2007 ~ 2012 |
A NEW CAMPUS AND THE BIRTH OF SASS
Cinta Malaysia: A romance story
Tim Tillack
94
My time at
Monash
University
Malaysia
was
life-changing
and I fell
in love
with Malaysia
in more
ways than
I have
probably
mentioned.
Having spent most of my 20s working in jobs with
limited prospects, DJing raves and clubs on weekends,
soon after turning 30, I came to the realisation that I
needed to sort myself out and get a career-worthy job.
But to do so, I knew I had to go to university and get
a degree. So, I commenced my studies with Monash
enrolling as a part-time student, which along with a forty
hour per week job, plus DJing, I could only manage the
gruelling schedule for two years, which was how long it
took me to complete first year.
I felt that something was lacking in my university
experience and I didn’t want to eke out my degree
slowly over another 4 years. So, when the opportunity
presented to join the Monash Abroad program for a
semester of exchange, I jumped at the chance. There
were many destinations to choose from, but lured by a
travel grant, accommodation, and other perks, I chose
to study at Monash University Malaysia. So, I quit my
job, gave up DJing, and booked my ticket to KL.
Each exchange program ran for a semester and
included fifty students from the various Monash
campuses in Australia, as well as fifty students from
Monash South Africa. Most of us all lived together
at Casa Subang. I had always wanted to experience
rooming with other students. Casa was our home and it
was a place that brought us all together. We would get
together for nights of eating, drinking and playing pool
at Asia Café; we would gather in our apartments to
hang out, celebrate birthdays, and play drinking games.
They were fun times.
I was a typical mature age student – I studied hard
and was always one to put my hand up. I also had
an exhaustive, precocious attitude, that at times was
repelling to those around me because all I could talk
about was my work (i.e. study). I was unrestrained
in my desire to learn more and push my knowledge
beyond the fringes of required readings. I was hungry,
determined, and devoured whatever I could get my
hands on, even if I didn’t fully understand it. Who, after
all, fully understands the labyrinthine mind of Derrida?
A philosopher who John Searle labelled an
“obscurantist terrorist”.
And it didn’t even matter that I couldn’t verbalise or
articulate what I was reading – I confused myself, and
I’m sure I confused other students around me. What
after all was a BA (Communication) student doing
diving into the subterranean realms of these continental
thinkers?
I enrolled into the following units for semester one:
• WRT2407 Postcolonial & Diasporic Literature
(Dr Andrew Ng Hock Soon)
• FTV1050 Contemporary Film Studies
(Mr Benjamin McKay)
• GND2010 Contemporary Feminist Theory
(Dr Sharon Bong)
• MUS1040 American Music and Popular Culture
(Ms Poh Bei Yan)