(Contributing article for guidance on Monbukagakusho Sholarship as appeared on Japanese Embassy's website. See: http://www.kh.emb-japan.go.jp/scholarship/monkasho2016.htm)
1. Why did you
apply for the Japanese Government Scholarship?
As a
high school student, my dream was simple. Like every other Cambodian high
school students, I wanted to receive quality education abroad without putting
financial burden on my parents. Japanese government scholarship fits the most
to such dreamers. This scholarship is the most popular—hence the most
competitive—because while Japan can provide international standard education,
they also provide sufficient allowance without having students to rely on other
means of financial support.
2. Nowadays,
Cambodian youths are offered a lot of opportunities of study abroad under the
government scholarships of various countries. Compared with the other
countries, what are advantages of study in Japan, and what are challenges for
Cambodian students?
“Similar
Asian culture, successful economic development, high morality”.
When you
go to study abroad, you expect to learn something from that country and bring
back home development lessons, businesses and technologies. Japan has similar
Asian culture enabling us to relatively adapt to life easier. It is doubtless
one of the greatest role models of post-war economic development and is a
striving business and investment platform while its technologies are topnotch.
Its
people also have the highest morality. The most significant example was during
the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, where Japanese people still
respected the queue to receive basic supplies without any violence or looting
and supermarkets didn’t hike the prices despite the shortage of supplies. This
is nowhere to be seen in any disaster area in the world. These are things that
we can learn best from Japan and bring back home for the betterment of our
economy and society.
The
challenge for foreign students in Japan is Japanese language. After one year of
intensive Japanese course, we will go straight to classes receiving lessons and
taking exams along with native Japanese students. (This is not the case for
research students who receive courses in English.) The first year at university
is the toughest and challenging experiences but so far almost all foreign
students can survive this hardship and compete with good grade.
Language
barrier can also be regarded as an advantage because you can master two
languages at the same time. In Japan, most libraries have plenty of resources
both in English and Japanese. There are courses available in English too. Thus,
on top of mastering your English, which can be done anywhere, mastering
Japanese will take you another mile in terms of educational perspective as well
as future careers.
3. After finishing
study in Japan, many of ex-scholarship recipients have been actively
contributing to the development of Cambodia utilizing the expertise and skills
they acquired in Japan. How do you utilize such expertise and skills in your
work now? Is there any other benefit of study in Japan for your current daily
life?