mahendhiran
describes 10 skills that should be
nurtured in students:
l Critical thinking – To
challenge the norm, find
alternative ways of doing things
and come up with more efficient
solutions
l Sound information and
communication technology (ICT)
literacy – Not only to use ICT
systems but also be able to analyse
the strengths and weaknesses of
existing systems
l Technical skills – To operate
across multiple systems and
diverse industrial sectors
l Communication skills – To
articulate creative ideas clearly
and persuasively
l Sound multidisciplinary/
interdisciplinary knowledge –
For one to have depth of
knowledge in her chosen discipline
and breadth of knowledge across
other disciplines
l Learnability – Ability to pick
up new skills
l Strong power of association
– To combine different ideas and
create value through innovation
A student
from the
Faculty of
Design &
Built
Environment
explaining his
project to
First City
UC’s vice-
chancellor
Prof Dr Mak
Chai at the
Sequence
exhibition.
software engineering.
First City UC also offers
postgraduate programmes such
as the Master in Business
Administration and MA Design
Management.
To find out more about the
various programmes, scholarships
and incentives available or for a
campus tour, visit First City UC’s
campus in Bandar Utama, Petaling
Jaya.
n For details, visit www.firstcity.
edu.my
(recombinant innovation)
l Experimentation – To try
different things, troubleshoot
current practices and foster a
culture of risk taking within
oneself
l Problem-solving and
observation skills
l Leadership skills – To be a
dynamic leader who is a purpose-
maximiser, not a profit-maximiser
In his presentation, Prof
Mahendhiran cited examples
of job areas that may grow in
demand – market analytics,
artificial intelligence design,
Internet of Things engineering,
game and application
development, robotics and drones,
environmental science, and
precision farming.
“We may not have control over
the revolution, so we should focus
on what we can do to support
students and professionals by
nurturing, upskilling and
preparing them to be more agile in
the changing economic landscape,”
he says.
n For more information, visit
www.monash.edu.my/research
2 Course Focus
Quality
medical
education
IT is gratifying and delightful to
an educational institution when
its alumni not only face up to
challenges of their careers but
also step onto the next rung of
their professions by specialising
in their chosen vocations.
Melaka-Manipal Medical
College, which prides itself on
moulding competent medical
professionals, expects no less
from its students.
Its newest batch of graduates
Melaka-Manipal Medical College offers various amenities on its campus grounds.
took the first step towards
postgraduate qualifications.
Fresh off their Bachelor of
Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery
(MBBS) studies, these graduates
are awaiting the Health
Ministry’s call to start their
housemanship.
Wanting to make full use of
their time before stepping into
the whirlwind of a hospital
internship, these graduates
signed up for the United
Kingdom’s Royal College
Membership Programme and
have successfully completed
Part 1 of the Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
professional examination.
A few others had similar
successes in the British Council’s
Professional and Linguistics
Assessment Board examination.
Melaka-Manipal Medical
College prides itself on the
quality of education that it
provides. With its tenet of
continuous improvement,
periodic adjustments are made
to its curricula and training, but
its underlying commitment to
producing medical professionals
never wavers.
An institution embedded in
Malaysia’s medical education
industry since 1997, Melaka-
Manipal Medical College
celebrated 20 exceptional years
in 2017. Just under 4,000 MBBS
graduates have since joined the
noble career of healing, while
more than 200 highly skilled
dental surgeons have
undertaken the Bachelor of
Dental Surgery (BDS) since the
programme was first offered in
1998.
Melaka-Manipal Medical
College has been at the forefront
of medical education as reflected
by the numerous honours it has
received such as being named
the 2011 BrandLaureate Best
Brand in Education – Medicine.
Besides the MBBS and BDS,
Melaka-Manipal Medical College
offers the Foundation in Science
programme for secondary
school-leavers who want to hit
the ground running in their
pursuit of medicine and
dentistry studies. Those who
want to enrol in allied health
sciences programmes such as
physiotherapy and pharmacy
at other institutions have
found the Melaka-Manipal
Medical College foundation
programme useful as its
curriculum includes the basics
of medicine and dentistry.
Melaka-Manipal Medical
College’s twinning degree
programmes are designed such
THE STAR, TUESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2018
Melaka-Manipal
Medical College has
been at the forefront
of medical education
as reflected by the
numerous honours
it has received such
as being named the
2011 BrandLaureate
Best Brand in
Education –
Medicine.
that students complete their
preclinical training at the
Manipal campus in India for two
and a half years before returning
to Malaysia to hone their clinical
skills.
The students undergo clinical
training at general hospitals and
government polyclinics in
Melaka, Muar, Jasin and
Segamat. On the other hand,
dentistry students train across all
disciplines of dentistry at
Melaka-Manipal Medical
College’s on-campus dental
clinic.
The local community is so
highly impressed by how skilled
the dentistry students are that
people from Kuala Lumpur to
Johor Baru have turned up for
treatment at the campus
clinic.
Students have access to
facilities that are second to none.
These include various teaching
and learning facilities such as
lecture halls, classrooms, and
multidisciplinary, clinical skills
and computer laboratories.
Other amenities include a gym,
student hostels, cafeterias,
swimming pools, sauna, squash
courts, football field, basketball
court and simulated games.
By offering such facilities and
amenities, it ensures that all
students who enrol in the
institution are inspired to pursue
their studies with zest and
passion. MBBS and BDS intakes
are coming up next month. It is
advised that aspiring students
submit their applications soon so
that they can take the first step
towards their dream careers.
Visit www.manipal.edu.my for
details.
Alternatively, visit the Melaka
campus. For those who are
unable to take time off on
weekdays, Melaka-Manipal
Medical College’s Open Day this
Saturday will be a valuable
opportunity to see what the
college has to offer.
n For more information, call
1800 226 662/017-289 3055/
017-219 3055/017-374 3055
/017-691 3055/06-289 6662
(Ext:11142/1005/1020/1032/
1035).
THE STAR, TUESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2018
The rise of
narrative design
MOVING away from the title “writer”, an
increasing number of story-based game
developers are hiring narrative designers
who are responsible for justifying gameplay
and forming narrative bridges between
scenes, ultimately creating a storyline that
ties the whole game together.
Narrative design aims to integrate
interactive, immersive game storylines in
well-rounded virtual worlds where subtle
details such as colour choices and minor
character interactions are just as important
to the game as dialogue or scene setting.
In Malaysia and many other places,
narrative design as a singular discipline is
not too popular just yet. The focus is on
game design as a whole to create market-
driven games that sell over a long period.
Thus, game development companies in
these places hire game designers to double
up as writers. The teams behind larger
video games hire designers that specialise
in different areas such as user interface,
game mechanics and characters.
What, then, is the narrative designer’s role
if game designers are supposed to already
have it
covered?
Narrative
designers
are to games
what
authors
are to
books.
They work
with the whole
picture and have innate
understanding of the
Course Focus 3
entire video game.
Each game designer (in medium to large
productions) works on one or two parts of
the game, and the narrative designer brings
these parts together, making sure that the
story remains coherent and intact after
programmers’ and testers’ input.
For instance, if you have to jump in a
video game, it is probably because there is
an obstacle in your way that is disguising the
reveal of a story element. Narrative
designers determine what type of obstacle to
put in your path, how overcoming the
obstacle triggers your discovery of the story,
and why that action is important in the
grand scheme of things.
When you graduate, it is unlikely that you
will find an entry-level job listing for
narrative designer because it is something
you need experience to do.
If you are interested in writing for games,
pay attention in your scriptwriting and level
design classes so that you are equipped with
skills that can help you specialise in
narrative design later in your career.
Video games seem to be a natural next
step from movies, with one important
difference – interactivity. However, there is
no telling the extent of possibilities in game
storytelling. Some video games such as Alan
Wake and Firewatch are designed to behave
like controllable movies, which were the goal
of many story-heavy game developers.
This is not the limit, however, and this
area requires further exploration and deeper
understanding so we may fully enjoy what
video games have to offer.
> TURN TO PAGE 4
4 Course Focus
Enriched learning
THE art of delivering messages to
the mass audience in a captivating
audio-visual package is a complex
process. From traditional radio
transmissions to the variety of
social media content all over the
Internet, technical skills in
broadcasting are essential in
delivering these messages
effectively.
With close to five decades of
excellence in providing quality and
affordable higher education,
Tunku Abdul Rahman University
College (TAR UC) understands that
its broadcasting students must
adapt to the needs of today’s
industry.
TAR UC’s Faculty of
Communication and Creative
Industries (FCCI) has taken its
Bachelor of Communication (Hons)
in Broadcasting to the next level by
offering a dual-award programme
in partnership with Coventry
University (CU) in the United
Kingdom.
Broadcasting students taking this
dual-award programme can spend
the second semester of their
second year at CU or opt to
complete their semester in
Malaysia.
Upon successful completion of
the programme, students graduate
with two bachelor’s degrees – one
from TAR UC and one from CU –
giving them an edge over others in
Malaysia and abroad.
Since 2014, the strategic
partnership between TAR UC and
CU has paved the way for TAR UC
students to obtain dual
qualifications in finance, business
and management. FCCI’s
broadcasting programme is the
latest addition to this partnership.
Ranked the 13th best university
in the UK by the Guardian
University Guide 2019 and
awarded Gold for teaching
excellence last year, CU is gaining
greater recognition in the UK and
internationally for its excellent
quality of teaching. The university
is located in Coventry, England’s
ninth largest city and 11th largest
in the UK.
TAR UC’s Bachelor of
Communication (Hons) in
Broadcasting students are exposed
to different cultures thanks to the
cultural diversity that CU offers.
“It is definitely a different
experience living and studying
abroad. Our students attend the
same classes as other international
students at CU, so they are exposed
to new environments and cultures
TAR UC’s
Bachelor of
Communication
(Hons) in
Broadcasting
dual-award
programme
exposes
students to
new cultures
by spending a
semester
abroad.
there,” says Pushpavalli Maniam,
programme leader for the
Bachelor of Communication (Hons)
in Broadcasting programme. “This
once-in-a-lifetime experience is
something that will be useful for
their future careers, especially in
the media industry.”
TAR UC’s first cohort of Bachelor
of Communication (Hons) in
Broadcasting students under the
dual-award programme left for the
UK last September and returned in
January this year to continue their
studies at TAR UC.
Visit TAR UC’s booth at major
education fairs to find out more
about the programmes offered by
FCCI and dual-award programmes.
TAR UC offers attractive merit
scholarships and sibling discounts
to qualified students.
n For more information, visit
www.tarc.edu.my
Realising local potential
> FROM PAGE 3
Early first-person shooter games
barely emphasised story. They
provided players with a setting, a
few different scenes and some lines
to explain goals.
As they grew in popularity,
games of this genre started
incorporating complex plots and
pressed players into making
decisions that challenged their
morals, ethics and even philosophy,
such as the lengths they would go
to save a loved one.
Even though the gaming scene in
Malaysia is still rather green,
several of our countrymen have
made a name for themselves in
overseas gaming communities. One
such figure is Wan Hazmer Wan
Abd Halim.
Wan Hazmer is a game
developer who worked at Square
Enix – a Japanese video game
developer that has produced big
names such as Kingdom Hearts and
Final Fantasy – for seven years and
is the person responsible for
incorporating Malaysian elements
such as roti canai, teh tarik and
warung-style stalls in Final Fantasy
XV.
He now heads local gaming
studio Metronomik that aims to
develop the Malaysian gaming
THE STAR, TUESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2018
climate. Wan Hazmer told a local
daily newspaper earlier this year
that he is in talks with a few
universities to conduct workshops
on creative thinking in gaming.
Another local wonder in the
gaming industry is mobile horror
game Sara Is Missing, an interface
game with a multiple-choice,
multiple-ending plot, which was
awarded the titles of Best
Upcoming Game and Jury’s
Honorable Mention at the
International Mobile Gaming
Awards Southeast Asia 2016 just
two weeks after its launch that
year.
What Wan Hazmer and the
developers of Sara Is Missing have
in common are their knowledge of
what the industry lacked and how
they used it to their advantage.
This could be a career goal for
you to work towards, because a
growing industry brings with it
many learning and diversification
opportunities.
Take a leaf out of these
pioneering developers’ books and
realise the local gaming industry’s
potential by contributing your
skills and talent to it.
Who knows, a few years down
the line, you could be the one who
grew the field of narrative design
in Malaysia.