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This program began in July 2023 with much preparation, such as applying for a visa process, renewing my passport, and other essential documents. After almost 2 months of waiting and making revisions for visa requirements, I received my single entry visa as my access to get into Malaysia. During this preparation, surely I also prepared for my accommodation and got any essential information to adapt to Malaysia. However, I was always guided by Dr. Norakhmal as my liaison officer and as a lecturer at UiTM.
Shortly, I arrived in Malaysia on 3rd October and met Dr. Norakhmal on the next day to discuss the courses that were suitable for me. Afterward, I met Prof. Hartini, the Dean of the Faculty of Law UiTM, having a short conversation about UiTM in general and my accommodation in Malaysia. The next day, I attended the orientation day held by the UiTM Global Ambassador. One thing that made me surprised was so many Indonesian students there, but there were many students from China, Korea, India, Germany, and others. It was fun because we gathered in the same place as a student with multicultural ethnicity and nationality.
Apparently, the first week of living overseas was still challenging, even though Malaysia is not that far from Indonesia and has lots of similar aspects. However, in the end, I have faced those challenges smoothly.
Moving to my academic experiences, I attended the class on the second week of lectures. During
the study period, the lecturers explained the study plan, method of the assessment, assignment, and many more. I determined to choose four courses and each course has a lecture class and a tutorial class. Basically, tutorial class is our chance to improve our ability by doing assignments the lectures gave and we present or discuss the assignment in the tutorial class. However, I feel so lucky to have taken the Fundamental Legal Skills class. In that class, I have learned how to find legal sources, improve my presentation skills, and be involved in mooting assessments.
During this program, I have been involved and participated in several programs held by the faculty. In late November, I was involved in a Volunteer Expedition held by the Student Community Law Club (SCLC) Faculty of Law which is called “Zooventure”. The program involved many law faculty students. During this program, I talked a lot with the zoo keeper and helped them to care for the animals and clean their cages.
Still, In November, I met a new Indonesian student from Universitas Islam Malang (UNISMA). It was very nice to meet him since I thought I would be alone for the whole semester, but I also met many Malaysian students here as well, sometimes we just went for a walk or discussed our assignments.
Furthermore, I also met Mr. Moch. Zairul Alam, S.H., M.H., as my lecturer at Brawijaya University, but he came to UiTM as a guest lecturer for a month. Not only Mr. Zairul, but I also had the opportunity to meet other lecturers, such as Mr. Dr. Reka Dewantara, S.H., M.H., and Mr. Alfons Zakaria, S.H., LL.M. during the campus exhibition event in Kuala Lumpur.
As a law student, it is very important to strengthen our relationship with others, whether it is with fellow students, lecturers, or even society. Luckily, my friend introduced one of his friends who was involved in Asian Law Students’ Association (ALSA) to me. Then, his friend asked me to join the program held by ALSA UiTM. That program is called ALSA Legal Trailblazing with the theme “Shaping Tomorrow’s Careers and Practice Frontiers.” I have gained a lot of knowledge about law practitioners in Malaysia and the career path in Malaysia for law students in the future. It fueled my spirit instantly.
In January, I watched the UiTM mock trial held by the UiTM Law Society at Dewan Agung Tuanku Canselor (DATC) UiTM. That event was a show with the theme “QUDUS” which was about a murder case but with drama comedy. The event was attended by many people, such as students, lecturers, and even outsiders.
Still in January, UiTM Global Ambassador organized a farewell as a closure of the exchange program for all the exchange students. The farewell featured several performances by the UiTM Global Ambassador and by the exchange students. In addition, I also received a certificate as the exchange student in UiTM.
I could not believe that I had been in Malaysia as a student studying for four months in February. I had prepared for the examination for more than two weeks since January. I thought it would be easy because I had taken corporate law and contract law courses in Indonesia. On the contrary, the exam was tough for me because I had to remember the suitable case law and elaborate on the case law with my analytical skills to answer the exam. However, it was still interesting because it gained and improved my analytical skills to solve problems.
Throughout this program, I have gained many useful skills, new knowledge, connections with people from other countries, and new perspectives. Unfortunately, I only had a limited time to have this incredible chance. On the other hand, I feel grateful for having this remarkable experience since I thought I might not have this opportunity anymore during this semester.
Editor : Humas FH