Report from Rui-Yang Monico

I’m Rui-Yang Monico an exchange student from Switzerland under The Rotary Club of Geneva Lake. I chose Malaysia because it’s my mother’s country and I wanted to learn more about it. I’ve been to Malaysia many times before and I can safely say that it’s completely different to come to a country as a tourist than to live like a local.

I attended Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Hwa Lian for 8 months, after that period I felt very much apart of the school that so much so I’ve became accustomed to the rules and habits. During my first day in Malaysia, my thoughts about my exchange year was that maybe one year would be a very long affair for me but before the year is almost up, my perception changed, and I now do not want to go back home. I consider my year in Malaysia as the most interesting and also one of the best years of my life. As an exchange student we have to be open to new ideas and the ability to adapt is very important.

As for school life, I always thought before coming to Malaysia that Malaysian schools are very strict compare to the Swiss ones.Then when I came to experienced it, I realize that for certain things it was true especially when it comes to the school discipline, for example the appearance (uniform, hairstyle, piercing, nails… everything is controlled). However it is completely different for Swiss schools where there is no school uniform and we can wear almost anything but of course moderately dressed and we also could look and behave like whatever we want to.

Now having experienced wearing the school uniform, I can say that it’s not a bad thing. There are the good points in wearing it. But like every thing else, there are also the bad points as well.
For the class hours, it’s the opposite. In Swiss schools we cannot talk and move freely around in the class, more so we cannot be late. It’s because we have only 10 to 20 students in class which is easier to control. However in Switzerland, if the teacher doesn’t enter class or that we have a free hour, we can at anytime leave the school to go out, as this is because the timetable is everyday of the week different for each student.

The punishments are not the same also, in Switzerland there is no demerit card and no “rotan” and also no prefects to control the students. In Switzerland there is detention (come Saturday morning punishment is meted out to clean the school or so on) and school expulsion (for days or final expulsion).

I really liked to study in Hwa Lian, maybe it’s because I am an exchange student, so I see things differently. But I found the students to be very friendly and more welcoming than my Swiss counterparts. I made many friends and a lot of memories that I will never forget, and Because of them, I learned many things that I couldn’t learn anywhere else in the world.

My objective before coming here was to learn Malay, Mandarin and the culture of my mother, but I didn’t learn only the languages and culture, I learned more about myself and more personal things like about respect, tolerance, patience. I learn about friendship and understanding. I’m proud to say that my year in Malaysia wasn’t’ a waste at all (some people used to think that). My experience as an exchange student will surely help me for my future life.

Rui-Yang Monico
(exchange student, 2007-2008)