KUALA LUMPUR: A Chinese university is making its presence felt in Malaysia after announcing it would open in 2015. According to reports, Xiamen University in Fujian Province announced this month that it would open its first overseas campus in the Malaysian state of Selangor in September 2015. Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia said that the Selangor branch would initially take in 10,000 students, reported Bernama, the Malaysian state news agency. The student body would be divided into thirds, consisting of Chinese nationals, Malaysians and others. The Malaysian campus, which will have five faculties and about 700 teaching staff members, is projected to cost 600 million Malaysian ringgit, or almost $200 million. Ter Leong Yap, chairman of the luxury property developer Sunsuria and a Malaysian-Chinese business leader, helped fund the campus, the Malaysian state agency reported. The Chinese institution already has some ties to Southeast Asia: Its founder, the Xiamen-born businessman Tan Kah Kee, set up numerous schools in Singapore in the early 20th century. The university will be predominantly English language, but some course will be in Chinese, the university said in its statement. BN
