NANYANG UNIVERSITY AND NGEE ANN COLLEGE (Students from West Malaysia and financial aid from Malaysian Government)

[Mr Speaker in the Chair]

Mr Ho See Beng asked the Minister for Education if he has information of how many students of the Nanyang University and the Ngee Ann College are from West Malaysia, and how much financial aid is received by those two institutions from the Malaysian Government.

Mr Ong Pang Boon: Mr Speaker, Sir, the breakdown of the student population in Nanyang University and Ngee Ann College is as follows: Nanyang Ngee Ann University College No. of Singapore Students 787 492 No. of Malaysian Students 840 228 (West Malaysia) (789) (220) (East Malaysia) ( 51) ( 8) Other Territories 51 23 ----- ----- Total 1,678 743 ===== =====

The Malaysian Government has not given any grant to these two institutions to subsidise their students studying: in these two institutions. In the case of Nanyang University, the cost of maintaining a student per year is approximately $2,000 at present, while the fees payable by a Malaysian student are only $720 per annum. In other words, the Government and the people of Singapore are currently subsidising every Malaysian student to the tune of $1,300 per year.