Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia: Courses, Admission, Cost

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is a reputable public research university that is situated at Bandar Baru Bangi of Selangor. The university was formed as an endeavor of nationalists trying to portray the Malay language as a language of knowledge. Abdul Kadir Adabi, a writer, to protest against British colonization in 1923, suggested the idea of the university. The movement had blossomed around 1969 and finally, a sponsoring committee was set up to help make reports that could recommend the establishment of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

The sponsoring committee was chaired by a Malay intellectual known as Syed Nasir Ismail. Other members of the committee were the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr. Mahathir Mohamed (Tun) who was also the then Education Minister and Dr. Mohd Rashdan Haji Baba who had later become the first Vice-Chancellor of UKM. On 18 May 1970, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia had opened its doors and received around 192 undergraduate students. UKM is the most popular university in the whole of Malaysia and also Southeast Asia.

UKM had first received students at a temporary campus in Kuala Lumpur's Jalan Pantai Baru. It was then home to the faculties of Arts, Islamic Studies, and Science. In the month of October in 1977, UKM had moved to Bangi. The premises of Bangi presently serves as the main campus of UKM. It sprawls over an area of 2,710 acres and is located in the metropolis that encompasses the main commercial center of Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital Putrajaya, and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

There are two health campuses at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The first is the Kuala Lumpur campus which is situated in Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz and the second is the UKM Medical Centre which is situated in Cheras. The Kuala Lumpur campus which was founded in 1974 houses the Faculties of Health Sciences, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and the Pre-Clinical Departments of the Medical Faculty. The Cheras campus has the Medical Faculty, the UKM Medical Molecular Biology Institute (UMBI), and the UKM Teaching Hospital. The campus at Cheras was founded in 1997.

Apart from these campuses, UKM has a total of 7 research stations, namely Tasik Chini research station, Langkawi Geopark research station, Plant Biotechnology research station, Marine Ecosystem research station, Marine research station, Fraser's Hill research station, and UKM Campus Living Laboratory. The UKM Campus Living Laboratory comprises Fernarium, Herbarium, and UKM Permanent Forest Reserve which is also known as Hutan Simpan Kekal UKM in the Malay language. There are a total of 3 founding faculties, including the Faculty of Science and Technology, Faculty of Sciences, Social Science and Humanities, and Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies. They offer study programmes in subjects like Medicine, Dentistry, Education, Information Science and Technology, Law, Health Sciences, Economics and Management, Engineering and Built Environment, Pharmacy, and Business.

Some notable alumni of UKM are Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Mohd Rashid Hasnon, Malaysia's first astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, academician Syed Hussein Alatas, Minister of Transport of Malaysia Anthony Loke Siew Fook, singer Jess Lee, Father of Malaysian NGO Movement Anwar Fazal, and 12th Inspector-General of Royal Malaysian Police Abdul Hamid Bador.